Caroline, or Change

Act One

Caroline, an African-American maid in Lake Charles, Louisiana, is spending another long day doing the laundry for the Gellmans, the Jewish family for which she works (“16 Feet Beneath the Sea”). She turns on the Radio and the Laundry Machine (both personified by actors), and -- as they launch into life -- sits on the stairs to wait for the cycle and sings about her solitude and sorrows, (“The Radio”/”Laundry Quintet”). The Gellman’s son, Noah, comes down the stairs. He idolizes Caroline, who wants very little do with him. He lights her cigarette -- his favorite part of every day (“Noah Down the Stairs”/”The Cigarette”). The laundry finishes (“Laundry Finish”) and Caroline turns on the Dryer (personified) (“The Dryer”). As the dryer rumbles to life, Caroline reflects on the disappointments of her life -- her divorce, her inability to care for her four children, and the daily drudgery of working as a maid for thirty dollars a week (“I Got Four Kids”). She laments: “it Nineteen