Caroline, or Change

Act One

On a hot day in 1963 in Lake Charles, Louisiana, Caroline, a black maid who works for the Gellman family for $30 a month, launders clothes in the basement ("16 Feet Beneath The Sea"). Caroline keeps herself sane in the basement by imagining the items in the basement as people ("The Radio"/"Laundry Quintet"). The Gellmans' 8-year-old son Noah, whose mother has recently died of cancer, is attracted to Caroline, a no-nonsense single parent ("Noah Down The Stairs"). Caroline allows Noah to light her one cigarette each day, a secret they can share ("The Cigarette"). Caroline puts the laundry in the dryer and sings about her four kids and cleaning houses for 22 years ("The Dryer"/"I Got Four Kids").

Noah's new stepmother Rose cannot give Caroline a raise, but tells her to take some extra food home to her kids ("Caroline, There's Extra Food"); Caroline declines. Noah's father Stuart, despondent since his wife's death, tells Noah he has lost his faith ("There is No God, Noah"). Noah confesses that he hates Rose ("Rose Stopnick Can Cook"). Rose confesses to her father, Mr. Stopnick, that she is unhappy as well ("Long Distance").

After work, Caroline argues with her friend Dotty about each other's lifestyles ("Dotty and Caroline"). The moon rises as they wait for a bus ("Moon Change"). They discuss the recent mysterious destruction of a statue of a Confederate soldier at the courthouse ("Moon Trio"). The bus arrives with devastating news: President Kennedy has been assassinated ("The Bus"/"That Can't Be").

Rose tells Noah to stop leaving money in his pants pockets, and that any money Caroline finds in his laundry will be hers to keep ("Noah and Rose"). The Gellman family reminisces about the good President Kennedy did for the Jews and Dotty reminisces about the good he intended to do for African Americans ("Inside/Outside"/"JFK"). On the front porch of her house, Caroline tells her teenage daughter Emmie that the president is dead. Emmie says she does not care, because JFK never fulfilled his promises to the black community ("No One Waiting"/"Night Mama"). Noah, awake in his bedroom, asks Caroline what laws she would pass if she were president ("Gonna Pass Me a Law"/"Noah Goes To Sleep").

Rose tells Caroline she is allowed to keep any money she finds in Noah's pants, to supplement her salary and teach Noah a lesson ("Noah Has a Problem"). Noah and his father, Stuart, have trouble bonding ("Stuart and Noah"). Noah, aware of Caroline's situation, purposefully leaves his candy and comic book money in his pockets, as well as 75 cents ("Quarter in the Bleach Cup"). Caroline feels bad about keeping it, but does so, out of necessity. Caroline brings the money to Emmie, Jackie, and Joe who discuss all the things they can do and things they can buy with it ("Caroline Takes My Money Home"/"Roosevelt Petrucius Coleslaw").

Act Two

As Christmas approaches Caroline, ironing clothes in the basement, remembers her ex-husband, who was kind and thoughtful until he became abusive ("Santa Comin' Caroline"/"Little Reward"/"1943"). Rose tells Caroline to keep any money Stuart leaves in his clothes as well but Caroline snaps at Rose saying she does not need her pity or money and threatens her with the iron ("Mr. Gellman's Shirt"/"Ooh Child"). Rose then asks if she, Dotty, and Emmie will work at her upcoming Chanukah party ("Rose Recovers"). Emmie, Jackie, and Joe encourage her to keep taking the laundry money, because the family needs it ("I Saw Three Ships").

