The Musical Times are A-Changin’ – Soaring for the Better

Trembling with the weight of exhaustion, the aging Caroline Thibodeaux (Teisha Duncan) lifts her large, tortured and hauntingly expressive eyes skyward as she powerfully belts of her long sought-after freedom. betrally As ripples of penetrating emotion cascade down her weathered form, she finally comes to a resolution that defines the remainder of the musical.

Trapped between pride and necessity, the single mother laments the need to continue the arduous labor that surrounds her life as a maid, yet fears that without her meager earnings, her children would starve. While Caroline struggles to retain this tragic resolve, her daughter, Emmie (Elyse McKay Taylor) haughtily berates her for her degrading attitude and profession, proclaiming that her mother can teach her how to keep her head low.

“Caroline, or Change” takes place in the fall of 1963 surrounding the political strife during and after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

Caroline is an African-American maid to a Jewish family, the Gellmans, in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Noah Gellman (Daniel Henri Luttway) has recently lost his mother to cancer and maintains a strong attachment to Caroline as a result, since his departed parent was so fond of the gruff protagonist. Caroline responds by allowing him to light her cigarettes – a clandestine activity shared between the two lost souls, though the youth is much more openly accepting of their strange camaraderie.

Desperate to teach her step-son a lesson about the value of a dollar, Rose (Eileen Tepper) arranges to have all change carelessly left in his clothing prior to the wash for Caroline to keep (at which Caroline initially balks, but later accepts out of necessity). An interesting character, herself, Rose feels for Caroline’s plight and regularly voices a desire to assist her in any way she can, yet consistently mispronounces her name is “Carolyn.” Nervous and suspiciously accommodating, she tiptoes around her interlocutor, providing a subtle impression that she sees her more as a charity case than an equal.

Life after work is not much simpler, as the long bus ride only brings her to another share of problems and unwavering responsibilities. Emmie is becoming increasingly rebellious, and her two younger boys – Joe (River Aguirre) and Jackie (Barrington Walters Jr.) – need dental care. Meanwhile, her long-time friend, Dotty (played by the sweet-voiced Ellisha Marie Thomas) seemingly embodies the social changes surrounding the tumultuous political climate – she attends college at night and wears tidy white socks beneath her shoes, just as the rest of her classmates.

One of the most fantastic aspects of his musical is its many foils. Dotty embraces change and urges Caroline to do the same, which the latter fervently refuses, comfortable in her perpetually swelling bubble of misery. Rose feels the same despair toward Noah emotionally and Caroline does financially toward her own children. Noah feels a buried sadness and loneliness deep in his heart at the loss of his mother; Caroline is just as morose. لعبه القمار روليت

At the height of this is the solidifying tension between the two families. Rose feels an enormous amount of guilt as “the employer, the oppressor,” and as a result, none of their interactions carry an ounce of authenticity. She verbally steals around Caroline, though harbors a barrage of withheld resentment for her brusque employee’s attitude.

At the Gellmans’ Hannukah party, Rose’s father, Mr. Stopnick (Bill Weeden), visits from New York City and engages in one of the few truly genuine conversations between the two families. سباق الخيل Emmie is a believer in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s peaceful philosophy; he admires her youthful optimism, but claims that no real change can be made without violence, likening the plight of the African-American to that of the Jew.

As the debate between the two grows more ardent, Caroline immediately puts a stop to her daughter’s argument, which Mr. Stopnick laments, claiming that it was his only real conversation since he’s come to the South.

In this respect, “Caroline, or Change” is strange for a musical, in that it is so amazingly profound and complex – an honor generally reserved for straight plays. Fortunately, the respective talents at the Gallery Players, directed by Jeremy Gold Kronenberg, filled these gargantuan shoes with ease, with little surprise that the show was nominated at the coveted New York Innovative Theatre Awards (www.nyitaawards.com).
Duncan is captivating as the woefully conflicted Caroline. Possessing a remarkable ability to convey emotion through her eyes, she bonded to her character so intensely that the notion of simply acting seems unfathomable. Topping it off with a raw, booming voice, Duncan provided a performance that ranks as positively superb and more than deserving of a standing ovation.

Taylor’s Emmie is at once incredibly charismatic and deeply soulful. A fantastic dancer with a beautifully youthful voice, she possesses an endearing ability to fully engage the audience in her antics, whether playfully sharing scary tall-tales with her brothers (and a spiritually present Noah) by the light of the capricious Moon (Gisela Adisa), or astounding the audience with a heartfelt number about her dreams – both for herself and the world around her.

Tepper’s Rose is played with sensitivity and temperance, marking quick changes in tone and demeanor. Combined with her soft, bright voice, she adds a well-meaning fragility to the complex character of Rose Stopnick-Gellman.

In the backdrop of all this is a musical score rich in dissimilar, though smoothly compatible genres – from the swooning blues to the quirky klezmer. Especially inventive are the devices through which unvoiced parts of the story are conveyed – ranging from the Moon, the Washing Machine (Marcie Henderson) and the Dryer/Bus (Frank Viveros) to the The Supremes-esque Radio (Heather Davis, Markeisha Ensley, Nikki Stephenson) almost acting as the Greek Chorus for the production.

Not at all surprisingly, the vocal quality of each respective performer was absolutely top-notch. Viveros, especially, showed impressive range as the comically mischievous Dryer and the somberly touching Bus.
Capturing the essence of the swinging ‘60s, “Caroline, or Change” packs a triple-threat in character, subject and musical depth. Though the Tony Award-winning Broadway run may have ended, that of Broadway in Brooklyn is in full swing, presented beautifully in the basement theatre at 199 14th Street.

Though nothing may be underground in Louisiana, as Caroline ruefully suggests, the bottom level of the Gallery Players contains a unique spectacle – full of music and song; political strife and familial ardor – one certainly not to be missed.

Photo by Bella Muccari