‘Beautiful’? Bio-musical certainly is
Broadway salute to Carole King triumphs at PPAC
Special to The Call
PROVIDENCE – “Beautiful – The Carole King Musical” is more than just a vehicle to showcase a string of hit songs. This jukebox musical has a well-told story, a fabulous cast and a band that rocks. It’s great entertainment.
The show tells King’s life story, starting when she was 16 and already writing hit songs, then centering on the era when she and husband Gerry Goffin became one of the most prolific and successful songwriting teams in the 1960s. When the marriage fell apart, King reinvented herself and her career, becoming just as successful on her own.
The music, of course, is the show’s main selling point, and patrons get their money’s worth. As the saying goes, the hits just keep on comin.’ First are songs written for other acts, including “Will You Love Me Tomorrow?”, recorded by the Shirelles, “Take Good Care of My Baby” for Bobby Vee, and “Up on the Roof” for the Drifters.
There is a funny segment about their song “The Loco-Motion” becoming a hit for their babysitter, Little Eva. Humor is a strong suit in this show, which actually kicks off with a couple laughout-loud jokes.
Second act brings additional collaborative works, like “Pleasant Valley Sunday,” a hit for the Monkees, and finally King’s solo hits, including emotional performances of “It’s Too Late” and “You’ve Got a Friend.”
The quantity of hits is incredible, and so is the quality – especially when accompa- nied by a top-notch ensemble of musicians on keyboards, brass, reeds, strings, drums and percussion.
Douglas McGrath gives the show its theatrical foundation, however, in a book that develops characters and narrative; he’s concise without scrimping on substance. Along with the Goffin-King relationship, he looks at their friendship with fellow songwriters Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann, making it a meaningful subplot -- as well as a way to add even more hits into the mix, including “On Broadway” (The Drifters), and “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling” (Righteous Brothers), among others.
An accomplished cast puts the finishing touches on the story and music. Most of the actors also are great vocalists as well as musicians, playing piano and guitars on stage. Several have been with the national tour since it launched from PPAC in the fall of 2015.
In that time, Sarah Bockel, who started out understudying the Carole King role, has come to embody her character. She has the sound and the look down so perfectly, it’s easy to forget we’re not applauding King herself.
Andrew Brewer and Jacob Heimer had a musical number as the Righteous Brothers when the tour began. Now they’re appearing, respectively, as Gerry Goffin and Barry Mann. Along with Suzanne Grodner, who plays King’s opinionated mother and delivers those attention-grabbing jokes that open the show, Heimer is the show’s comic and gets big laughs with his understated humor.
As Cynthia Weil, Sarah Goeke completes the songwriting foursome with winsome spunk, humor and a lovely voice.
More than many shows, “Beautiful” puts numerous demands on its ensemble, members of which appear in multiple roles as the artists who recorded the writers’ songs. For example, four women appear as the Shirelles before reconfiguring, moving backup singers to leads and vice versa. They all sound great, no matter where they’re standing.
And of local note is the native Rhode Islander in the cast, John Michael Dias, who performs as Neil Sedaka, Lou Adler, Bobby Hatfield and others.
The music sells “Beautiful,” but the combination with a well-told story is what makes it appealing to a wide audience. Better entertainment would be hard to find. Performances of “Beautiful – The Carole King