CDs: A Quarter in the Bleach Cup

Some casting for Paper Mill's upcoming Of Thee I Sing: Ron Bohmer John P. Wintergreen, Nick Corley, Jeffrey Denman, Wally Dunn Alexander Throttlebottom, Adam Grupper, JoAnn M. Hunter, Sarah Knowlton Diana Devereaux, and Garrett Long Mary Turner.

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CD: CAROLINE, OR CHANGE Hollywood Records

It's still something of a surprise that Caroline, or Change transferred to a commercial Broadway run from its off-Broadway engagement at the Public Theatre. Its downtown premiere received a limited number of wholly enthusiastic reviews, and the show is a serious, contemporary opera to boot. As things turned out, the uptown re-opening made few new fans among the critics. So Caroline, or Change is perhaps fortunate that it has received such a fine, note-complete cast recording.

The two-CD set is the first show album from Hollywood Records, which probably had no choice but to record the entire production. That's because the two-hour-plus work is almost entirely sung and feels through-composed. There would really be no satisfying way to cut it down to a single disc.

For those, like myself, interested in the development of Broadway opera, extending back to Street Scene, Regina, the Menotti pieces, and The Golden Apple up through the pop operas of the '80s and Falsettos, Caroline, or Change writes an intriguing new chapter in the story, one that needs to be experienced.

The most engaging aspect of Caroline is its unconventional form; stylistically, the show isn't much like any previous musical-theatre work. If the score at times suggests a composer asked to fashion a score to a pre-existing libretto rather than a fluid collaboration, composer Jeanine Tesori is surprisingly successful at setting Tony Kushner's words and in providing the characters with distinctive musical vocabularies.

One knows from Thoroughly Modern Millie that Tesori is capable of writing simple, catchy tunes. But she's after something more complex here. Ranging from Motown to klezmer to r&b, Tesori's music visits a wide variety of styles, integrating them seamlessly if not quite managing to supply a unifying voice of its own.

There are few distinct songs or arias. But repeat listenings make it clear that the score is more melodic than it may have seemed in the theatre. Much of Tesori's music is lovely, and there are a few exquisite items "Moon Trio". At the same time, the music isn't transporting enough to overcome the script's lack of event particularly in the first half and somewhat pretentious tone. As usual, Kushner's writing means to be earth-shaking, momentous, profound. But there's not always enough happening in the story, with the singing washing machine, dryer, radio, and moon feeling like so much filler. And Caroline seems to be reaching for statements that it never coherently makes.

This is the sort of show one would like to love. But Caroline remains more admirable than enjoyable, a work one respects but doesn't fully surrender to. For all of the exploration of its characters' emotional states, it's not especially moving. And it can feel arty in a way that, say, William Finn's contemporary operas echoed in Caroline's music for young Noah and his stepmother never are.

There's excellent work from all of the singers, especially Veanne Cox, Anika Noni Rose, David Costabile, Aisha de Haas, Chandra Wilson, and Harrison Chad. Taking on a role that often strikes a single note of angry depression, Tonya Pinkins contributes immensely to the effectiveness of the piece. Pinkins owns her part and does full justice to the score's outstanding aria, "Lot's Wife."

In the show's Playbill, there's no listing of song titles, which is appropriate for a work that rarely breaks down into separate numbers. For the recording, there are fifty-three tracks, all with titles. Some of the lyrics are still hard to make out, but the booklet includes the complete libretto, albeit in rather small type.

In liner notes as inflated as Kushner's text, Lynne Tillman declares Caroline to be on a level with Porgy and Bess, The Threepenny Opera, Show Boat, Carousel, and West Side Story. One may doubt that Caroline will have a life comparable to those pieces, or receive as many recordings as each of those titles can boast. But if Caroline isn't wholly satisfying, it's one of those pieces that must be heard by anyone interested in the development of the modern musical.

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