RECKONING WITH HISTORY Another divisive issue plaguing the country in the years since Caroline, or Change first opened is the debate over whether statues honoring Confederate soldiers should be removed or left in place. However, as happens when the Confederate statue is destroyed in Caroline, or Change, this debate almost always leads to drawn-out conflict.


One of the best examples of this conflict is over New Orleans’s Liberty Place Monument. According to The New York Times, the monument “commemorated a violent uprising by white Democrats against the racial integration of the city’s police force and the Republicans who governed Louisiana...From 1932 until 1993, the monument bore a plaque that said, in part, that the ‘national election of November 1876 recognized white supremacy in the South and gave us our state,’ the city statement said. In 1993, the City Council voted to remove the obelisk, but instead the plaque was covered with a new one that read: ‘In honor of those Americans on both sides who died in the Battle of Liberty Place’ and called it ‘a conflict of the past that should teach us lessons for the future.’” Amidst candlelight vigils and protests, New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu finally ordered the statue’s removal in 2017.


This debate has even flared in Lake Charles, where Caroline, or Change is set, as recently as 2015. In July of that year, the Lake Charles City Council “voted 4-2 against a resolution requesting the Calcasieu Police Jury remove the [South’s Defender’s Monument, depicting a Confederate Soldier], with council members Mary Morris and Rodney Geyen voting in favor of the resolution. After the meeting Morris told KPLC, ‘Everybody wants their family, their children, to know about history and we all want to know about history, but for the African Americans it was a dark time in their history.’”


IS BROADWAY READY FOR CAROLINE? Tony Kushner himself notes that the events of Caroline, or Change predicted the future better than he expected. In referencing the removal of Confederate statues, he stated, “‘I really hoped it would happen someday. I did take my best shot at guessing what might be of lasting significance, and I’m proud of that.’”


The marquee for Roundabout's 2020 revival of Caroline, or Change at Studio 54


Not only has the country caught up to the plot of Caroline, or Change since its original production, but Broadway has also made itself a more hospitable environment. When the original production opened in May 2004, there were 21 other musicals running on Broadway and only one other was a drama. In his review of the original Broadway production, New York Times critic Ben Brantley notes that Tonya Pinkins (playing Caroline), “finds herself having to win over midtown audiences who prefer their musical stars brassy, outgoing and panting to please.”


In recent years, though, the criteria for what it takes to make a “hit” have shifted. While Caroline, or Change was originally produced by The Public Theatre, most of its companions on Broadway in 2003 were purely commercial runs. Shows like Wicked and Taboo were seen out of town before coming to Broadway, but the trend of musicals transferring from not-for- profit theaters within New York was relatively new at that time. In contrast, the last five winners of the Best Musical Tony Award were transfers from not-for-profit, off-Broadway theatres— including both Fun Home (2015) and Hamilton (2016) also coming from The Public.


Another change in 2020 is that audiences are also embracing musicals that deal with weightier, more muscular topics. Also opening on Broadway this season are Sing Street, Girl from the North Country, and Jagged Little Pill, all of which transferred from the not-for-profit space, and all of which engage in one way or another with issues like racism, poverty, and drug addiction. Compared with shows like Avenue Q and Wicked that trade in comedy, puppetry, and magic, the musicals keeping Caroline, or Change company this season feel more in line with its tone.


Broadway, now more than ever, has become a place where people go not only to escape but also to confront the darkness in the world around us. In this way, Caroline, or Change provides a perfect vessel for us all to reflect and grow.•


CAROLINE, OR CHANGE UPSTAGE GUIDE


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