Review: CAROLINE, OR CHANGE at Moonbox Productions

Caroline, or Change

Book and Lyrics by Tony Kushner, Music by Jeanine Tesori; Producer, Sharman Altshuler; Director, Allison Olivia Choat; Music Director, Dan Rodriguez; Production Stage Manager, Elizabeth Yvette Ramirez; Production Manager, Jo Williams; Assistant Director, Arthur Gomez; Set Design, Janie E. Howland; Lighting Design, Jeffrey E. Salzberg; Assistant Music Director, Mindy Cimini; Properties Design, E. Rosser; Sound Design, David Wilson; Costume Design, Joelle Fontaine; Choreographer, Yewande Odetoyinbo

CAST (in order of appearance): Yewande Odetoyinbo, Pier Lamia Porter, Maria Hendricks, Aliyah Harris, Lovely Hoffman, Ben Choi-Harris, Davron S. Monroe, Sarah Kornfeld, Ellen Peterson, Kevin C. Groppe, Robert Orzalli, Lyndsay Allyn Cox, Kira Troilo, Mark Johnson, Razan Mohamed, Phil Thompson

Performances through May 11 by Moonbox Productions at Wimberly Theatre, at the Calderwood Pavilion, Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont Street, Boston, MA; Box Office 617-933-8600 or www.moonbox.org

In 1963, according to a prescient Bob Dylan song, the times they are a-changin' in myriad ways, with the assassination of President Kennedy on the horizon, the Vietnam War looming half a world away, and the Civil Rights movement rumbling to life. But in Lake Charles, Louisiana, in the muggy, damp basement of the Gellman household, Caroline Thibodeaux labors at her daily tasks of laundry and cleaning, unaware of the storm clouds forming in the external world. There are more than enough thunderheads in her job and family life to keep a weather eye on without getting caught up in changes she can't control.

It turns out that pocket change has the greatest impact on Caroline (Yewande Odetoyinbo) and her relationships with the Gellmans. When eight-year-old Noah (Ben Choi-Harris), a sad little boy who recently lost his mother to cancer, repeatedly leaves coins in the pockets of his pants headed for the laundry, his stepmother Rose (Sarah Kornfeld) instructs the maid to keep the money to teach him a lesson. In doing so, Rose unwittingly shoves a wedge between the two, as Caroline becomes her pawn, and Noah defies her by intentionally "donating" his nickels, dimes, and quarters to the cause of Caroline's impoverished family. She feels guilty keeping the money, but likes that it affords her to give her kids an occasional treat. Noah feels big-hearted and secretly connected to their family, until he accidentally forgets about a twenty-dollar bill that his grandfather gave him, leading to a nasty verbal tug-of-war between Noah and Caroline that rends the fabric of their affinity for each other.

Caroline, or Change is Tony Kushner's (book and lyrics) semi-autobiographical, sung-through musical, with music by Jeanine Tesori (Fun Home), that had its origins Off-Broadway in 2003, before transferring to Broadway in 2004 for 136 performances and receiving six Tony nominations. In the ensuing years, it had numerous productions in regional theaters and London, and it has long been on Moonbox Productions' short list, according to Producer and Artistic Director Sharman Altshuler. Under the direction of Allison Olivia Choat, the Moonbox staging is a solid effort with a cohesive ensemble, excellent musical direction and vocals, and vivid design elements.

However, for some reason that I can't quite put my finger on, the show feels a lot longer than its two hour running time, perhaps because the book attempts to cover so much territory. The Gellman family drama includes the grieving father Stuart (Robert Orzalli), sleepwalking through the aftermath of his wife's death, unable to express his feelings other than through his clarinet; the fish-out-of-water stepmother, relocated from New York, desperately missing her former life and failing to fit into her new family; and Noah's feelings of grief and abandonment, causing him to lean too much on Caroline. At home, she faces a generational divide with Emmie (Kira Troilo, very good), her 16-year-old daughter who is riding the tide of the Civil Rights movement, two younger children (Mark Johnson, Razan Mohamed) who need more time than she has for them, and worrying about her eldest boy Larry serving in Vietnam.

Odetoyinbo is a force with a set of pipes that can knock you back in your seat. She captures the many facets of Caroline, effectively using her body language to show the burdens she bears. As a character who is struggling to keep it all together, she is given alter egos who voice some of Caroline's inner aspects, in the anthropomorphized form of the Washing Machine (Pier Lamia Porter, also the Moon), the Dryer (Davron S. Monroe, also the Bus), and the Radio (Maria Hendricks, Aliyah Harris, Lovely Hoffman). Their outstanding singing, in a variety of musical styles, melds with Odetoyinbo to create some powerful moments. Rounding out the cast are Ellen Peterson (Grandma Gellman) and Kevin C. Groppe (Grandpa Gellman) as Stuart's warm and liberal parents, Phil Thompson (Mr. Stopnick) as Rose's overbearing father visiting from New York for Chanukah, and Lyndsay Allyn Cox (Dotty Moffett) as Caroline's friend and sounding board, also a maid, but with a very different outlook on life.

Caroline, or Change is the kind of musical that is in the wheelhouse of Moonbox Productions. While they have gathered together most of the pieces of the puzzle, the many strengths must contend with the underlying weakness that is the overreach of the book. The upstairs/downstairs concept creates a dichotomy that divides our loyalties, and ultimately I found myself not caring much about the Gellmans as Choi-Harris' Noah needs more breadth and volume, and Caroline's narrative is far more compelling. There are important themes represented here, and poignant moments in our history to revisit, but it feels like it's time for new voices to be heard.

Photo credit: Sharman Altshuler (Yewande Odetoyinbo; Rear L to R: Pier Lamia Porter, Mark Johnson, Ben Choi-Harris, Razan Mohamed, Kira Troilo)

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