Londa Larmond, Arlene Duncan
(Photographer: Joanna Akyol)
(Photographer: Joanna Akyol)
CAROLINE CHANGES THE THEATREjoel fishbane
Early last year, a panel of experts sat down for New York Magazine and debated which musical should be named the greatest of all time. I won’t quibble with the merit of the question or the result (a three-way tie for Gypsy, Sweeney Todd and – really, guys? - Guys and Dolls). What was more interesting was the process. Each expert made a list of 36 musicals. When the lists were compared, they struck away any show that only had one vote. This left 23 musicals in consideration. Of that list, only one show had made it onto everyone’s list.
That show – Tony Kushner and Jeanine Tesori’s eclectic show, Caroline, or Change – is having its Canadian premiere right now and you’re running out of chances to catch it. A co-production between Acting Up Stage Company and Obsidian Theatre, the show is one of the most unique, not just in the canon of American musicals, but in the history of the modern stage.
