‘Beautiful is shot through with warmth, authenticity and humour that elevates it way above others in the musical jukebox genre’, says Andrew Morris.
OUR VERDICT
If you’re a child of the 1970s, Carole King and her ‘Tapestry’ album were probably as much a part of your musical adolescence as Adele’s ‘21’ or Ed Sheeran’s ‘X’ have been for more recent generations.
Released in 1971, the singer-songwriter’s second studio album has sold a scarcely believable 25 million copies, making it one of the best-selling of all time. But I had no idea of the intriguing path trodden by the artist – ‘an ordinary girl with an extraordinary talent’ - to reach that pinnacle of musical success.
‘Beautiful’ goes behind the glossy exterior to share Carole’s long and winding road to a glittering delivery of ‘Tapestry’ at Carnegie Hall, also in 1971.
Born in Brooklyn, Carole Klein was the daughter of a teacher and a firefighter. By the age of four, she was learning the piano and showing a precocious interest in music.
Helen Maybanks
Beautiful - The Carole King Musical
In 1958, aged just 16 and now Carole King, she starts churning out songs for others to sing. But the personal and professional collide when she meets Gerry Goffin at college. They start collaborating and are soon a hit-making machine, once ‘Will You Love Me Tomorrow’ has been recorded by The Shirelles and reaches number one on the US charts.
Injecting humour and pathos with the song-writing and musical genius, the production soars.
Carole and Gerry sign a contract with Donnie Kirshner’s Aldon Music Empire based at 1650 Broadway, where they meet life-long friends, fellow songwriting team Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, and write a string of classic hits for some of the biggest acts in rock n roll.
Their success bursts into vibrant 1960s life on stage, rock ‘n’ roll morphing into choreographed sequinned classics, and soul standards. Bobby Vee and ‘Take Good Care of My Baby’; Little Eva – their babysitter! – has a huge US number one with ‘The Locomotive’; The Drifters are ‘Up on the Roof’; The Beatles cover ‘Chains’ on their first album; ‘One Fine Day’ is released by the Chiffons; ‘Pleasant Valley Sunday’ is a top 10 hit for The Monkees; Aretha Franklin immortalises ‘You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman.’
The stage design, choreography, costumes and performances combine in perfect harmony to give the audience a thrilling musical ride through the 1960s.
Helen Maybanks
Beautiful - The Carole King Musical
But the winds of change are blowing. Carole and Gerry’s increasingly unhappy married life comes to an end, and Carole moves to a song-writing community in Laurel Canyon, California, with their two daughters and close to collaborators James Taylor and Joni Mitchell.
The West Coast vibe and the changing music industry empower Carole to perform her own songs and the rest is most assuredly musical history.
I confess to a little cynicism about seeing yet another ‘jukebox musical’, but this production of ‘Beautiful’ is shot through with warmth, authenticity and humour that elevates it way above others in the genre.
Daisy Wood-Davis dazzles as Carole, wholly convincing through her acting and musical talent. Her delivery of the autobiographical ‘It’s Too Late’ is especially emotional, in the context of her early life...but the rest of the musical soundtrack is also pitch-perfect.
Adam Gillian excels as Gerry, capturing the conflict between his professional and personal lives as the years pass.
Laura Baldwin and Cameron Sharp inject humour as competitors and friends Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann, their personal relationship finally cemented just as Carole and Gerry’s wanes.
This is a story of a normal young girl from Brooklyn who achieves musical immortality. You’ll leave the theatre humming her timeless songs, but you’ll also feel you know just a little more about the real person behind the piano on that Carnegie Hall stage.
Venue: The New Victoria Theatre, Woking (book)
Dates: February 18-22, 2020, Tue-Sat 7:30 pm; Wed, Thu & Sat 2.30 pm
Ticket prices: From £13.00
