Reprise Theatre Company ended 2009 celebrating the father of the American musical, Richard Rodgers. This week, it kicked off an ongoing celebration with a revised, re-imagined version of his and Oscar Hammerstein’s “Carousel.”

Hailed by Time Magazine as “the best musical of the 20th century … that set the standards for the 20th century musical,” “Carousel” first opened on Broadway in 1945. Based on a story by Ferenc Molnar, “Carousel” takes place between 1873 and 1888 in a small New England fishing village and revolves around the star-crossed love affair between Billy Bigelow, a traveling carnival carousel barker, and Julie Jordan, a mill worker.

Directed by Michael Michetti and choreographed by Lee Martino, this contemporary take on “Carousel” — considered to be Rodgers’ and Hammerstein’s’ personal favorite — is brought into the 21st century, but still holds true to the original story.

As resident choreographer for Reprise, Martino has choreographed several tributes to Rodgers and Hammerstein in the theater company’s 2009-10 season, and said in a recent interview that she has loved them all. “Carousel” has been among the most thrilling, she said, not only because from rehearsal to opening night “things were happening really fast,” but because everything in the piece is new.

But why breathe new life into a classic from the 1940s? And why Rodgers and Hammerstein, when there are others to choose from?

“Because these are the classics that lay the foundation for what we have today,” Martino said about musicals. “Rodgers and Hammerstein, they are the people who inspired the writers and the creators of today. They are the fathers of musical theater — the true American art form. … If not for Rodgers and Hammerstein, musical theater wouldn’t be what it is today.”

Martino, who has choreographed other productions of “Carousel” in her career but has never danced in one, said that Rodgers and Hammerstein are to musical theater what William Shakespeare is to writers.

“It doesn’t matter how old you are or what part of the world you’re from, [Rodgers and Hammerstein] have influenced every kind of artist. I don’t think artists today would have the texture and the richness they have without Rodgers’ and Hammerstein’s’ work. They’re like Shakespeare, they are the foundation.”

In Reprise’s “Carousel,” Alexandra Silber makes her American stage debut as Julie, beautifully yet courageously, along with Robert Patteri as the sly Billy. It’s a love at first sight that goes downhill through the end. While the production is filled with up-tempo musical scenes that are uplifting and merry — the dark side of “Carousel” inevitably seeps through starting with the duet, “If I Loved You.”

As contemporary as this production might be, the plot is true to Molnar’s classic. “It’s a beautiful, sad story,” said Martino, adding that the script allows for the words to flow through the dancers’ movement. “The final number is one of the most beautiful numbers, through dance, you tell the story of the main character’s daughter, that because of his actions, her life turned out not well. You see her despair in the ballet, you see her get involved with the wrong kind of man … then life ends tragically for her, too because of her father’s actions. … It’s all very dramatic, and it’s all done through movement.”

And just as it sounds, audiences will be drawn into another time, Martino said, yet the storyline is as relevant in the ‘40s as it is today.

“’Carousel’ is going to transport you back in time into these people’s lives, to see the struggles that these people struggled with … to see that they are the same struggles people today are still dealing with.”

Through dance, of course, she wants audience members to be inspired and exhilarated. At the same time, she said, people will learn that it doesn’t matter who you are, “everything we do affects everybody else … that nobody stands alone” in the world.

The story is also about love and hope and how both can overcome anything, Martino said.

“People who come to the theater come to get away from their own lives for a little while, but they will still be able to connect to the story. … They will see how the story and the struggles are very relevant to our times and that [one] is accountable for how one affects someone else’s life … even in death.”

“Carousel” runs through Feb. 7 at UCLA’s Freud Playhouse, 405 Hilgard Ave., Westwood. (310) 825-2101