‘Beautiful: The Carole King Musical’ – Book by Douglas McGrath. Words and Music by Gerry Goffin, Carole King, Barry Mann, and Cynthia Weil. Directed and Choreographed by Deanna Dys; Music Director and Conductor Mindy Cimini; Scenic Design by Derek McLane; Costume Design by Alejo Vietti; Lighting Design by Franklin Meissner, Jr.; Sound Design by Sebastian Nixon; Costume Coordinator by Ellie De Lucia. Presented by Reagle Music Theatre at 617 Lexington St., Waltham through June 22nd.
By Mike Hoban
There’s a reason that Beautiful: The Carole King Musical is such a popular choice for regional theaters: With a score that ranks with any Gershwin or Cole Porter collection of songs within a Broadway show, it’s nearly impossible to top musically. King launched her career as a singer in 1971 with her breakthrough album, Tapestry (with hits “So Far Away,” “It’s Too Late”, “I Feel the Earth Move,” and a ton more), which is impressive enough, but Beautiful begins with her career as a teenaged songwriter, and the hits she penned with then-husband Gerry Goffin could easily fill a 1960’s jukebox by themselves. But it’s not just the music. What elevates Beautiful above most “jukebox” musicals is that the book has actual depth, even if some of the story elements are fictionalized.
According to Beautiful, King sells her first song, “It Might as Well Rain Until September,” to hit record producer Don Kirschner (whom boomers may remember from “Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert” fame), and Bobby Vee turns it into a radio hit. She enrolls at Queens College, meets heartthrob and flirt Gerry Goffin, gets pregnant, and gets married at 17. Soon, the pair is churning out hits for Kirschner, including “Under the Boardwalk” for the Drifters and “The Loco-Motion” for Little Eva, who had been their babysitter. Carole and Gerry also form a competitive but best-friend relationship with Kirschner’s other hitmaking couple, Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann (“Walking in the Rain” by the Ronettes and “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling” by the Righteous Brothers, as well as a slew of other hits), and it’s a friendship that endures throughout their careers.
But like many showbiz stories, success brings its own set of problems, and Gerry’s bipolar disorder and serial philandering begin to take their toll on the marriage. They continue to write together, still turning out hits like Aretha Franklin’s “You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman” and “Pleasant Valley Sunday” for the Monkees, and try to work on their marriage, but it falls apart as Barry keeps cheating. Devastated, Carole picks herself up and moves to L.A., where she connects with the legendary Lou Adler to record Tapestry, which becomes one of the greatest-selling albums of all time (25 million copies) and launches her solo career.
The success of any production of Beautiful rests with the casting of Carole King, and in Olivia Palmer, Reagle Music Theatre has found a gem. Palmer resists the temptation to merely do an impression of King (although there are times when she sounds uncannily like her) and instead embraces King’s essence and interprets the songs in a manner that feels genuinely organic instead of a note-for-note copying of the records. Her acting chops are first-rate, too, as she displays a comic flair in the early scenes and convincingly conveys the crushing anguish as her marriage dissolves. The other leads (Shad Hanley as Gerry Goffin, Harley Seger as Cynthia Weil, Luke Hawkins as Barry Mann) give solid performances as well, with Hanley’s Goffin a powder keg of emotion as he struggles with his mental health issues (and his self-centered infidelities).
Many of the songs are performed by the ensemble by male (the Drifters) and female (the Shirelles) groups, as well as solo performers, and they generally handle the material well, with “On Broadway” and “Up on the Roof” (with Martinez Napoleon singing a killer lead) being standouts. (The majority of the ensemble are current or recent grads from local college performing arts programs, heavily weighted towards Boston Conservatory at Berklee, as well as Emerson and BU). One shortcoming in the production was the choreography for the groups, as they often seemed out of sync, but that’s a minor quibble with this production. And with so many great songs, who cares? Anyone other than a 60s pop music enthusiast may be shocked to learn that so many of the hits were written by the songwriting teams – both of whom have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame – and who raised pop songwriting to an art form.
Beautiful is a great night out for music lovers of all ages, and parking at Reagle is free to boot. For more information and tickets, go to: https://www.reaglemusictheatre.org/
