The Gallery Players Presents CAROLINE, OR CHANGE

The Gallery Players presents CAROLINE, OR CHANGE book and lyrics by Tony Kushner music by Jeanine Tesori

KUSHNER'S AWARD-WINNING MUSICAL GETS FIRST NYC REVIVAL AT THE GALLERY PLAYERS

On behalf of The Gallery Players, I am pleased to invite you to the first NYC revival of Caroline, or Change. Playwright Tony Kushner (Angels in America) and composer Jeanine Tesori's (Thoroughly Modern Millie) elegantly crafted and uniquely poignant theatrical work comes to The Gallery Players January 30-February 21, 2010.

Caroline, or Change is produced by Lanie Zipoy (Producer, Mac Rogers' Universal Robots: 4 2009 New York Innovative Theatre Award nominations; Best Off-Off Broadway play of 2009, Independent Theater Bloggers Association) for The Gallery Players, and is directed by Jeremy Gold Kronenberg.

Set in 1963 in sleepy Lake Charles, Louisiana, Caroline, or Change centers its action on the Gellman family and their African-American maid. Caroline is drifting through her life, nearly paralyzed by her circumstances - a single mother of four working in a service job to a white family. The thunder of the civil rights movement and John F. Kennedy's death is distant, yet reverberates deeply through the script, provoking all characters to see their lives in a new light and either embrace or reject the larger social changes that are in motion. Caroline herself ultimately must choose between continuing on as her "implacable" and proud self and her family's welfare. Does she, or doesn't she? Caroline, or Change's rich, soulful score has influences from American spirituals and blues as well as Jewish Klezmer and folk.

Several Caroline, or Change cast members return to their roles at The Gallery Players after being featured in them regionally: Eileen Tepper* as Rose Stopnick Gellman (TheatreWorks Palo Alto), Elyse McKay Taylor* as Emmie Thibodeaux (Arden Theatre Co./Philadelphia), Frank Viveros* as Bus/Dryer (Zachary Scott Theater/Austin) and Nikki Stephenson* as Radio (Speakeasy Stage; also: Black Nativity, Classical Theater of Harlem; National Tours: Hairspray, Fame - The Musical).

The Caroline, or Change cast is rounded out by actors who frequent the boards from Broadway to Regional Theatre: Gisela Adisa* (Futurology, National Black Theater of Harlem), River Aguirre, Teisha Duncan, Heather Davis (Showboat, North Shore Music Theatre), Markeisha Ensley* (AUDELCO nomination for Best Ensemble, Jamaica, Paul Robeson Theater; Church, Public Theater), Peter Gantenbein* (Broadway: Les Miserables; National Tours: West Side Story, Les Miserables), Marcie Henderson* (The Who's Tommy, The Gallery Players, The People vs. Mona), Daniel Henri Luttway, Gael Schaefer* (Emma, NYMF), Ellisha Marie Thomas, Barrington Walters, Bill Weeden* and John Weigand* (Emma, NYMF Tours: The Sound of Music - Asia Tour & Fiddler on the Roof - National Tour). *appearing courtesy of Actor's Equity Association.

A New York institution since 1967, The Gallery Players has served actors and audiences alike for more than 4 decades by showcasing burgeoning new talent and offering a home base for theater professionals. Its eclectic programming of intimate revivals and ambitious new work in inventive productions has earned it the reputation of "New York's Best Kept Secret." The Gallery Players is the recipient of the Off-Off Broadway Review's 2000 Award for Lifetime Achievement and is the three-time recipient of New York Innovative Theatre Award for Outstanding Production of a Musical in 2007, 2008 and 2009 for their productions of Urinetown! The musical, Yank! A New Musical and Like You Like It. Among its famous alumni are founding member Harvey Fierstein; Broadway regulars Nancy Anderson, Jeffry Denman and Diedre Goodwin; New York theater personality Seth Rudetsky and many others.