Aint No Undergroud in Louisiana. There Is Only Underwater

First-impromptu-trip-to-London-of-the-year - and this time it is for Caroline Or Change! I had heard a lot of good things about this musical, and then heard it was about to close - so despite knowing next to nothing about it, I thought "Stuff it, let's go!"

First playing at Chichester Festival Theatre in 2017 and then the Hampstead Theatre, it is now at The Playhouse Theatre in the West End, just next to Charing Cross. Like I said, Caroline is closing soon (really close in fact) and The Playhouse will next hold Fiddler On The Roof.

Written by Jeanine Tesori and Tony Kushner Caroline Or Change is set in Louisiana, (and as you would expect, it musically has a lot of soul and blues - oh and before each act started, we were treated to lots of load frog noises - as if we were in a real bayou); anywho, the year is JFK has just been assassinated; and change is in the air, change that Black Maid Caroline is terrified of.

The show opened on Broadway in 2004 and was in the Tony race that very year, competing against big favourites Avenue Q and Wicked! It received 5 nominations and despite the stiff competition, picked up the Best Featured Actress award for Anika Noni Rose as Emmie - if that name sounds familiar, it's coz she then went on to play Lorrell in the film of Dreamgirls and voice Tiana in The Princess and the Frog; apparently she was Angelica back when Hamilton was still in its workshop phase... Uuuh BACK to Caroline, as well as it's Tony win, its UK debut at the National in 2007 won the Best New Musical Olivier.

This production stars the phenomenal Sharon D Clarke as Caroline and a lot of the praise of the show comes from her performance - only I went on a Monday night, the one night she doesn't perform! Still, at only £20 a ticket, I thought it must be worth it! Plus, I have actually had a chance to look at the show as a whole more rather than sub-consciously focus on one performer, whether you've seen them before in something else or they have big star power.

So, with all that considered, what did I make of it.... Well tbh, I'm not too sure!

Let me start with the best bit - covering for Caroline, Naana Agyei-Ampadu had an magnetic presence with extremely powerful vocal to back it up! Can I also mention that from a distance, she looked like a young Viola Davis?!
Speaking of powerful vocals, I've got to mention some unlikely characters - the ensemble of household appliances: the bubbly Washing Machine, the Radio and Ako Mitchell's (Little Shop of Horrors) Dryer dressed up as and sounding like the Devil, almost seductively haunting Caroline. You realise that this is how disenchanted Caroline is - almost imagining the household appliances coming to life....

I know that this makes it sound like the weirdest thing imaginable, but don't worry as the focus is not on the singing Dryer trying to make a move on Caroline... It is the CHANGE part in the title. As Caroline continues to serve her white-Jewish family, she tries to survive as she observes what's going on, including Martin Luther King Jr and the Civil Rights Movement, all the while trying to hold back her headstrong daughter Emmie and clashes with her serving family.

It's a powerful watch, sometimes rather hard; which is why I wasn't sure what I made of it - it has taken me a while to fully get some notes together and start writing. And I think I've now explained all that I can.

So onto my recommendation. The closest I can say is that it is like The Help (which I love btw) but darker - so based on that, if you think Caroline Or Change would be something up your street, than you have until 3rd March. Whether you manage to see Clarke or Agyei-Ampadu in the title role, you know you'd have goose bumps during her 11 o'clock, Lot's Wife.

I do kinda wish though that I had done some background research, as I think it would have helped some aspects of the show if I understand more of the history at the time than I did - I only understood one part because I skim-read the programme beforehand!

The Oliviers are coming up soon - it is a possibility that this could pick up a nomination or two, though it will be up against the likes of The King and I, Regents Park's Little Shop of Horrors, Chess, and Company in the revival category... Stiff competition, and there isn't long to find out...….