By Tracy Hawkins
“Beautiful: The Carole King Musical” is a must-see show with music not only for baby boomers, but anyone who ever listened to a radio. The Walnut Street Theatre has mounted a wonderful production that is a feast for the eyes and the ears. Featuring the music of Carole King and her contemporaries, the show is filled with humor, nostalgia and tenderness.
Sarah Shepard as Carole King in “Beautiful – The Carole King Musical” now onstage in Philadelphia. Photo by Mark Garvin
Douglas McGrath authored the book to the musical, bringing the story of Carole King’s early beginnings as a songwriter in the famed “Brill Building” to the stage, including her young marriage to her songwriting partner Gerry Goffin, their struggles and successes, and their friendship with another great songwriting duo of the time, Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann. Ms. King’s journey beyond her early success in writing for others is spotlighted as she gains success writing for herself.
Director and Choreographer Richard Stafford is to be commended. Not only has he pulled together an exceptional cast and directed them into a fun, moving and downright entertaining show, the choreography is, in a word, sparkling. The cast portrays The Drifters and The Shirelles with all the glorious steps once seen on “American Bandstand,” and the result is captivating.
While Sara Sheperd takes on the yeoman’s task of the great Ms. King (and does so, if you’ll pardon the expression, beautifully), she is very ably assisted by Matthew Amira, as Gerry Goffin, as well as Kathryn Boswell in a hilarious and wonderful portrait of the great Cynthia Weil, and Eddie Olmo II as a comical Barry Mann.
In addition to the aforementioned wonderful choreography, the costuming is another perfect touch. Mary Folino has captured every aspect of the characters from the simplicity of fifties teenagers to the spangle of a sixties girl group or a sharp-dressed quartet. The lighting design of Alyssandra Docherty and John Kolbinski’s sound design round out a terrific production.
When the show opened on Broadway, Ms. King couldn’t bring herself to see it at first – it was too painful to relive some of the memories. This is certainly understandable, considering the heartbreak portrayed on the stage. Yes – it is definitely a show about a certain period in our country’s musical history. Not too far into the first act, as the first notes of “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” sounded, the audience let out a collective sigh. I’ve never experienced that in a theater before and can’t imagine it happening too often in the future. Ms. King might have had trouble going to see it. But whatever age you may be, you’ll want to see this show – you’ll be sorry if you don’t.
If you go: the show runs until May 5, and tickets are available at https://www.walnutstreettheatre.org/. The runtime is 2 hours, 30 minutes with a 15-minute intermission.