Caroline, or Change in the Archives

There are certain Broadway seasons in which any of the shows nominated for the Best Musical Tony Award would likely have won were the year less crowded. The 2016–17 season, which featured musicals that were held back until Hamilton won its inevitable set of Tonys the previous season, included Dear Evan Hansen, Come From Away, Groundhog Day, and Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 in addition to fan favorites like Anastasia, Bandstand, and War Paint. Nineteen years ago, the 2003–04 season was similarly crowded, with Avenue Q, Wicked, and the original Broadway production of Caroline, or Change.

Compared to the still-running Wicked and the Tony-winning and long-lived Avenue Q, Caroline, or Change has not been as thoroughly embedded in the national consciousness. But after seeing the revival last month I was reminded just how prescient the piece was and how relevant it remains. Some thematic elements, such as the fumbling and often deeply offensive ways in which white liberals attempt to assuage their guilt over unearned privileges, are perennial, of course. A somewhat incidental plot point about the toppling of a Confederate monument, though, felt so contemporary that I was driven to look back at the original libretto to verify it wasn’t added for the current revival (it wasn’t).

Indeed, from the archives in the Billy Rose Theatre Division, it is clear this subplot was an important part of the show from its earliest versions. The Public Theater archives at the Library include an October 14, 2002 workshop copy of the libretto with a different epilogue (in which Emmie’s confrontation with the statue  is dramatized rather than narrated).

Caroline, Or Change is exceptionally well-documented at the Library for the Performing Arts, given its relatively short history. In addition to many versions of the libretto, the Public Theater archive also contains early notes on the script by director/producer George C. Wolfe.

There are also production documents, including the always interesting stage manager reports on rehearsals and performances. These give a fascinating glimpse into the mundane but necessary work of producing a new musical. Here is a report from the beginning of rehearsals for the spring 2003 workshop. (Finding a usable clarinet for rehearsal is a mini-drama that unfolds over the course of the month of rehearsals.)

Similar documents exist for the off-Broadway run. This report mentions that Maudie Lee Davis (the inspiration for Caroline) attended the show on December 13, 2003.

The production transferred to the Eugene O’Neill Theatre on Broadway in the spring of 2004. This production is documented in the papers of the original lighting designers, Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer. These include drafting documents, including this front elevation of the basement set unit with lighting instruments.

A lighting design production binder also includes digital representations of the gobos (the stencil-like plates placed over lighting instruments to create particular patterns of light and shadow).

Fisher, Eisenhauer, and team also took digital photographs of the stage at each light cue and printed these in color.

The Theatre division also preserves documentation of several later productions of the musical, including the 2006 London production, which was also lit by Fisher and Eisenhauer. Here are detailed instructions to the spotlight operators.

The 2009 production at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis is documented in the papers of scenic designer Richard Hoover, including several of his sketches for the production and his own annotated copy of the libretto.

Caroline, or Change remains one of the most complex and interesting musicals of the early 21st century. Although its original Broadway run was relatively short, lasting only a few months in the summer of 2004, the musical has been frequently revived by academic and regional theatres and is an important title in the musical theatre canon. Like the Roundabout’s other current revival, Trouble in Mind, the contemporary feel of the new production is a sobering reminder of how few of the injustices it identifies have been remedied over the past decades.