Caroline or Change: Playhouse Theatre

[tmesis]

This is a hard one to sum up....

(Incidentally I saw this at NT and can't remember a single thing about it except that I didn't enjoy it.)

...well I did enjoy this but mainly  for the excellent performances; obviously Sharon D. Clarke is sensational (she always is) but the whole cast gave a very nuanced performance. This is a through-composed musical and the actors almost made you forget they were singing, so subtle were the performances. The boy playing Noah was really good and he had very clear diction (the best in the cast.) Also a really good band and, for once in a fringe theatre, exemplary sound-balance. The set and staging was very imaginative.

It's the piece itself I found a bit lacking. Musically it was cleverly (operatically) constructed but there are no stand-out numbers. However, it was musically subtle, with none of the ridiculously histrionic nonsense in so many of the current WE musicals. There was no dramatic or musical arc to the piece though and the very end is quite lame.

Enjoyable as it is, I'm baffled by the WE transfer - despite the fairly large cast it still feels like a fringe musical.

[AddisonMizner]

I saw this as well this afternoon, and would agree with much of the above. I did enjoy it, and thought it was good. The piece is very interesting, and something very different from your average musical. I liked the melting pot of musical styles that was evident within the score.

However, it left me a little cold. I think it is because there is no real dramatic arc. The piece is essentially about stasis, and therefore for me is not very compelling dramatically. Caroline’s 11 o’clock number (“Lot’s Wife”) was the only time I felt a lift and emotional connection in the proceedings, but as said above, I felt that the epilogue was a little flat. I really wanted to love it, as it is normally the sort of thing I adore, and as I say I did think it was good, just it was missing that bit of spark for me to make it outstanding. However, it may be a piece that grows on you, so may give it another go come West End transfer.

[tonyloco]

Mar 24, 2018 19:27:13 GMT tmesis said:

It's the piece itself I found a bit lacking. Musically it was cleverly (operatically) constructed but there are no stand-out numbers. However, it was musically subtle, with none of the ridiculously histrionic nonsense in so many of the current WE musicals. There was no dramatic or musical arc to the piece though and the very end is quite lame.

Yes, tmesis, that rather describes how I too felt about the piece, which I also saw this afternoon. Wonderful performances from all the cast as well as a great orchestra but I wasn't particularly moved as I was expecting to be.

[mallardo]

Mar 24, 2018 19:27:13 GMT tmesis said:

It's the piece itself I found a bit lacking. Musically it was cleverly (operatically) constructed but there are no stand-out numbers. However, it was musically subtle, with none of the ridiculously histrionic nonsense in so many of the current WE musicals. There was no dramatic or musical arc to the piece though and the very end is quite lame.

If the end is "lame" then there is something very wrong with this production - which I have not seen.

Not only does the last number, "Emmie's Dream", contain a major plot revelation but the strong affirmation of Caroline by her three children - after all has been said and done - is about as powerful a moment as one could ask for to bring this story of class, race and family to a close.  I well remember catching the original Broadway production back in '04 and leaving the theatre drained and exhilarated - and knowing that I had just seen a genuine masterpiece.

[Deleted]

Mar 25, 2018 7:18:57 GMT mallardo said:

Mar 24, 2018 19:27:13 GMT tmesis said:

It's the piece itself I found a bit lacking. Musically it was cleverly (operatically) constructed but there are no stand-out numbers. However, it was musically subtle, with none of the ridiculously histrionic nonsense in so many of the current WE musicals. There was no dramatic or musical arc to the piece though and the very end is quite lame.

If the end is "lame" then there is something very wrong with this production - which I have not seen.

Not only does the last number, "Emmie's Dream", contain a major plot revelation but the strong affirmation of Caroline by her three children - after all has been said and done - is about as powerful a moment as one could ask for to bring this story of class, race and family to a close.  I well remember catching the original Broadway production back in '04 and leaving the theatre drained and exhilarated - and knowing that I had just seen a genuine masterpiece.

I think the thing with this musical is that it's not of the same ilk as your standard West End Musical. It's more operatic crossed with a play or some such thing. In the same way that all of Kushner's work is this melting pot (reference intended) of theatrical styles that are for once very much uniquely him.

And love it or loathe it (and the latter is totally fine) I just think it doesn't make for comparisons with 'normal' musicals. 

I haven't seen this one yet, and likewise have very little memory of the NT production. But I think describing the plot as 'lame' does somewhat undersell the subtitles but also the power in the story told. 

As someone said on Twitter yesterday imagine being so famous for your writing that Caroline or Change is the one you're least known for...

