WITH 'CAROLINE,' KUSHNER CHANGES MUSICAL THEATER.

Byline: Evan Henerson Theater Critic

TONY KUSHNER may eventually have to return to the stratosphere to live among all those playwrights of ordinary to good abilities, but I sincerely hope that doesn't happen anytime soon. Here's earnestly wishing that the man's dramatic Midas touch (``Angels in America,'' ``Homebody/Kabul,'' ``Caroline, or Change'') keeps up for a few more years.

``Caroline, or Change,'' Kushner's collaboration with composer Jeanine Tesori and director George C. Wolfe, is a musical in that instruments play and characters sing. But it is like no other musical you have ever seen or, likely, will ever experience. Utterly free of spectacle and bombast (a la ``Wicked'') or hip, angst-ridden puppets (``Avenue Q'') ``Caroline'' is neither old-fashioned nor derivative. There is no simple way to brand or categorize it. It's simply a challenging and important work that absolutely must be seen. And thanks to the vacancy opened up by a collapsed tour of ``Wonderful Town,'' Ahmanson Theatre patrons have just that opportunity.

For this production of ``Caroline,'' which travels to San Francisco following the Ahmanson stint, director Wolfe has reassembled the Broadway cast almost to a person. We get the redoubtable Tonya Pinkins in the title role and Tony winner Anika Noni Rose as Caroline's daughter, Emmie. Original cast member Chuck Cooper is a late-hour replacement for Michael A. Shepperd. Of the principals, only Paula Newsome (as Caroline's friend Dotty Moffett) is a company newbie, and Newsome happens to be spectacular. In this company, you have to be.

In 1963 Louisiana, a black maid named Caroline Thibodeaux works away, for $30 per week, in the basement of the Jewish Gellman family. The mother has died, and distant father Stuart (played by David Costabile) leaves much of the parenting to his new wife, Rose (Veanne Cox). Ten-year-old Noah (Benjamin Platt and Sy Adamowsky), however, is having none of Rose. He turns instead to Caroline, whose one consistent act of kindness to the boy is allowing him to light her daily cigarette.

Caroline has children of her own - and enough social and emotional baggage to prop up a brick wall. Thirty dollars per week is hardly sufficient to feed a family, and a degree of pride makes her loath to accept Rose's offer that Caroline can keep any lose pocket money found in Noah's pants. Truth be told, Caroline is almost content in that stiflingly hot basement where the Washing Machine (Capathia Jenkins), Radio (A Supremes-like trio of Tracy Nicole Chapman, Marva Hicks and Kenna Ramsey) and Dryer (Cooper) all sing of impending change. Wolfe imagines this world as a disembodied dreamscape (designed by Riccardo Hernandez) of rooms, stairways and porches. Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer make expert use of smoke, flash and shadow.

``Change'' happens quickly. A bus (Cooper again), arriving to ferry Caroline and Dotty home, announces in a stunning, gospel dirge the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Caroline's daughter Emmie (Rose) ``ain't got no tears to shed for no dead white guy.'' Where Caroline is still virtually a slave, Emmie is the embodiment of progress. Meaning mother and daughter are due for a collision.

Kushner's is a story of commerce, of social change or loss, and of suppressed rage. Caroline's dilemma over how to dispense with the change (which Noah is leaving for her deliberately) mirrors what's going on in the world outside the Gellman household. Much can hinge on a civil-rights march, a decapitated statue or, as it turns out, an errant $20 bill.

In this story, no characters are perfunctory or cardboard archetypes. Stuart, who is miserable, will get his moment. Cox's Rose has her own issues and is in a highly unenviable position. The performers playing furniture may not be fully drawn characters, but they establish mood and showcase the brass of Tesori's soaring score most effectively. Sung dialogue has rarely resonated with such power as it does here.

Drama critics figure to be probing the workings of Caroline Thibodeaux for years to come, but only a certain fortunate few will be able to say they saw Tonya Pinkins in the role. Pinkins has played hot, dangerous and glamorous before.

Now 42, she brings the same fire to a character who can't transcend being ordinary. In her white uniform and unremarkable hairstyle, she makes Caroline a tower of uncertain strength and shifting principles. There's a moment toward the end of the play where Caroline breaks down and lets us inside her psyche. The scene is called ``Lot's Wife,'' and it's terrifying. Also exhilarating.

Kushner's writing - now set to music - has that effect. It makes you think, suffer, hope and, above all, makes you look for what he has up his sleeve next.

Evan Henerson, [phone]

evan.henerson(at)dailynews.com

CAROLINE, OR CHANGE - Four stars

Where: Ahmanson Theatre, 135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles.

When: 8 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday; through Dec. 26.

Tickets: $25 to $90. Call [phone].

In a nutshell: Having all but revolutionized drama, Tony Kushner does the same for the American musical.

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``Caroline, or Change'' Broadway lead Tonya Pinkins reprises her role for the L.A. run of Tony Kushner's unique musical.