The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
‘Carole King Musical’ in New Haven? That’s ‘Beautiful’
Westport product Jacob Heimer plays Barry Mann in touring show
NEW HAVEN — Eagerly awaited show “Beautiful — The Carole King Musical” begins a six-day run at the Shubert Theatre Tuesday with a charming lead in Sarah Bockel, a host of great tunes, and a Connecticut guy in another top role.
Westport-raised Jacob Heimer, who plays King’s friend and fellow songwriter Barry Mann, is in his second of two stints in the past year — part of a tour that has been going for three years. We chatted via phone with Heimer, who was in Hershey, Pa., where the show was that night marking its 1,000th performance.
Heimer went to Staples High (and later Syracuse University) and also honed his theater talents at Music Theatre of Connecticut, now in Norwalk. He’s no stranger to New Haven either, having performed the guitar-playing role of Feste (and stealing the show) at Elm Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” in 2015.
“That was a tough role and a wonderful production to be a part of,” Heimer said.
“Beautiful” tells the story of Carol Klein, of Brooklyn, who with drive, passion and chutzpah became legendary songwriter and singer Carole King. She was part of a hit songwriting team with husband Gerry Goffin, who were friends/competitors with writers Cynthia Weil and Mann.
Heimer recently met the real Mann he plays. “He came to a show in Fresno. And I was very happy to see he is the man we portrayed, but even more
with it. Barry Mann is this brilliant songwriter (“Who Put the Bomp,” “We Gotta Get Outta This Place,” “On Broadway”) and ... as the actor, I’m in full pleasure
zone every night. Because the scenes are hilarious and I’m playing this brilliant, funny man who is full of neuroses, but also has this huge, open heart.”
Heimer said the musical itself is “kind of an underdog story, and I get to be the little underdog within my love story ... winning over my writing partner so we can get married by the end of the show.”
Asked whether the variety of great tunes (from King/Goffin and Weil/ Mann) surprises first-timers to the show, Heimer said, “That’s true, yeah. I mean, the four of them really were close friends, as portrayed ...
and also fierce competitors. They were always competing for No. 1 hits, to the point where they would take vacations together because they knew the other couple would not be writing songs ... at the same time.
“They even played a game once where they counted all the songs they heard of theirs on the radio on the way there and the way back (from a trip). And they were tied ... at like seven each, and then on the way back there was a song that Gerry had written the words to, but not the music, and they won by half.”
Heimer said folks don’t even associate King with some of her hits, since they were written when she was a teen for groups like the Shirelles (“Will You Love Me
Tomorrow”). It’s a kick to hear the songs he’s not singing in the show, Heimer said.
“Watching the Drifters and the Shirelles, I mean, these numbers were so beautiful and the way our cast carries these numbers is with such authenticity, I think it brings the audience back to what those moments were, whether on live performances ... (on TV) or the first time they heard it in the car.”
Heimer, a young actor, said it’s “absurd” how good that era’s music is.
“I grew up with ’60s radio. Obviously I’m of a different generation, but all I listened to in the house, completely influenced by my father, was ... Kool 96.7 (FM Stamford), which was
all Motown all the time, all Stax recordings . ... I became pretty obsessed with that decade . ... I feel like this music is in my DNA.”
The economics of the record industry required hit after hit to make a living, in song “factories” such as the Brill Building at 1619 Broadway in New York and the 1650 Broadway Building.
Songwriters were holed up in office rooms until they could come up with something that might be a hit. Mann teamed with Goffin on the novelty number “Who Put the Bomp” that was a winking and respectful nod to doo-wop at the same time.
Heimer sings two-plus songs in the show, including “We Gotta Get Out of This Place,” which Mann tried to
release himself. “And then someone within The Animals circle got ahold of the demo and when Donny, their producer, heard that, he said, ‘You should hold off; you’re gonna make a lot more money and a much bigger hit if you let The Animals do it.’ ”
Heimer calls Bockel “remarkable” as King. “Sarah knows how to carry the show, and she puts the show on her shoulders for twoand-a-half hours and you are with her from (the start). I mean, not even talking about her remarkable acting, her vocal chops are just ridiculously beautiful.”
The other Sarah on the show, Goeke, plays his character’s love interest. He said singing with her “is such a joy” and she’s funny like the
real Cynthia Weil.
With a book by Tony and Academy award nominee Douglas McGrath, direction by Marc Bruni and choreography by Josh Prince, “Beautiful” also features King’s hits that provided the soundtrack for a generation, “I Feel The Earth Move,” “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” “You’ve Got A Friend” and the title song, “Beautiful.”
The show originally opened on Broadway at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre in January 2014, where it has since broken all box office records and recently became the highest-grossing production in the theater’s history.
Heimer said playing the Shubert in New Haven will feel a lot like being home.