TS: How have you collaborated with Tony Kushner on this project? ML: As I was preparing to direct this show the first time, I had a series of extensive conversations with Tony on the phone, really just trying to find my way into the nuance of the piece as an English director—particularly race relations in 1963 in Lake Charles. And to understand what that was like in this household he and Jeanine are portraying and in the context of the wider picture. The piece is partly autobiographical—it’s about a Jewish family in Lake Charles, and that’s an incredibly small community. So Tony and I talked a lot about the specifics of race relations between the Jewish community and the African-American community in his hometown, about Jim Crow laws, and how civil rights progress was manifesting locally.
I was very keen to make sure that I understood what the dinner party was like for Emmie when she was with the white family. How does privilege function in this “polite” family? He would tell me amazing stories and anecdotes of his childhood, and all of this fleshed out the world of the play. And then he came into rehearsals and did a Q&A with the cast, which was beautiful because there were details he could share that were just gold for us. He talked about giving up the cello as a kid and having a big fight with his dad about not wanting to play it anymore. It was wonderful having him there, sharing like that.
TS: Can you talk about the atmosphere you try to create in a rehearsal room? What is your process on this musical like? ML: Fundamentally, I believe my role is to make a rehearsal space that empowers actors to do their best work, where we collectively interrogate the specifics of the story so we can bring it to life in the most thrilling and moving way.
I’m not Jewish, I’m not African American. So, working on Caroline, or Change was about helping a British cast understand those perspectives. During the early part of rehearsals, we were doing research together; we were creating timelines and watching documentaries in order to get a sense of the world and deliver it accurately.
TS: I am curious what you looked for in the American actors you have cast. Were there specific traits that you wanted? ML: Because this show is entirely sung, we always have started with the voice. Stage one is about who can deliver the score. The next stage is accessing the psychological insight that they can bring to the character. The standard of talent in New York is thrilling. There’s a greater diversity of talent—more people to choose from working in the field. We were really able to choose the best people.
TS: Your musical director is Chris Fenwick, correct? ML: Yes, Chris Fenwick is the musical director in New York, a long-term collaborator of Jeanine’s over here. Nigel Lilley, who was the original musical director, is the musical supervisor now. Nigel had helped me find some singers for a play I directed. So, I absolutely trusted his ear since I had auditioned performers with him in the past. Nigel’s precision working with the actors to deliver the score and his skill translating the dynamics of Jeanine’s score and the psychology behind why those dynamics exist was invaluable.
For me, it is akin to directing Shakespeare. The structure of the verse dictates the rhythm and meaning. It’s the same with a musical score. I have such respect for the artists who can sing a set melody but make it feel like an utterly fresh thought.
It’s really fulfilling as a director to have co-creators in the room. Directing plays can get very lonely sometimes, whereas in musicals there’s actually a really nice tag team of who is leading the room that can happen.
Director Michael Longhurst in
rehearsal for Caroline, or Change Photo: Jeremy Daniel
TS: Ann Yee is the choreographer. Why did you choose to collaborate with her on this musical? ML: Ann Yee is an American and just a wonderful person to collaborate with. She had worked in England, and I had met her years earlier. We had done a little bit of work together, but I hadn’t worked extensively— so it was great to finally be working on a musical that justified bringing her back over to England.
There’s a complex domestic family portrait in this musical and a lot of magical realism, and our collaboration was about how to harness the playfulness. We also had to make sure that these forces were swirling around Caroline and putting pressure on her. We explored the Radio as a Greek chorus rather than a step-tapping trio. That idea allowed us to bring the anthropomorphized appliances in the show to life.
With Ann’s choreography, every floor pattern and movement was discovered and then set with the performers. Ann’s work was all about understanding the intention of a character and how that might manifest in space. And for certain characters, that was polished into tighter choreography, but sometimes it was just about the dynamic of the space and realizing the story on Fly Davis’s abstract minimal design, which uses a revolve in order to convey the cycles of life, work, and change.•
CAROLINE, OR CHANGE UPSTAGE GUIDE
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