Director George C. Wolfe continued to workshop the musical at the Public Theater, where it opened on November 30, 2003, and closed on February 1, 2004.

The musical starred Tonya Pinkins in the title role, Anika Noni Rose as Emmie Thibodeaux, Harrison Chad as Noah Gellman, Veanne Cox as Rose Stopnick Gellman and Chandra Wilson as Dotty Moffett (all both off-and on-Broadway).

Other cast members included Pippa Bennett-Warner as Emmie Thibodeaux, Anna Francolini as Rose Stopnick Gellman, Hilton McRae as Mr. Stopnick, Perry Millward, Jonny Weldon and Greg Bernstein alternating as Noah, Clive Rowe as the dryer/bus Joy Malcolm, Ramona Keller, and Nataylia Roni, as the Radio.

[7] The production transferred to the West End at the Playhouse Theatre, where it began playing on 20 November 2018, and ran until 2 March 2019, once again starring Clarke.

[8] A Broadway revival by Roundabout Theatre Company based on the Chichester production initially was announced to start previews on March 13, 2020 and open on April 7, 2020, at Studio 54.

[14] Its premiere in The Washington, D.C., area at The Studio Theatre in 2006, starring Julia Nixon and Max Talisman, received rave reviews,[15] and won The Helen Hayes Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress, Resident Musical (Nixon), and Outstanding Resident Musical.

[22] In 2017, the Round House Theatre in Bethesda, Maryland staged it as part of a season with a focus on Tony Kushner plays.

Its Colorado regional premiere took place April 5 to May 5, 2019, at the Aurora Fox Arts Center, directed by Kenny Moten and starring Mary Louise Lee as Caroline.

[23] A 2012 production by Acting Up Stage Company in Toronto, Ontario, garnered Dora Mavor Moore Awards for Outstanding Production of a Musical, Sterling Jarvis (principal actor), Arlene Duncan (principal actress) and Outstanding Musical Direction (Reza Jacobs).

[24] A new production by Acting Up Stage Company, now called The Musical Stage Company, in Toronto, Ontario played January 31 to February 16, 2020, starring Jully Black as Caroline and Canadian soprano Measha Brueggergosman as The Moon at the Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres.

[25] On a hot day in 1963 in Lake Charles, Louisiana, Caroline, a Black maid who works for the Gellman family for $30 a week, launders clothes in the basement ("16 Feet Beneath The Sea").

Rose confesses to her father, Mr. Stopnick, that she is unhappy as well, after uprooting her cushy New York lifestyle to move to the bayou with Stuart ("Long Distance").

Noah, aware of Caroline's situation, purposefully leaves his candy and comic book money in his pockets, as well as 75 cents ("Quarter in the Bleach Cup").

At church, Caroline gives Emmie, Jackie, and Joe fierce hugs and accepts that her children will have better and different lives from the one she has had.

Emmie reveals that she helped take down the Confederate soldier statue, and proudly sings that she is the daughter of a maid, but she will continue to work for a greater cause, and her children will have a brighter future.

Washer / Dryer Cabbage Moon Change Duets The Bleach Cup Ironing The Chanukah Party The Twenty Dollar Bill Aftermath Lot's Wife How Long Has This Been Going On?