About the work
Caroline, or Change is a through-composed musical by Jeanine Tesori (music) and Tony Kushner (lyrics and book), premiered Off-Broadway in 2003 and on Broadway in 2004. Kushner's strongly autobiographical work is set in 1960s Louisiana.
Plot
In 1963, the Black maid Caroline Thibodeaux works for a Jewish family in rural Louisiana, in the stifling basement between washing machine and dryer. A single mother, embittered by her meagre life, she develops an unusual relationship with the grieving eight-year-old Noah, whose mother has died. A conflict over the loose change Noah leaves in his pockets becomes the focal point for questions of dignity, poverty, and race relations—against the backdrop of the awakening civil rights movement.
Cultural significance
Caroline, or Change is regarded as one of the most literarily and musically demanding American musicals. Jeanine Tesori's score combines spirituals, klezmer, Motown, blues, and classical music into a polyphonic soundscape in which even the washing machine, dryer, and moon become singing characters. Tony Kushner's text addresses race, class, and social change with rare depth. The work is esteemed as a modern masterpiece.