Source: Philadelphia Weekly
Date: March 21, 2007
Byline: J. Cooper Robb

Civil Wrongs

The musical Caroline, or Change challenges and captivates.

From its breathtaking opening to its poignant finale, Arden Theatre Company's spellbinding production of the musical Caroline, or Change proves originality can still be found in American theater.

The show begins on a dark and stormy night — and that's the only cliche found in librettist/lyricist Tony Kushner and composer Jeanine Tesori's innovative musical. Change certainly contains elements of opera and verse drama, but its sung-through construction feels entirely novel. Instead of a simple collection of songs, Tesori's score moves uninterrupted from one scene to the next. Combined with Kushner's evocative lyrics, Tesori's remarkably fluid blend of gospel, R&B, classical and pop results in a dramatic thrill ride that's provocative and rewarding.

The focus of Kushner's impeccably crafted story is Caroline Thibodeaux (Joilet F. Harris), an African-American woman who works as a maid for the Gellmans, a Jewish family in '60s Louisiana. She spends her days working in the household basement washing, drying and ironing. She loathes her job, but as a single mother with a son in Vietnam and three younger children at home, Caroline puts her children's needs before her own happiness. The only distraction from her daily drudgery comes from the Gellman's 8-year-old son Noah (the remarkable young actor Griffin Back), who after the death of his mother develops a strong attachment to Caroline. The spare change Noah leaves in his pants pockets for Caroline to find serves as a symbol for the tremendous upheaval taking place in both the nation and the lives of the small-town characters.

Although Tesori and Kushner immediately establish a swift pace that never wanes, the show is in no way hurried or underdeveloped. Each of Change's many characters (which include a washing machine, a dryer and a radio) is meticulously drawn. In one of the show's many memorable scenes we encounter an old bus (Jay Pierce in an indelible performance) sagging under the weight of oppression. The sorrowful bus refers to itself as "the orphan ship of state" as it delivers the tragic news to Caroline and her friend Dotty (Kelly J. Rucker) that President Kennedy has been assassinated.

For some, change is as welcome as it is inevitable. For others, it's tumultuous and frightening. Caroline's past is fraught with regrets and her present full of hardship. She's known tremendous sorrow, but her determination is inspiring, and Harris' powerful performance galvanizes the entire production. While Harris' forceful portrayal of Caroline provides director Terrence J. Nolen's production with its center, it doesn't overshadow the contributions made by other members of the ensemble. Rucker is spectacular as Caroline's loyal friend Dotty, and University of the Arts senior Elyse McKay Taylor is wonderful as Caroline's precocious daughter Emmie. Adam Heller delivers a pitch-perfect performance as Noah's detached father Stuart, and Sherri L. Edelen is superb as Noah's stepmother Rose — a transplanted New Yorker struggling to connect with a distant stepson and emotionally fallow husband.

James Kronzer and Justin Townsend's scenic and lighting designs allow the show's continuity to remain unbroken, and though Change is almost devoid of dance numbers, Patricia Scott Hobbs' choreography and Nolen's keen staging add to the production's persistent sense of movement.

The Arden's best productions focus on community, and in Change we meet a group of people separated by race, religion, class and ideology. Yet what they share is arguably far more significant. Restrained by an inequitable political system, all the characters are imprisoned by a lack of choice. The birth of the civil rights movement is a force for tremendous change, but in Louisiana change isn't welcomed by all.

The Arden's magnificent production raises important questions about choice and self-determination. The civil rights movement would eventually lead to opportunity for many disenfranchised Americans, but for a single mother of four working in a hot basement in 1963 Louisiana, the choices are few and the opportunities extremely limited.