Archbold Theatre at Archbold Theatre at Syracuse Stage

An eight-year-old boy named Noah Gellman struggles with the loss of his mother and the arrival of a new stepmother. One constant in his life is a set of small daily rituals he shares with Caroline, the family’s African-American maid. The year is 1963—civil rights and Kennedy—and in the Gellman household in Lake Charles, Louisiana, change is coming for everyone, in big ways and small. Two powerhouses of the American theatre, playwright Tony Kushner (Angels in America) and composer Jeanine Tesori (Thoroughly Modern Millie and Shrek: The Musical), join forces on a musical of startling creativity and refreshing originality (don’t be surprised when the washing machine starts to sing). Acclaimed on Broadway and winner of London’s prestigious Olivier Award for Best New Musical, with a score ranging from blues to gospel to traditional Jewish melodies, Caroline, or Change proves playwright Kushner’s point that “music is a blessing that enters the soul through the ear.”