[Deleted]

My whole family saw the show

And we all admired it

The performances are excellent

But I saw the Broadway and NT staging

And what let’s the CFT version down

Is a cheap and nasty staging and set

The story is both small and large in scope

The vocals in this show can fill a theatre small or large

But the current staging lacks the visual appeal ambition and scale

To fulfill WE expectations

As I said the original NT Broadway staging was that much more extensive and lavish

I would say the current production is badly let down by a lack of budget and this is why it comes across as a fringe show

It’s a shame as Emmi says the themes are universal and powerful

Things like pushing props on and off the set creaking and the revolve squeaking
Don’t help
And the diction of mane cast members is poor

You can’t get away with garbled words in a show like this

I fear for the WE transfer as the show is inferior in all aspects as far as staging design lighting costumes go and this seems a sad reason as it pulls down the whole thing


If it’s being presented like a chamber opera

Then it also fails somewhat
The father
The grandparents
Some of the small children

Are at times inaudible

It’s fine to present an intimate piece
But you need to be 100% on the sound clarity

At the moment the shows doesn’t quite fit into any specific category and it doesn’t to anything to maximum potential

Take a comparison like 42nd street

A massive show but actually every line and word is audible

Caroline is in a tiny venue and you have to strain to hear some of the words
Many

I know the lyrics so have an advantage

It’s such a shame

I feel so strongly about this show
The NT run was the first year I worked on the Oliviers

So it has a special place for me
The cast and creative and production team were so overwhelmed

[Deleted]

Indeed Parsley- it's got so much richness, and a shame if it is being lost in the production. Conversely I saw someone who hated the NT staging raving about this one. I shall make up my own mind on Friday!

[sf]

Mar 25, 2018 11:23:40 GMT @parsley said:

And the diction of mane cast members is poor

I can't imagine neighing does a great deal for Ms. Tesori's music, but since there's green space behind the theatre it'll at least be easy for those cast members with manes to graze between shows.

[Deleted]

Mar 25, 2018 16:12:56 GMT sf said:

Mar 25, 2018 11:23:40 GMT @parsley said:

And the diction of mane cast members is poor

I can't imagine neighing does a great deal for Ms. Tesori's music, but since there's green space behind the theatre it'll at least be easy for those cast members with manes to graze between shows.

Such a valuable
Contribution

It’s so witty

You can perhaps stage a one person show

[Deleted]

The original Broadway staging was not particularly lavish as far as Broadway goes, nor has the staging for any of the regional productions I have seen been particularly lavish. The show really does not require it.

[sempala]

I wouldn't say lavish but they were definitely much more clever and worked more! I cannot get over how the moon in this production is literally a woman sat in a chair!

I personally love the set pictured above, it was used for the Roundhouse production of the show with Novah as Caroline.

Heres another well-working set:


Although not lavish, they are definitely luxury compared to what Chichester have prepared - which I can understand as Minerva is a tiny theatre, but this show could have been staged effectively in the main one.

[stevemar]

I saw this last week. I agree with the posters here where perhaps I wasn’t as emotionally moved as in some musicals or plays. That is not necessarily a criticism, as it is more a play of Caroline’s anger and trying to survive by being as hard hearted as possible to insulate herself from the disappointments of life, before she realises she has to move forwards. This is a really original piece of theatre - not the usual musical with big songs, until “Lot’s Wife”.

I had forgotten about the Jewish element, and could only remember the washing machine from the National prodiction, so maybe any weakness is in the writing rather than the production. 

No problems with the diction, but I was lucky enough to be in the front row, where the experience was pretty intense. The performances are first rate - particularly the boy playing Noah, Caroline’s friend, the actresss playing the daughter grew in strength, and the super Radio trio. Sharon D Clarke is a powerhouse - it’s true she doesn’t really do “meek or mild” but this production really played to her strengths. Superlative performances all round.

I do hope this finds an audience on the transfer - perhaps the Hampstead run was to create the buzz it needed. A shame ticket prices are (predictably) so much higher in the West End.

[sf]

I saw the show this afternoon. I'm sure I'll eventually write a blog post... but it won't be tomorrow.

