The Virginia Opera opened its rousing, energetic spring production of Rodgers’ and Hammerstein’s classic musical “Carousel” last weekend at Norfolk’s Harrison Opera House. Running through May 19, the current performances, presented in conjunction with the 2013 Virginia Arts Festival, mark the revival of the company’s well-received 1996 production.

A few days before New Yorker Greg Ganakas headed to Norfolk to direct the classic musical "Carousel," he visited a carousel in Central Park, just to remember what it's like. "It reminded me of when I was a child and when I first stepped onto it, and how fast it went," Ganakas said earlier this week. "And you can choose which horse you're going to get on. And they go up and they go down." "It's turning and it's motion and there's magic to it."

Matthew Worth has tackled some demanding roles in his operatic career, including the philandering "Don Giovanni" at Virginia Opera and Father Flynn in Minnesota Opera's world premiere of "Doubt." This month he returns to the Virginia Opera stage in a classic of another genre, Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Carousel."