Over the course of her impressive career, actor Sharon D. Clarke has won three Olivier awards. One of those accolades was for her 2017 performance as Caroline Thibodeaux in the musical “Caroline, or Change.” It’s a role that’s taken her from Chichester, England, to her Broadway debut — which almost didn’t happen due to the pandemic.
In “Caroline or Change,” Caroline Thibodeaux is a maid for a Jewish family in Louisiana during the 1960’s.
“Caroline, or Change” was written by Jeanine Tesori and Tony Kushner and takes place in the 1960’s. As the U.S. reaches the peak of the civil rights movement, Caroline Thibodeaux finds herself caught in the middle of waves of social change.
Thibodeaux is a single mother of four children, making thirty dollars a week as a maid for the Gellmans – a Jewish family in Louisiana.
Jenn White met Clarke in New York City to see her perform the show at Studio 54 and ask about her journey with this show as a Black woman in theater.
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