In terms of the writing, I think it's a masterpiece (I was familiar with the recording, which is complete, but I'd never seen it before), and Jeanine Tesori's gorgeous music is even better than Tony Kushner's libretto - as it should be, because this is a show where the music, more often than not, is the element that carries the drama, rather than the words. I think this is a very, very strong production indeed, albeit done on a more intimate scale, and there's something to be gained from seeing these characters up close. I thought the design elements worked well, and the moon and the radio were terrific. Superb performances, and it was a very nice surprise, in such a relatively small theatre, to get a full-size band delivering the original orchestratons. I mean, "full-size" in this case isn't huge - I think 11 musicians plus a conductor - but I wouldn't have been shocked if they'd trimmed the budget there too, and I actually appreciate that they spent less on the set and more on the music, because usually the orchestra is the first thing that gets cut back. The show is, after all, basically an opera, and Tesori and Kushner describe it as such in the programme. Sharon D. Clarke very, very good indeed, but so was everyone else.

Whether it's a sure bet for the West End is another question. It's hard work, you can't sit back and let it wash over you, and while I did find the last ten minutes of the show extremely moving, up until that point it's a slow burner. The reviews are very strong, though, and that could be enough to make it viable for a limited run... but whether it's good (it is) and whether it will sell are two very different questions.

Oh yes, and my seat. I've sat in row Q in the circle in the Hampstead Theatre before, but only on the very outermost seat at the end of the row. This time, I was in one of the innermost seats, next to the booth. I expect my knees and ankles to have recovered by the weekend, and I am very grateful for the miracle that is ibuprofen.

[AddisonMizner]

I’m sure I read somewhere that trimming the band isn’t an option. Tesoro won’t grant the rights unless it is the full original orchestrations.

[sf]

Mar 29, 2018 7:41:29 GMT AddisonMizner said:

I’m sure I read somewhere that trimming the band isn’t an option. Tesoro won’t grant the rights unless it is the full original orchestrations.

Really? I know, because I have friends who saw it, that the Canadian premiere of the show - a professional production at CanStage in Toronto - used a band of five, with new orchestrations by the musical director.

[paddy72]

Saw the matinee yesterday and for me it was mesmerising. Perfect in every way. After some of the recent musical revivals elsewhere it was great to have my faith restored in their ability to be transformative. And how wonderful to see proper actors of every age who can really act and sing as one. Can’t praise this show enough. Can’t wait to see it again in November.

[Deleted]

Apr 1, 2018 8:55:24 GMT paddy72 said:

Saw the matinee yesterday and for me it was mesmerising. Perfect in every way. After some of the recent musical revivals elsewhere it was great to have my faith restored in their ability to be transformative. And how wonderful to see proper actors of every age who can really act and sing as one. Can’t praise this show enough. Can’t wait to see it again in November.

In November? Did I miss a transfer announcement?

[Deleted]

Must have done, it's off to the Playhouse in November.

[Deleted]

Well. I'm afraid this left me so cold I spent the whole show thinking about doing my own washing. Not that I do my own washing of course. And I don't think Mrs Char would have appreciated me calling her at 11:00pm but even still, it made me think of it.

That's not to say that the cast didn't give it some wellie. They all have big ranges and liked to show 'em off. Even Whitney Houston (God rest her soul) might have suggested they toned it down a bit. Sharon D. Clarke was very good as you would expect (although I did think she struggled with the higher range a touch) but the show was stolen by the little boy playing Noah. He was wonderful. I think it was Charlie Gallacher.

Oh, and I just adored Angela Caesar as The Moon in her variety of headdresses clinging onto her swing for dear life while belting out a couple of big notes. Also liked how Ako Mitchell manfully carried on as The Dryer while no doubt experiencing second degree burns from having a glow stick wrapped around his neck. Alastair Brookshaw with a lovely voice was also very good as Acker Bilk. And we had a smashing moment (literally) when Lauren Ward (playing Rose) stumbled up the stairs and smashed the lid of her casserole dish, meaning that we were treated to the sight of a stage hand crawling around the back of the stage clearing it up while the show continued like Mica Paris searching for a paracetamol at 'Starlight Express'.

Don't know if I'd have like to have been the person charged with keeping Sharon D. Clarke's outfit so pristine though. I didn't spot a single smudge.

Oh and the line about where Jews go when they die raised a few gasps in the audience. Standing ovation at the end of course. I don't think they get out much in Swiss Cottage.

[sempala]

Any comments on the radio?

[Deleted]

Saw this on Friday, from front row 'restricted' seats that were barely restricted (just missed a bit of the moon and Noah upstairs, but still a bargain). I'll write a proper review at some point but for now.

I saw this 10 years ago at the NT and remember shockingly little. I do remember appreciating the lyrical and storytelling elements but not feeling terribly emotionally involved. And when listening to the music in subsequent years I did think in passing that I'd probably get a lot more from it today. Thankfully that was the case. Not only did my now more evolved musical palate appreciate the orchestrations and lyrics more, but also the nuances of the story.

