Why didn't Caroline, or Change work? — Page 2

Caroline has tied the top spot with Sweeney Todd as my favorite musical. It is simply a masterpiece in my opinion. The buzz on the show Off-Broadway and the ad artwork attracted me to the show. I is ashame that they had to make caroline look "perkier" to try to sell seats. Just says a lot about todays theatregoers. I really think that the "Phantom"/"Cats" era and Disney have groomed theatregoers into wanting spectacle and something they are familiar with. I much prefer a show that makes me think or sparks conversation after the show other than "Loved the chandelier" or "Loved the bubble thing she entered on". I enjoyed "Wicked" and "Phantom" but I also need shows like "Caroline". I also agree that they picked the wrong song for the Tony's but I think they were thinking that it was like another "Rose's Turn". What I read is that Tonya didn't want to do it but they insisted. And Tonya was under the weather the night of the Tony's, which didn't help. I can remember thinking, why waste the "Radio" girls on the opening to the show, why not feature them during the number from the show. JMO

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"Why do they need to leave the theatre humming "Lot's Wife?" They don't."

When people go to a musical, they usually expect to leave the theater humming something. The greatness of Sondheim is that he can make social statements while sending the audience away humming one of his tunes (except for that crappy "Passion").

The new crop of composers can't seem to grasp the fact that their shows would do better if they left their audience with a musical remnant.

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"I'm getting a little tired of this "blame the audience" mentality. If a show is good, it'll have a life SOMEWHERE, even if in regional theatres"

Ah, Caroline has been recieving well recieved and attended shows regionally. I saw a production in DC that was very well recieved and the current London production is being lauded by most reviewers and audience member.

London Critics said:
NICOLAS DE JONGH for THE EVENING STANDARD: "Caroline, Or Change turns out, therefore, to be a quaintly charming musical, beautifully acted."

MICHAEL BILLINGTON for THE GUARDIAN: "A remarkable musical...the real joy lies in finding a musical that combines compassion with social awareness." CHARLES SPENCER for THE DAILY TELEGRAPH says, "Amazing piece of music-theatre...Kushner's great achievement is to make the political personal in a work that combines great dramatic intensity with wild flights of fantasy and music of thrilling variety and strength...Tonya Pinkins is simply sensational in the title role"

BENEDICT NIGHTINGALE for THE TIMES: "Tesori’s score, which embraces Afro-American and Jewish music, rock and blues and gospel, does help to give the evening the size and significance it’s in danger of lacking."

ALEKS SIERZ for THE STAGE: "Enjoyable to watch and highly emotional."

PAUL TAYLOR for THE INDEPENDENT: "The staging by George C Wolfe is a pictorial joy. Caroline, or Change makes a delightful change from the usual no-brainer musical."

Into the Woods- Infectious.

Passion- Not so much.

Sondheim runs the gamut of audience like-ability.

I loved Caroline. LOVED IT. I think all of the reasons people have mentioned are all valid as to why it couldn't really find it's audience, but we have to also look at how we view black women in this country. What "we" find acceptable. Racism is very much alive. Maybe not as obvious as in some places, but that subtle liberal racism can be worse. A strong-willed opinionated black woman is very scary to some folks, especially when she draws their attention to their own hidden judgements about people and the roles they are "supposed" to play in our society.

I was visiting NYC during the run of the show. I happened to catch Broadway in the Alley, and was choosing which show to see that same afternoon. I see A LOT, and in that same trip I think I saw 4 or 5 other shows. I considered 'Caroline', but it had no real compelling attraction above other options.

I heard the girls sing the final trio from the show in the Alley, and ironically saw the Little Shop trio too, and I think I thought- 'ho hum, nothing new there'- it failed to capture even an interested party like me.

I have since seen the show in London, and I have to disagree with the earlier poster- I don't think this will still be around in 30 years time: it feels like a work that PRECEDES a landmark show.

First of all, great thread.

Second of all, I LOVE "Caroline," I think it's the best musical of the decade.

But the question was "why doesn't it work," and as far as commercial success is concerned, it didn't.

To answer this question, great theatre doesn't often work.

It really all depends on how you feel about what Tony Kushner has to say.

Most people were affected by "Angels in America."

I loved "Angels," and I also loved "Caroline." But as far as I'm concerned, Kushner's brilliant work was "Homebody/Kabul."

So why didn't "Caroline" work?

I can't say for sure. But here's my opinion. "Angels" and "Caroline" are very, very personal pieces of theatre.

I think Kushner is a genius. But his most brilliant play was something that he had no personal knowledge of.

I'm just saying.

Too much leaden allegorical clutter in the first third of the show that diverted attention away from Caroline. And the muddiest sound system on Broadway.

This show would benefit enormously from judicious editing and re-staging in a stripped down version.

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Caroline worked very well, I'd say.

And any writer who pens the lyric, "And hell's where Jews go when they die" probably knows that the show is not meant for mass wide spread appeal.

It's an intimate show, and it reached a lot of people, just not as many as Wicked.

I think there's a lot of self examination, and not a whole lot of plot, which is hard for some theatre goers to watch, and they tend to disconnect. I was extremely moved and involved, even though there isn't a whole lot of plot.

The music is great, and I absolutely do not understand the "hummable" statement.

The music is rangy, and captures ALOT of different styles, but there are some wonderfully catchy musical passages. Perhaps the lyrics are a bit too metaphoric and recitative-ish to be memorable.

But I left the theatre affected, and thought provoked.

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Updated On: 11/21/06 at 01:53 PM

You're right, Leander, it isn't really plot heavy. It centers on these small (and large) moments in the everyday life of a maid. In these moments come these leviathan metaphoric themes that are so huge that they are unbeknownst to Caroline herself. Sure she notices the change happening in the world and the children, but she cannot see the change happening within herself.

Caroline, or Change through it's intense and introspective score challenges the viewer to transcend beyond a "theatrical experience" and into the "human experience." This "human experience" wittily juxtaposed with the anthromorphic Moon, Radio, Washer and Bus.

Frankly, I like my theatre challenging.

Well, most theater isn't action oriented. That's what makes theater different from the movies. We don't have epic battles on stage, it's a different type of artform.

I think it is because everyone, I mean tourist, doesn't want to see something that is not Disney or a movie made into a musical. It scares them when they havent heard of something before. Or it might just be that it was too amazing and people couldnt handle that. I can't wait until it is revived in like 10-15 years.

I don't think the question was why it didn't "work" as much as why has it succeeded out of town and not in New York.