KEEL

In 1945, he made his Broadway debut as a vacation replacement for John Raitt in Carousel, playing the role of Billy Bigelow from August 20th - September 8th 1945. Two weeks later he took over the lead role of Curly in Oklahoma!, playing across the street at the St. James Theatre. In 1947, Oklahoma! became the first American postwar musical to travel to London and Keel joined the production. On April 30th 1947, at the Drury Lane Theatre, the capacity audience (which included the future Queen Elizabeth II) demanded 14 encores.