It's not a traditional musical, and as I said further up the thread, Kushner in this and in his other work really does make it a style all his own (for better or worse depending on whether you take to it). It's not the kind of score to have you humming the hits, but i guess that's really not the point. Would I want all musicals like this? no but likewise I wouldn't want all musicals to be Bat Out Of Hell, but I very much appreciate that for it's existence also, in another way.

Back to the production and the staging and intimate venue really added to it as well- I do feel that it gets a bit 'lost' in larger venues like the Olivier. But being in there did feel like being inside the house with them. I loved the realism of that setting against the surreal fantasy segments. Which I also thought were staged really effectively.

This time around I was particularly struck by the Dad's story- and that he barely speaks except 'through' his clarinet. A lovely detail, and a really moving one.

A lot of people have said that they aren't moved by this-which I can fully see, it's the intellectual hangover (as I like to call it) that Kushner's work leaves you with, mulling over it days later. Which I'm certainly still doing. That said though, I bawled through 'Lot's Wife' and it's been years since a single number in a musical did that to me. I don't even quite know why- and perhaps it was just one of those nights i was inclined to cry at something but it really was a sensational performance of that number.

Shallow shout out to the Kelly Rowland circa 2003 wigs that The Radio wear though.

[Deleted]

Apr 3, 2018 15:30:55 GMT @theatremonkey said:

The radio trio sort of irritated me. I expected them to move in perfect sync, and they didn't. To me it just looked very untidy - like they had been told to work together and for some reason couldn't get it together outside of the rehearsal room.

So the wigs were a sign....they WERE Destiny's Child circa 2003. 

[Steve]

My heart was broken not once, but twice.

Some spoilers follow. . .

The last Kushner to play the Hampstead, iHo, struck me as overly intellectual, and apart from David Calder and Sara Kestleman eliciting a twinge of emotion, the clever debates left me cold and a little confused.

This was the polar opposite for me: flawed people, trying their best to control their anger at others and at themselves, failing and falling into dysfunction at every turn; characters as complex as iHo, but so comprehensibly real and heartfelt that every plot progression and twist felt utterly earned, such that I liked EVERY character (including the least likeable of all, Alastair Brookshaw's negligent and withdrawn Stuart Gellman), and had my heart broken by two, perhaps predictably, Sharon D. Clarke's raging Caroline, but less predictably Lauren Ward's apparently meek, yet equally emotionally wrecked, Rose Stopnick Gellman.

Unlike in iHo, political debate here was anything but dry, wherein the discussion between Grandpa Gelman and Caroline flowed so directly from the dramatic setup, with regard to class and money and race and circumstance, that I was on tenterhooks.

The songs were operatic, and sometimes alienating, in the sense that they were closer to sing-speaking, than traditional musical theatre songs, but they were so intrinsically tied to the emotions and drama of every moment, that I was transfixed, and broke down myself when Rose and Caroline broke down.

For me, a masterpiece of writing and production, with the only drawback being that audiences, unfamiliar with the show, might lack clarity as to what and who all the non-human characters are.

I'm overjoyed the show is transferring and will definitely book to see this again.

5 stars.

[david]

Just watched this at today’s matinee. I’ve got to say, this absolutely blew me away with all the vocal talent that was displayed. Obviously, Sharon D. Clarke did not disappoint and was an absolute powerhouse as usual. The rest of the cast were also stunning, though a big shout out to the 3 young lads today, who really gave great performances alongside the adults.

The fact that it was in such an intimate setting I think helped with getting the emotions of the songs across to the audience. I wonder if the transfer to the Playhouse later on this year will lose some of that magic. The standing ovation at the end really was deserved. Sitting in a centre seat in row J for £30 really was money well spent and a bargain in my opinion.

The synconicity of the Radio girls as Theatre Monkey mentioned was a bit hit or miss at times, but for me was a minor issue in this great show.

I can definitely recommend getting a ticket for the transfer, it won’t disappoint!

[paplazaroo]

oh this was just phenomenal! I haven't been that moved so often in the theatre for years. I'm surprised the hairs on the back of my neck didn't distract the person behind me they were up and down so much.

It's so clever and unpretentious and brilliant. The theme of change is handled so beautifully and the plot surprised me with how beautifully simple it was, I was expecting this to have a massively plot heavy second half and Kushner nails it by focussing on the internal struggles rather than opting for twists and turns.