**** Highly Recommended Drury Lane Theatre’s production of Beautiful – The Carole King Musical is delighting audiences. The music – one hit after another – is timeless and the choreography is spectacular. Beautiful is, without a doubt, my favorite jukebox musical of all time! Hurry and get your tickets, they’ll be going fast for this must-see musical. 4 BIG Spotlights
Samantha Gershman is absolutely fabulous as Carole King! She is onstage virtually the entire show, and singing much of that time. Her voice is clear and true, showing an incredible range, whether she was singing a catchy rock & roll tune or a country ballad. By the way, the show opens – and closes – as she plays a grand piano at her famous concert at Carnegie Hall.
A couple of background notes on Carole King. She was born Carol Klein and was raised by her single mom, Genie Klein (Rebekah Ward) in Brooklyn. She played her first gig in public when she was about eight. While she was still in high school, she changed her name to Carole King, formed a band with her friend Paul Simon, and briefly went out with Neil Sedaka.
Carole King was 17 when she sold her first song to Don Kirschner (Michael Lawrence Brown). While attending Queens College (she skipped two grades), she met Gerry Goffin (Alex Benoit). When they discovered their mutual interest in songwriting, they started collaborating – she wrote the music, he wrote the lyrics. Shortly after they sold their first song to Kirschner, Carole got pregnant and they got married. It is ironic that someone who just wanted to have a normal life as a wife and mother, ended up an international superstar!
The first act of Beautiful is devoted to the music King and Goffin wrote for other singers at Kirschner’s ‘song factory’ at 1650 Broadway, New York City, as well as some of the hits written by another of Kirshner’s successful songwriting teams, Barry Mann (Andrew MacNaughton) & Cynthia Weil (Alexandra Palkovic), a couple who became their best friends as well as competitors. By the way, there’s an early cameo of Neil Sedaka (Maxwell J. DeTogne) – another Kirschner singer/songwriter – who pops in singing Oh Carol, then pops out.
Carole sings So Far Away and It Might as Well Rain Until September solo. Take Good Care of My Baby is a Carole/Gerry duet. Barry Mann sings Who Put the Bump; Weil joins him for He’s Sure the Boy I Love. Some songs start with the songwriters – either King-Goffin or Mann-Weil – singing for Kirschner, then segue into actual performances.
The Drifters (Averis Anderson, Makenzy Jenkins, Austin Nelson Jr., Michael Turrentine) sing King-Goffin hits, like Some Kind of Wonderful and Up on the Roof, as well as the Mann-Weil hit On Broadway.
The Shirelles (Lydia Burke, Raeven Carroll, Alanna Lovely, Chamaya Moody) sing Will You Love Me Tomorrow?
The Goffins lost their baby sitter when they drafted LIttle Eva (Chamaya Moody) to record The Locomotion.
The Righteous Brothers (Maxwell DeTogne, Ian Geers) sing You’ve Lost that Lovin’ Feeling. Janelle Woods (Alanna Lovely) and the ensemble sing One Fine Day.
Act II begins at the ‘song factory’, with King-Goffin hits, Chains and Pleasant Valley Sunday and Mann-Weil hits, Walking in the Rain, and We Gotta Get Out of This Place.
While King was more and more successful, her marriage was breaking up. After everything fell apart, King decided to move to California. As she was leaving, she sang a moving rendition of You’ve Got a Friend as a goodbye to her New York friends.
The rest of the show focuses on her Tapestry album, which was filled with great songs like It’s Too Late, You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman and Beautiful.
NOTE *** Whatever you do, don’t leave before the curtain calls! If you skip out as the applause starts, you’ll miss your chance to stand up and rock with an encore version of I Feel the Earth Move!
The Beautiful ensemble includes Averis Anderson, Lydia Burke, Raeven Carroll, Mazwell J. DeTogne, Alley Ellis, Emily Goldberg, Ian Geers, Makenzy Jenkins, Alanna Lovely, Chamaa Moody, Austin Nelson Jr. and Michael Turentine. Swings: Ryan Armstrong, Anna Louise Bramlett, Nataki Rennie, Mitzi Smith, Rico Velazquez.
The Beautiful orchestra includes Chris Sargent (Conductor/Keyboard), Karl Montzka (Associate Conductor/Keyboard, Larry Kohut (Acoustic & Electric Bass), Tom Logan (Acoustic & Electric Guitars), Vance Okraszewski (Drums & Percussion), Jim Gailloreto (Flute, Clarinet, Alto, Tenor & Baritone Saxophones).
Beautiful – The Carole King Musical runs through March 23rd at Drury Lane Theatre, 100 Drury Lane, Oakbrook Terrace. Parking is free. Running time is two hours, 30 minutes, with an intermission. Performances are Wednesdays at 1:30 pm; Thursdays at 1:30 & 7:00 pm; Fridays at 7:00 pm; Saturdays at 3:00 and 8:00 pm; Sundays at 2:00 & 6:00 pm. Tickets range from $53-$125 (including taxes & fees). FYI (630) 530-0111 or www.drurylanetheatre.com.