It was nominated for a Tony in 2004 and won big at the 2007 Oliviers - now the fantastic CAROLINE OR CHANGE transfers from Chichester back to the London stage for a run at the Hampstead Theatre in spring 2018...
Chichester Festival Theatre’s 5-star production of the musical CAROLINE, OR CHANGE will transfer to London’s Hampstead Theatre from 12 March – 21 April, with a press night on Monday 19 March. Sharon D. Clarke will recreate her ‘incomparable’ performance (Guardian) in director Michael Longhurst’s ‘superb’ (Sunday Times) production.
CAROLINE, OR CHANGE – book and lyrics by Tony Kushner, music by Jeanine Tesori – was the opening production of Festival 2017, the first under the leadership of Daniel Evans and Rachel Tackley as Artistic and Executive Director, and played a sell-out run in the Minerva Theatre. Acclaimed by audiences and critics alike, it was described as ‘an exceptional show’ (Telegraph); ‘rich, fresh and vibrant’ (Chichester Observer); ‘moving and magical’ (Mail on Sunday); ‘one of the most gloriously disruptive, completely distinctive musicals of the last 20 years’ (Observer); ‘a profound and powerful evening’ (Evening Standard).
An Olivier Award-winning musical with a hugely original, highly eclectic and uniquely American score, CAROLINE, OR CHANGE creates an uplifting and profound portrait of America at a time of momentous social upheaval.
The original Broadway production was re-staged at the National Theatre in 2006; this is the first new UK production. Author of the ground-breaking Angels in America (currently being revived at the National Theatre), Tony Kushner’s book and lyrics were partly inspired by his own boyhood. The score is by Jeanine Tesori, whose musical Fun Home won the 2015 Tony Award for Best Original Score.
Sharon D. Clarke’s performance in CAROLINE, OR CHANGE was greeted with rapture: ‘a virtuoso performance’ (Times); ‘magnificent’ (Financial Times); ‘an unequivocal triumph’ (the i newspaper). Equally renowned as a singer and actor, her Olivier Award-winning stage and screen work stretches from Holby City and The Shadow Line on TV, to Ghost The Musical, Hairspray and We Will Rock You in the West End, and August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and James Baldwin’s The Amen Corner at the National Theatre.
