Even as an awkward sixteen-year-old, Carole King was already composing melodies of exquisite beauty, adorned with poetic, narrative lyrics that touch the heart. Their musical quality and emotional content were in dramatic contrast to simplistic rock ‘n’ roll hits like Splish-Splash, Yakitty-Yak, Stupid Cupid and Be-Bop-A-Lulu, catchy though they were.
With co-writer and sometime husband, Gerry Goffin, King penned colossal hits for top artists of the 1960s like Bobby Vee (Take Good Care of My Baby), The Shirelles (Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?), The Monkees (Pleasant Valley Sunday), The Drifters (Some Kind of Wonderful, Up On The Roof), The Beatles (Chains) and for their babysitter Little Eva (The Locomotion). In the 1970s she was finally persuaded, though not a natural born singer, to sing her own songs like It’s Too Late and You’ve got A Friend and released albums Writer and smash hit Tapestry. Meanwhile, their great friends and equally successful song-writing rivals, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, were penning the likes of On Broadway and You’ve Lost that loving Feeling.
With music of this calibre surely no show can fail to please, and this 2022 touring production of Beautiful (the first back in 2013) earns standing ovations. Not all fans are on their feet, though.
Almost from start to finish, the show is a frantic, manic whirlwind of music, dance, song and insistent, decibel-driven orchestrations with occasional oases where songs, story, character and relationships breathe more freely and achieve more poignancy. A stage filled with talented onstage actor-musicians hammering out heavy orchestration on pianos, drums, guitars, saxes and trumpets is just the job for big dance numbers like The Locomotion, but such manic energy and super enthusiasm can pall if too many songs are given an identical, high decibel treatment, in spite of the fine musicianship. As musicians, instruments, dancers and singers bounce with overblown joy (albeit in thoughtfully choreographed style) they do tend to steamroller the more tender lyrics. These constant, full-on maelstroms of movement delight widely, but any authentic feel and atmosphere of the 1960’s and 70’s era and the artistes portrayed are lost in the process.
Starting briefly with Carole at the piano in Carnegie Hall, the show rewinds to her teenage years in Brooklyn and comes chronologically full circle. Though the frequent yodelly catch in her voice doesn’t please everyone, Molly-Grace Cutler and her singing and playing are a big hit. She’s a convincing enough teen, excitable and awkward as she tugs at her cardigan, and later, a modest, untrendy mother, full of upset and heartache because of husband Gerry’s affairs. The first act shoots along in a full, flustery rush, blasting out music and throwing out words, but also delivers a gentle humour (as with saxist/pianist Claire Greenaway as Carole’s mom) and some more thoughtful moments.
With more breathing spaces, the second act allows story, characters and emotional relationships to develop a bit more freely and convincingly as the marriage between Carole and philandering, unstable Gerry (Tom Milner) unravels altogether, and morose hypochondriac Barry Mann (nicely played by fine-voiced guitarist Jos Slovick) and independent Cynthia Weil (energetic trumpeter Seren Sandham-Davies) grow closer. So, this fast-paced romp, full of modern day attitude, verve and ego, through the super music of a bygone era, also brings some interesting and touching insights into the composers themselves.
Eileen Caiger Gray
The show travels to Glasgow, Plymouth,Belfast, Nottingham, Manchester, Blackpool, Peterborough, Coventry, Cheltenham, Liverpool and Oxford.
