BEAUTIFUL - THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL April 8, 2022 Eclectic Arts
BEAUTIFUL
The Carole King Musical
Premera Blue Cross Broadway At The Paramount
Seattle, WA
Opening Night Review: April 8, 2022
Musicians recognize other musicians, regardless of genre. A songwriter or tunesmith - same thing. The average musician out there doesn’t need to love Carole King’s music to recognize her greatness as a songwriter.
While I grew up with her music, I really knew next to nothing about her story. “Beautiful - The Carole King Musical” attempts to shed some light on the woman that has a songbook for the ages.
The show never lets up with the vast catalog that Carole King wrote or co-wrote over the decades. Many, many songs that other artists recorded were hers. Each song performance was well done and the audience really ate it all up. By the second act, it was more like being at a rock concert than a musical.
While the story addresses some of the ups and downs of Carole King’s life, it chose to stay with a focus on the music and her first marriage (she had been married four times in real life). By doing that, her life story took a bit of a back seat to the songs and the performances.
It's understandable that her music is also her life. When you’ve written as many classic tunes as she has, the two areas are intertwined. But I would have preferred to have had more focus on her life from the early days to more recent times, including the changes over the decades. The show addressed some of this but it felt incomplete and the storyline was merely in the background so the performances of the songs could take center stage.
The performances were outstanding. Sara Sheperd as Carole King, James D. Gish as Gerry Goffin, Sara King as Cynthia Weil, and Ryan Farnsworth as Barry Mann could not have been more engaging and entertaining. The tone of much of the musical was light (with a few exceptions) and the leads all did an amazing job of bringing Carole King’s music to life.
The opening night audience clearly enjoyed the performance. As I mentioned earlier, there was a ton of applause and verbal appreciation after every tune in the second act.
Overall, “Beautiful - The Carole King Musical” was highly entertaining and a wonderful tribute to one of the greatest songwriters of our time.
“Beautiful - The Carole King Musical” runs through Saturday April 9th. Tickets are available here: TICKETS!
The Carole King Musical
Premera Blue Cross Broadway At The Paramount
Seattle, WA
Opening Night Review: April 8, 2022
((l to r) Sara Sheperd, Sara King, Ryan Farnsworth and James D. Gish)
Musicians recognize other musicians, regardless of genre. A songwriter or tunesmith - same thing. The average musician out there doesn’t need to love Carole King’s music to recognize her greatness as a songwriter.
While I grew up with her music, I really knew next to nothing about her story. “Beautiful - The Carole King Musical” attempts to shed some light on the woman that has a songbook for the ages.
The show never lets up with the vast catalog that Carole King wrote or co-wrote over the decades. Many, many songs that other artists recorded were hers. Each song performance was well done and the audience really ate it all up. By the second act, it was more like being at a rock concert than a musical.
While the story addresses some of the ups and downs of Carole King’s life, it chose to stay with a focus on the music and her first marriage (she had been married four times in real life). By doing that, her life story took a bit of a back seat to the songs and the performances.
It's understandable that her music is also her life. When you’ve written as many classic tunes as she has, the two areas are intertwined. But I would have preferred to have had more focus on her life from the early days to more recent times, including the changes over the decades. The show addressed some of this but it felt incomplete and the storyline was merely in the background so the performances of the songs could take center stage.
(Sara Sheperd as “Carole King")
The performances were outstanding. Sara Sheperd as Carole King, James D. Gish as Gerry Goffin, Sara King as Cynthia Weil, and Ryan Farnsworth as Barry Mann could not have been more engaging and entertaining. The tone of much of the musical was light (with a few exceptions) and the leads all did an amazing job of bringing Carole King’s music to life.
The opening night audience clearly enjoyed the performance. As I mentioned earlier, there was a ton of applause and verbal appreciation after every tune in the second act.
Overall, “Beautiful - The Carole King Musical” was highly entertaining and a wonderful tribute to one of the greatest songwriters of our time.
“Beautiful - The Carole King Musical” runs through Saturday April 9th. Tickets are available here: TICKETS!
Best,
Mark Sugiyama
Eclectic Arts
Connect with Eclectic Arts: Social Media Links Here
Comments
Post a Comment