After an acclaimed run Off-Broadway, Caroline, or Change, opened at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre May 2, 2004, starring Tony Award winner Tonya Pinkins in the title role. The production played 22 previews and 136 performances, closing August 29. Directed by Tony Award winner George C. Wolfe, Caroline, or Change earned six Tony nominations, with Anika Noni Rose winning Best Featured Actress in a Musical.
With book and lyrics by the Tony- and Pulitzer-winning Tony Kushner (Angels in America) and music by Tony Award winner Jeanine Tesori (Thoroughly Modern Millie, Fun Home), Caroline, or Change tells the story of a black woman working as a maid for a Jewish family in 1963 Louisiana, where she is allowed to keep the pocket change she finds while doing laundry. This becomes a point of pride and even crisis for Caroline, who cannot cope with greater changes in her life and in the growing Civil Rights movement.
The 2004 production also starred Chuck Cooper as the Dryer/The Bus, Reathel Bean as Grandpa Gellman, Harrison Chad as Noah Gellman, Tracy Nicole Chapman as the Radio, David Costabile as Stuart Gellman, Veanne Cox as Rose Stopnick Gellman, Aisha de Haas as The Moon, Marcus Carl Franklin as Joe Thibodeaux, Marva Hicks as the Radio, Capathia Jenkins as the Washing Machine, Larry Keith as Mr. Stopnick, Ramona Keller as the Radio, Alice Playten as Grandma Gellman, Leon G. Thomas III as Jackie Thibodeaux, and Chandra Wilson as Dotty Moffett. Standbys were Sy Adamowsky (Noah Gellman), Shannon Antalan (The Radio, Emmie Thibodeaux), Sue Goodman (Grandma Gellman, Rose Stopnick Gellman), Donald Grody (Grandpa Gellman, Mr. Stopnick), Adam Heller (Stuart Gellman), Vanessa Jones (The Radio, Dotty Moffett, The Moon), Ledisi (The Washing Machine, The Radio), Adriane Lenox (Caroline Thibodeaux), Brandi Chavonne Massey (The Radio), Milton Craig Nealy (The Dryer, The Bus), and Chevon Rutty (Jackie Thibodeaux, Joe Thibodeaux)
The musical featured choreography by Hope Clarke, scenic design by Riccardo Hernandez, costume design by Paul Tazewell, lighting design by Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer, and sound design by Jon Weston with stage management by Rick Steiger, Lisa Dawn Cave, and Kevin Bertolacci.
For a complete list of the cast and creative team, visit playbillvault.com/carolineorchange.
As previously announced, the Michael Longhurst-helmed revival of Caroline, or Change, starring Sharon D. Clarke, is scheduled to return to Broadway in the fall with Roundabout Theatre Company.