At the Chanukah party, Noah educates Emmie about the holiday ("The Chanukah Party"). Rose shoos Noah out of the kitchen ("Noah, Out! It's Very Rude") and Dotty tells Emmie about the courthouse statue ("Dotty and Emmie"). When Mr. Stopnick belittles Martin Luther King Jr.'s nonviolent civil disobedience, Emmie tells him white people have no right to be critical ("I Don't Want My Child To Hear That"/"Mr. Stopnick and Emmie"). Mr. Stopnick is impressed with Emmie's bravado, but Caroline tells her she cannot talk that way to white people; Emmie retorts that slavery is over. Caroline slaps Emmie ("Kitchen Fight"). Mr. Stopnick's Chanukah present to Noah is a $20 bill, intended as a life lesson about money and its value ("A Twenty Dollar Bill and Why"). At the bus stop, Emmie dreams of growing up to be independent and fighting for justice ("I Hate the Bus"). Back at the house, Stuart laments that he can give neither Rose nor Noah what they need ("Moon, Emmie, Stuart Trio").

Noah inadvertently leaves the $20 bill in his pants; after school he rushes to the basement, but Caroline has found it and says she is keeping it, per their agreement ("The Twenty Dollar Bill"). Noah and Caroline exchange racial insults, then Caroline returns the money and leaves ("Caroline and Noah Fight"). After five days, Caroline has not returned to work ("Aftermath"). Stuart and Rose find the bill and, in a rare display of parental instincts, confront Noah over what happened, but Noah is saved from punishment when Mr. Stopnick pretends the bill is his, satisfied that Noah learned his lesson. That Sunday on her way to church, Caroline realizes that the laundry money had only fostered greed and hatefulness; she asks God to free her from earthly desires ("Sunday Morning"/"Lot's Wife"). The radio sings of a fierce heartbreak ("Salty Teardrops"). At church, Caroline gives Emmie, Jackie, and Joe fierce hugs and accepts that her children will have better and different lives from the one she has had. ("How Long Has This Been Going On?").

Noah finally lets Rose tuck him into bed and kiss him goodnight. Caroline returns to work and assures Noah that although things will never be the same between them, Noah will learn to live with his sorrow and move on ("Why Does Our House Have a Basement?"/"Underwater"). Emmie reveals that she helped take down the Confederate soldier statue, and proudly sings that she is the daughter of a maid, but she will continue to work for a greater cause, and her children will have a brighter future. Jackie and Joe come out to shush her and she tells them that it is up to the children of Caroline Thibedeaux to change the future ("Epilogue").

• Caroline Thibodeaux: 39-year-old African-American maid for the Gellmans, a middle-class Jewish family
• Noah Gellman: The Gellmans' 8-year-old curious, sympathetic, and neurotic son
• Emmie Thibodeaux: Caroline's 16-year-old free-spirited daughter, supporter of Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement
• Rose Stopnick Gellman: Noah's concerned new stepmother from New York City, marries Stuart after his first wife's death
• Stuart Gellman: Professional clarinet player and Noah's father, mourning the loss of his wife
• Dotty Moffett: Friend of Caroline and fellow maid, takes night classes at the University
• The Radio: Domestic appliance portrayed by a Supremes-like trio, serves as a Greek Chorus for the show
• The Washing Machine: Domestic appliance portrayed by an actor, cleans clothes for the Gellmans and pushes Caroline to move forward in life
• The Dryer: Domestic appliance portrayed by an actor, torments Caroline throughout the show
• The Moon: Portrayed by an actor, is a calming and healing presence throughout the show
• The Bus: Portrayed by an actor, is the primary source of transportation for the African-American characters in the show
• Jackie Thibodeaux: Caroline's 10-year-old son
• Joe Thibodeaux: Caroline's 8-year-old son
• Mr. Stopnick: Rose's father, a Jewish man with a socialist ideology from New York City
• Grandpa Gellman: Noah's grandfather, Stuart's father
• Grandma Gellman: Noah's grandmother, Stuart's mother

• ​Caroline, or Change​ at the Internet Broadway Database
• Caroline, or Change at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Caroline, or Change at the Music Theatre International website
• Review of the Broadway production
• Review of the London production
• Tonya Pinkins – Downstage Center interview at American Theatre Wing.org