Caroline, or Change

Today has been such a wash. It’s been dark and rainy all day long. I feel like I’m in Mordor. And tomorrow I go back to work after taking a week and a half off. I didn’t get nearly as much done during my vacation as I’d hoped. Maybe I need to put myself on a schedule.

Matt and I saw Tony Kushner’s Caroline, or Change on Friday. I was really looking forward to it, because I’d heard such wonderful things.

I thought it was terrific. Flawed, maybe, but still terrific. It moved me in some indefinable way. Afterwards, my left brain wanted to analyze everything I’d just seen — the themes, the characters, and so on — but my right brain said no, don’t ruin the mood, just wallow in it. So that’s what I did. I just thought it was so creative, the world it evoked so emotionally resonant. Jeanine Tesori’s music was a bit cold and complex, but I like complex scores. (The show is almost completely sung through — there wasn’t even a chance to applaud until about three-quarters of the way into the first act.) I’ll either need to see it again or hope that the score gets recorded, because I think it would benefit from multiple hearings. I hope it transfers to Broadway.

I’m also happy, because this was the first time I’d made it a point to get tickets for a hot Off-Broadway show. It just felt so cool to be sitting in the audience. Even if it ultimately goes to Broadway, I’ll be able to brag that I saw the original production, something I can’t say about Take Me Out or Avenue Q.

Meanwhile, I was hoping to see the acclaimed production of Henry IV, but according to Telecharge, it’s sold out for the remainder of its run.

I hope to be less procrastinatory about the theater from now on.

2 thoughts on “Caroline, or Change

  1. If you saw TAKE ME OUT and AVENUE Q on Broadway, you did see the original productions. You just didn’t see them in their original, smaller downtown venues. If a show has not been substantially revised en route to Broadway, meaning that the same director, cast, writers and designers are aboard, you are seeing the original production.

    Yes, it’s really cool to see these shows downtown before they hit the main stem (and mainstream), but don’t think you’ve been short-changed by not catching on to those other shows before.

    I’m totally envious that you got to see CAROLINE OR CHANGE, but, I bet, if it transfers to Broadway, I’ll be able to get rush seats or standing room at a price much lower than that which you must have paid. :)

    That’s my only consolation. :)

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