Caroline, or Change


Caroline, or Change is a musical with music by Jeanine Tesori and book and lyrics by Tony Kushner. The score combines spirituals, blues, Motown, classical music, and Jewish klezmer and folk music.
The show ran both Off-Broadway and on Broadway as well as in London.

Production history

The musical was first workshopped in May 1992 at New York's Off-Broadway Public Theater. Director George C. Wolfe continued to workshop the musical at the Public Theater, where it opened on November 30, 2003 and closed on February 1, 2004.
It transferred to Broadway at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre on May 2, 2004 and closed on August 29, 2004 after 136 performances and 22 previews. The musical starred Tonya Pinkins in the title role, Anika Noni Rose as Emmie Thibodeaux, Harrison Chad as Noah Gellman, Veanne Cox as Rose Stopnick Gellman and Chandra Wilson as Dotty Moffett. The choreographer was Hope Clarke; scenic design by Riccardo Hernandez; costume design by Paul Tazewell; and lighting design by Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer. Despite its relatively short run, it was critically acclaimed and nominated for six Tony Awards, including Best Musical.
Opening in October 2006, a London production at the National Theatre on the Lyttelton stage, also directed by Wolfe, ran in repertory with Marianne Elliot's production of Thérèse Raquin to January 2007. The production did not transfer to the West End but did win the Olivier Award for Best New Musical. The opening night cast in London starred Tonya Pinkins as Caroline. Other cast members included Pippa Bennett-Warner as Emmie Thibodeaux, Anna Francolini as Rose Stopnick Gellman, Hilton McRae as Mr. Stopnick, Perry Millward, Jonny Weldon and Greg Bernstein alternating as Noah and Clive Rowe as the dryer/bus.
A revival was produced at the Minerva Theatre, Chichester as part of Daniel Evans' inaugural season as artistic director of Chichester Festival Theatre, running from 6 May to 3 June 2017. The production was directed by Michael Longhurst, starred Sharon D. Clarke as Caroline and received critical acclaim earning five star reviews. The production transferred with Clarke to the Hampstead Theatre, London from 12 March to 21 April 2018. The production transferred to the West End at the Playhouse Theatre, where it began playing on 20 November 2018, and ran until 2 March 2019, once again starring Clarke.
A revival, based on the Chichester production, was initially announced to open on Broadway on March 13, 2020 in previews, April 7, 2020 at Studio 54. Direction is by Michael Longhurst with choreography by Ann Yee and starring Sharon D. Clarke and Samantha Williams. As of March 12, 2020, the show suspended production due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The show’s production will be suspended until September 6, 2020 at the earliest..

Regional theatre

Pinkins and Anika Noni Rose reprised their roles in late 2004 at the Ahmanson Theatre, Los Angeles, California and in January to February 2005 at the Curran Theatre, San Francisco, California. Its premiere in The Washington DC area at The Studio Theatre in 2006, starring Julia Nixon and Max Talisman, received rave reviews, and won The Helen Hayes Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress, Resident Musical, and Outstanding Resident Musical. The Chicago premiere at the Court Theatre in fall 2008 earned four Jeff awards for director Charles Newell, Musical Director Doug Peck, star E. Faye Butler, and best production of a musical at a large scale theater.
Other regional productions have included Center Stage, Baltimore, Maryland, in December 2008 to January 2009 with E. Faye Butler; the Guthrie Theatre, Minneapolis, Minnesota, April to June 2009, the Gallery Players, Brooklyn, N.Y., January to February 2010, The Human Race Theatre Company, Dayton, Ohio November 4–20, 2011, and Syracuse Stage February 1-February 26, 2012. In 2017, the Round House Theatre in Bethesda, Maryland staged it as part of a season with a focus on Tony Kushner plays. Its Colorado regional premiere took place April 5 to May 5, 2019, at the Aurora Fox Arts Center, directed by Kenny Moten and starring Mary Louise Lee as Caroline.
A 2012 production by Acting Up Stage Company in Toronto, Ontario garnered Dora Mavor Moore Awards for Outstanding Production of a Musical, Sterling Jarvis, Arlene Duncan and Outstanding Musical Direction. A new production by Acting Up Stage Company, now called The Musical Stage Company, in Toronto, Ontario will play January 31 to February 16, 2020 starring Jully Black as Caroline and Canadian soprano Measha Brueggergosman as The Moon at the Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres.

