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Act One

Caroline, an African-American maid in Lake Charles, Louisiana, is spending another long day doing the laundry for the Gellmans, the Jewish family for which she works (��16 Feet Beneath the Sea��). She turns on the Radio and the Laundry Machine (both personified by actors), and -- as they launch into life -- sits on the stairs to wait for the cycle and sings about her solitude and sorrows, (“The Radio��/”Laundry Quintet��). The Gellman’s son, Noah, comes down the stairs. He idolizes Caroline, who wants very little do with him. He lights her cigarette -- his favorite part of every day (“Noah Down the Stairs��/”The Cigarette��). The laundry finishes (“Laundry Finish��) and Caroline turns on the Dryer (personified) (“The Dryer��). As the dryer rumbles to life, Caroline reflects on the disappointments of her life -- her divorce, her inability to care for her four children, and the daily drudgery of working as a maid for thirty dollars a week (“I Got Four Kids��). She laments: “it Nineteen