Review: BEAUTIFUL - THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL is Some Kind of Wonderful

Beautiful - The Carole King Musical

Book by Douglas McGrath, Words and Music by Gerry Goffin & Carole King, Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil, Music by Arrangement with Sony/ATV Music Publishing, Directed by Marc Bruni, Choreographed by Josh Prince; Music Director, Susan Draus; Scenic Design, Derek McLane; Costume Design, Alejo Vietti; Lighting Design, Peter Kaczorowski; Sound Design, Brian Ronan; Production Stage Manager, Eric Sprosty

CAST: Abby Mueller, Liam Tobin, Becky Gulsvig, Ben Fankhauser, Curt Bouril, Suzanne Grodner; Ensemble: Mark Banik, Ashley Blanchet, Sarah Bockel, Andrew Brewer, Britney Coleman, Rebecca E. Covington, Josh A. Dawson, John Michael Dias, Ryan Farnsworth, Rosharra Francis, Jay McKenzie, Alaina Mills, Paris Nix, Noah J. Ricketts, Nasia Thomas, Salisha Thomas, DeLaney Westfall, Dashaun Young

Performances through November 15, as part of the 2015-2016 Lexus Broadway In Boston Season at the Boston Opera House, 539 Washington Street, Boston, MA; Ticketmaster 800-982-2787 or www.BroadwayInBoston.com

Playing an icon of the music industry requires a combination of intricate acting, strong vocals, polished keyboard skills, and a healthy dose of gutsiness. Add to that stepping into the shoes of a Tony Award-winning performance by your very own kid sister and I'd say Abby Mueller deserves a big measure of applause before she even opens her mouth. The U.S. National Tour of the Tony and Grammy Award-winning Broadway show Beautiful - The Carole King Musical, with Mueller in the title role, turns the Boston Opera House into a good-time time machine, rolling out the incredible string of hit songs from the composing teams of Carole King/Gerry Goffin and Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil. If you came of musical age in the 1960s and '70s, get ready for an evocative stroll down Memory Lane.

In real estate, everything is about location, location, location, and in Beautiful, it is all about the music, music, music. King and Goffin wrote hits for some of the biggest acts in rock 'n' roll, as did their best friends and office neighbors Mann and Weil. The Shirelles, The Drifters, Little Eva, and Aretha Franklin are atop the lengthy list of artists who recorded the songs they wrote from 1650 Broadway, under the star of music publisher/producer Don Kirshner. Beautiful focuses on King's early life and career, from upstart 16-year old Brooklyn Jewish girl with big dreams, to meeting future husband and writing partner Goffin at Queens College, to flourishing solo singer-songwriter taking the spotlight and the stage at Carnegie Hall in 1971 after the release of her hugely successful album Tapestry.

Beautiful excels as a musical journey, capable of appealing to any generation. The connective book sections range from informative, fun, and emotional, to can-we-please-hear-another-song. However, the actors raise the level of even the most mundane scenes and all are extremely likable. Ben Fankhauser (Barry Mann) sings beautifully, has a sweet, little boy quality, and captures the Jewish, hypochondriacal essence of his character. He shares great chemistry with spunky Becky Gulsvig (Cynthia Weil) who brings to mind Kristen Chenoweth without the mugging, and I missed them when they weren't onstage. Curt Bouril plays Kirshner as self-assured with a cheeky sense of humor, and Suzanne Grodner broadly portrays King's mother Genie Klein with sufficient heart to keep her from becoming a caricature of a Jewish mother.

Members of the ensemble have sterling featured moments as performers, including John Michael Dias (Neil Sedaka, Righteous Brother Bobby Hatfield), Rebecca E. Covington (Janelle Woods), Ashley Blanchet (Little Eva), and Andrew Brewer (Righteous Brother Bill Medley). Several of the musical numbers are performed by actors channeling the groups who made them hits - The Drifters, The Shirelles - and Josh Prince's choreography, albeit modernized, is evocative of the style employed by the boy and girl groups back in the day. For Little Eva's "The Locomotion," the dancers move as one unit, as if coupled like train cars.

While King matured and grew into her own as an artist, Goffin's personal and psychological issues challenged him and their marriage. To his credit, book writer Douglas McGrath doesn't pull his punches with this part of the story. Liam Tobin handles the complexities of Goffin's personality shifts well and has a terrific voice, but he is unable to convey the Jewish sensibility of his character and therefore lacks an amorphous something to connect him with King. Their budding romance and their professional partnership feel authentic, but as their lives become more complicated, Tobin's portrayal needs a boost.

Mueller is a standout and has no trouble carrying the show. She doesn't inhabit the character, but she interprets King in her own style and makes us root for her to succeed, both in her marriage and in her career. She sings the heck out of King's songs, especially "One Fine Day" and "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman," each placed at a watershed moment in the script. However, she truly saves the best for last when she lets out all the pent-up emotion in the uplifting title song finale. Mueller's voice doesn't share the gravelly quality of King's, but her phrasing and ability to act the songs guarantees that we get everything the songwriter intended us to hear and then some.

Susan Draus is the Music Director/Conductor/keyboards of the band which consists of three traveling players and nine local musicians. They provide a full, rich sound (designer Brian Ronan) that never overpowers the vocals. Oddly, there are no strings, despite the mention in the script that King would include violins to meet the demands of The Shirelles as part of the arrangement for "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" (and which can be heard on the Original Broadway Cast Recording). Of course, there is also always a piano onstage for Mueller to play to add to the verisimilitude of her portrayal.

The creative team of Beautiful includes Derek McLane (set), Alejo Vietti (costume), and Peter Kaczorowski (lighting), and Marc Bruni, who directed the Broadway production, also directs the U.S. National Tour. The show began previews in November, 2013, opened in New York in January, 2014, and continues its run, now in excess of 800 performances. The tour is presently scheduled to travel to 18 cities through September, 2016. Check to see if it is coming to a city near you and get tickets before you end up singing "It's Too Late." Beautiful is one show that lives up to its name.

Photo credit: Joan Marcus (Abby Mueller)

To post a comment, you must register and login.