Broadway Review: “Caroline, or Change”

Racism, sexism, economic disparity, and stagnation roil beneath the surface Caroline Thibodeaux’s (an embattled yet resilient Sharon B Clarke) deep unhappiness, disappointment, and resistance to change in Tony Kushner’s “Caroline, or Change.” Currently enjoying a successful revival at Roundabout’s Studio 54, the Kushner/Tesori musical focuses on Caroline’s long days in the Louisiana “under water” basement of the Gellman family. “Sixteen feet below sea level!/Torn tween the Devil and the muddy brown sea.”

As she loads the “brand-new Nineteen-Sixty-Three Seven-cycle wash machine” with the Gellman’s clothes and listens to (and talks to!) the radio, both washer (a super-cycled Arica Jackson) and radio (the sing-and-dance trio of Nasia Thomas, Nya, and Harper Miles) channel her feelings with their refrains, “Talkin to the washer and the radio! Doin laundry, full of woe, neath the Gulf of Mexico.”

Caroline’s woe is exacerbated by most of her interactions with her employers the Gellmans. From having to refuse leftovers that Caroline’s family would never eat, to becoming part of an unsolicited and ill-advised “keep-what-change-you-find in Noah’s pockets” deal struck with the “boss lady boss Oooh child, watch yourself, lady New York lady” Rose Stopnick Gellman (an entitled and clueless Cassie Levy), the cultural and racial divide widens to the predictable breaking point.

Instead of simply giving Caroline a much-needed raise, the Gellmans continue the “keep the change” ruse firmly believing they are helping Caroline raise her four children and pay her bills. It is only when Noah (a needy but naïve Gabriel Amoroso) inadvertently leaves his twenty-dollar “Chanukah Gelt” gift from Mr. Stopnick (Chip Zien) in his pants pocket that the deal turns sour. Assuming the crisp bill is intended for her, she celebrates her ability to “take my boy to the dentist [and] buy real presents for Christmas.”

Not long after the Chanukah celebration, Noah realizes his twenty-dollar bill is missing and, believing he left it in his pants pocket, he confronts Caroline and demands she give him the found money (whether it is his or not is revealed near the play’s end). A discomfiting exchange ensues during which Noah’s deep unhappiness and Caroline’s urgent need for a change collide, resulting in an unsettling exchange of hatred and racism. Noah: “I hate you, hate you, kill all Negroes! Really! For true!” Caroline: “Noah, Hell is like this basement, only hotter than this, hotter than August, with the washer and the dryer and the boiler full blast. Hell’s hotter than goose fat, much hotter than that. Hell’s so hot it makes flesh fry. And hell’s where Jews go when they die.”

This is the transformative moment for Caroline. Although she leaves the Gellman’s employment, she eventually returns to work there, but from a new perspective. Her return is temporary, and her cause for anger and disappointment has been resolved. Under Michael Longhurst’s tender direction, Sharon D Clarke exposes Caroline’s complicated layers of feeling with a compassion for her character and for the situation she finds herself in. The choice is no longer between Caroline or change: both need attention, and Ms. Clarke understands and conveys that important psychological awareness and transformation. “Now how bout that then? That what Caroline can do! That how she rearrange herself, that how she change.”

Fly Davis’s surreal sets and costumes, Jack Knowles’s equally surreal lighting, and Paul Arditti’s hypnagogic sound support Caroline’s journey from hopelessness to the hope found in rearranging herself for her future. This journey is one everyone must take sooner than later. Like Caroline, “we [cannot] let [our] sorrow make evil of [us].”

CAROLINE, OR CHANGE

The cast of “Caroline, or Change” includes Gabriel Amoroso, Alexander Bello, John Cariani, Sharon D Clarke, Joy Hermalyn, Arica Jackson, Tamika Lawrence, Caissie Levy, Adam Makké, Kevin S. McAllister, Harper Miles, N’Kenge, Nya, Richard Alexander Phillips, Jayden Theophile, Nasia Thomas, Jaden Myles Waldman, Samantha Williams, Stuart Zagnit, and Chip Zien.

The “Caroline, or Change” creative team includes Fly Davis (Sets and Costumes), Jack Knowles (Lights), Paul Arditti (Sound), Rick Bassett, Joseph Joubert and Buryl Red (Orchestrations), Amanda Miller (Hair and Wigs), and Sarah Cimino (Make-up).

“Caroline, or Change” runs at Roundabout’s Studio 54 through Sunday January 9, 2022, and plays Tuesday and Thursday evenings at 7:00 p.m. Wednesday, Friday and Saturday evenings at 8:00 p.m. Wednesday and Saturday matinees at 2:00 p.m. as well as Sunday matinees at 3:00 p.m. Tickets are available by calling 212-719-1300, online at http://roundabouttheatre.org, in person at a Roundabout box office; or by visiting StubHub, the Premier Secondary Ticketing Partner of Roundabout. Ticket prices range from $59-$159. Running time is 2 hours and 25 minutes.

Photo: Sharon D Clarke and Samantha Williams in “Caroline, or Change.”

Credit: Joan Marcus.