insightful in-depth reviews

cogency
15, Nov 2021

Caroline, or Change back on Broadway

by Corey Cohen
The Cultural Critic

At the Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony in September 2021, West End actress turned Ted Lasso star in her acceptance speech praised West End musical theatre performances, with the quote “give them a chance, cause we won’t let you down.” Sharon D. Clarke is a 3-time Olivier Award winner (the West End’s version of Tony Awards), has come to Broadway in the revival of Caroline, or Change, and does not let you down.

Caroline, or Change tells the story of a Black woman named Caroline in 1963 Louisiana working as a maid for a middle-class Jewish family. She’s bitter about her situation and reflects that to the people around her. The show doesn’t have many plot points, especially in Act 1, as much of it takes place inside Caroline’s imagination as the washing machine, dryer, radio, and moon sing to her. The primary storyline involves Rose, the frustrated matriarch of the Gellman family, telling Caroline she can keep any loose change she finds in the laundry pockets of Noah, her 8-year-old stepson. Noah idolizes Caroline, but she wants nothing to do with him. A weakness of the story is that in Act 2, when tempers come to a head as Noah says something horribly racist to Caroline and she responds with something horribly antisemitic, it’s not a huge shock she’d go that far, considering she never had much of a relationship with him to begin with. If Caroline had developed more of a bond with the child instead of always being annoyed by him, the climax would’ve been more devastating.

The main issue I have with the show isn’t with this production at all, but the original score composed by Jeanine Tesori with lyrics by Tony Kushner. There are very few traditional songs in the show with a verse/chorus structure, it’s written more as a sung-through play, with characters singing about what’s happening in sprawling styles. There aren’t many melodies to hum, and the score bounces around a lot. Tesori has composed great musicals such as Fun Home and Thoroughly Modern Millie, and Kushner has soared as a writer with Angels in America and the film Lincoln, but in my opinion the score here is the weak link.

The performances, as is the proud standard of Broadway, are all stellar. Sharon D. Clarke as Caroline commands the stage and has you fully believing this Brit is a Louisiana native in the Civil Rights era. The highlight of the show is when she sings “Lot’s Wife”, the eleven-o-clock number. Caissie Levy as Rose is excellent in portraying Rose as a complex and multi-dimensional figure, not a villain or ‘Karen’ stereotype, but a polite woman who doesn’t fully grasp the imbalances at play. John Cariani plays Rose’s meek husband and doubles as an excellent clarinet player (coincidentally his character in The Band’s Visit was serenaded by a clarinet). A breakout star is Samantha Williams as Emmie, Caroline’s teenage daughter. Her character represents the more proactive and less idealistic younger generation, and the actress brings a powerhouse voice. The thrill of Broadway is seeing some of the best performers on the planet live and up close, and fortunately through the pandemic shutdown, they haven’t lost a step.