Plot

;Act One
On a hot day in 1963 in Lake Charles, Louisiana, Caroline, a black maid who works for the Gellman family for $30 a week, launders clothes in the basement. Caroline keeps herself sane in the basement by imagining the items in the basement as people. The Gellmans' 8-year-old son Noah, whose mother has recently died of cancer, is attracted to Caroline, a no-nonsense single parent. Caroline allows Noah to light her one cigarette each day, a secret they can share. Caroline puts the laundry in the dryer and sings about her four kids and cleaning houses for 22 years.
Noah's new stepmother Rose cannot give Caroline a raise, but tells her to take some extra food home to her kids ; Caroline declines. Noah's father Stuart, despondent since his wife's death, tells Noah he has lost his faith. Noah confesses that he hates Rose. Rose confesses to her father, Mr. Stopnick, that she is unhappy as well.
After work, Caroline argues with her friend Dotty about each other's lifestyles. The moon rises as they wait for a bus. They discuss the recent mysterious destruction of a statue of a Confederate soldier at the courthouse. The bus arrives with devastating news: President Kennedy has been assassinated.
Rose tells Noah to stop leaving money in his pants pockets, and that any money Caroline finds in his laundry will be hers to keep. The Gellman family reminisces about the good President Kennedy did for the Jews—and Dotty reminisces about the good he intended to do for African Americans. On the front porch of her house, Caroline tells her teenage daughter Emmie that the president is dead. Emmie says she does not care, because JFK never fulfilled his promises to the black community. Noah, awake in his bedroom, asks Caroline what laws she would pass if she were president.
Rose tells Caroline she is allowed to keep any money she finds in Noah's pants, to supplement her salary and teach Noah a lesson. Noah and his father, Stuart, have trouble bonding. Noah, aware of her situation, purposefully leaves his candy and comic book money in his pockets, as well as seventy-five cents. Caroline feels bad about keeping it, but does so, out of necessity. Caroline brings the money to Emmie, Jackie, and Joe who discuss all the things they can do and things they can buy with it.
;Act Two
As Christmas approaches Caroline, ironing clothes in the basement, remembers her ex-husband, who was kind and thoughtful until he became abusive. Rose tells Caroline to keep any money Stuart leaves in his clothes as well but Caroline snaps at Rose saying she doesn’t need her pity or money and threatens her with the iron. Rose then asks if she, Dotty, and Emmie will work at her upcoming Chanukah party. Emmie, Jackie, and Joe encourage her to keep taking the laundry money, because the family needs it.
At the Chanukah party, Noah educates Emmie about the holiday. Rose shoos Noah out of the kitchen and Dotty tells Emmie about the courthouse statue. When Mr. Stopnick belittles Martin Luther King Jr.'s nonviolent civil disobedience, Emmie tells him white people have no right to be critical. Mr. Stopnick is impressed with Emmie's bravado, but Caroline tells her she cannot talk that way to white people; Emmie retorts that slavery is over. Mr. Stopnick's Chanukah present to Noah is a $20 bill, intended as a life lesson about money and its value. At the bus stop, Emmie dreams of growing up to be independent and fighting for justice. Back at the house, Stuart laments that he can give neither Rose nor Noah what they need.
Noah inadvertently leaves the $20 bill in his pants; after school he rushes to the basement, but Caroline has found it and says she is keeping it, per their agreement. Noah and Caroline exchange racial insults, then Caroline returns the money and leaves. After five days, Caroline has not returned to work. That Sunday on her way to church, Caroline realizes that the laundry money had only fostered greed and hatefulness; she asks God to free her from earthly desires. The radio sings of a fierce heartbreak. At church, Caroline gives Emmie a fierce hug and accepts her daughter’s choices.
Noah finally lets Rose tuck him into bed and kiss him goodnight. Caroline returns to work and assures Noah that although things will never be the same between them, Noah will learn to live with his sorrow and move on. Emmie reveals that she helped take down the Confederate soldier statue, and proudly sings that she is the daughter of a maid, but she will continue to work for a greater cause, and her children will have a brighter future. Jackie and Joe come out to shush her and she tells them that it is up to the children of Caroline Thibedeaux to change the future.

Musical numbers

;Act One
Washer / Dryer
Cabbage
Long Distance
Moon Change
Duets
The Bleach Cup
;Act Two
Ironing
The Chanukah Party
The Twenty Dollar Bill
Aftermath
Lot's Wife
How Long Has This Been Going On?
Emmie's Dream

Awards and nominations

Original Broadway production

Original London production

2018 West End revival