CAROLINE, OR CHANGE to Open Next Month at Omaha Community Playhouse

Caroline, or Change, running February 12 - March 20, 2016 in the Howard Drew Theatre at the Omaha Community Playhouse, is a powerful, sung-through musical set in Lake Charles, Louisiana, during the American civil rights movement. Caroline, an African-American maid, works in the Gellman home for a meager wage. Rose Gellman enlists Caroline's help in teaching her stepson, Noah, the value of money by allowing Caroline to keep any change he leaves in his pockets. Caroline is faced with the dilemma of taking money from a child in order to provide for her own children. As the large-scale social changes in the country take hold, her teenage daughter shows her that change can set her free. Soaring ballads along with unforgettable characters make this a can't-miss musical. Contains adult themes.

Set amid the American civil rights movement of the 1960s, this story begins on November 22, 1963, the day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, TX. This sets the tone for the enormous changes happening in Caroline's world. Such changes include a young boy's pocket change left in the laundry, changes in families, friendships, rules, the cycles of the moon, as well as powerful political and social changes happening in 1963 America. Caroline's world is mostly in the basement of the Gellman home, doing laundry. Her companions are The Washing Machine, The Dryer and The Radio, along with The Moon and The Bus, which symbolizes the Montgomery bus boycott that began the civil rights movement.

Caroline, or Change is written by Tony Kushner, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Angels in America, and the music is by Jeanine Tesori, who wrote the music for Shrek: The Musical and Thoroughly Modern Millie. The score for this musical includes a range of music types, including Motown, blues, traditional Jewish melodies, classical, Jewish Klezmer and gospel. Together, Kushner and Tesori received a Tony nomination for Best Musical for Caroline, or Change in 2004. The show was up against Wicked for Best Musical that year, and both lost to Avenue Q. Tesori won the 2004 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music for Caroline, or Change.

Production: Caroline, or Change

Credits: Book and Lyrics by Tony Kushner and Music by Jeanine Tesori

Director: Susan Baer Collins

Cast:

ACTOR ROLE

Echelle Childers Caroline Thibodeaux

Zhomontee Watson The Washing Machine

Rachel Busse The Radio

Dani Cleveland The Radio

Erin Florea The Radio

Daniel Denenberg Noah Gellman

Nik Whitcomb The Dryer, The Bus

Sara Planck Grandma Gellman

Jerry Van Horn Grandpa Gellman

Kimberly McGreevy Rose Stopnick Gellman

Scott Van Den Top Stuart Gellman

Regina Palmer Dotty Moffett

Kathy Banta The Moon

Aguel Lual Emmie Thibodeaux

Wayne Hudson Jackie Thibodeaux

Kundai Jacha Joe Thibodeaux

Joseph Dignoti Mr. Stopnick