Review: BEAUTIFUL: THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL at Keystone Theatrics At The Playhouse At Allenberry

Beautiful: The Carole King Musical premiered in 2013 at the Curran Theatre in San Francisco. This jukebox musical by Douglas McGrath, featuring the music of Carole King, Gerry Goffin, Barry Mann, and Cynthia Weil, opened on Broadway in 2014. Beautiful tells the story of Carole King’s early life and career, highlighting her beginnings as a teen song-writer, her professional and personal relationship with Gerry Goffin, and her career as a solo performer. Beautiful comes to life under the direction of Dustin LeBlanc on stage by Keystone Theatrics at the Playhouse at Allenberry through July 2nd.

The set (by Jason Nedrow and Dave Olmsted), lighting (designed by Tristan Stasiulis), and costumes (designed by Brock Viering with assistance from Norine Bahnweg and Karen Switzer and wigs by Melanie Devorick) are masterfully designed, well-suited to the size of the stage and theatre, and serve to take the audience on a journey through the 50s, 60s, and early 70s. The set changes move so quickly and smoothly that the audience barely has time to register that it’s happening. The choreography by co-director Maria Petrilak is fun to watch and makes the audience wish they could get up and dance with The Drifters and the The Shirelles.

Music director and conductor Gregg Mauroni leads the orchestra featuring Brandon Rubinic, Doug Riley, Bill Perbetsky, Colton Dietz, Maria Wilson, Ben Carraher, Allen Roth, Dave Porter, Mark Alexander-Gray, Alison Williams, Carol Anderson, and Ruth Sweigart. The orchestra does a wonderful job with the instrumental interludes between scenes, keeping the audience engaged during set changes. Unfortunately, the sound balance between the orchestra and the singers was totally off, resulting in many of the vocals being completely drowned out by the instrumentals whenever more than a couple instruments were playing. This was very disappointing since the cast is filled with tremendous vocal talent. Luckily, most audience members will be familiar with the songs, but hopefully they will be able to remedy the balance issue for future performances as it was sad to not be able to hear the lovely voices and harmonies on songs when the full orchestra was playing.

It is difficult to find the words to express how wonderful the cast is. They work together beautifully on stage, many of them playing multiple roles, and they bring the story to life with the authenticity that comes out in their expressions and interactions. It is easy to forget that they are actors and not the people that they are portraying. The cast includes Kaitlyn Ball (Betty), Carter Anstine (Neil Sedaka, The Righteous Brothers, and Nick), Kaya Konevitch (Lucille, The Shirelles, “One Fine Day” Backup Singer, and “Uptown” Singer), Brady Bennett (The Drifters), Manny Gamble (The Drifters), David Payne (The Drifters), Marcus Vogelsong (The Drifters), Ray Bellamy (The Shirelles and “One Fine Day” Backup Singer), Taye Schaffner (The Shirelles and Janelle Woods), Mia Thornton (The Shirelles, Little Eva, and “One Fine Day” Backup Singer), Marshall Storm (The Righteous Brothers and Lou Adler), Torrence Brown (Marilyn Wald), Rebecca J. Bremer (Genie Klein), Joe Kemprowski (Don Kirshner), TJ Creedon (Barry Mann), Carly Lafferty (Cynthia Weil), Alec Michael Brashear (Gerry Goffin), and Brittany Grove (Carole King).

Every single actor in this cast brings an energy to the stage that the audience cannot help but get caught up in. The Drifters (Brady Bennett, David, Payne, Marcus Vogelsong, and Manny Gamble) and The Shirelles (Ray Bellamy, Kaya Konevitch, Taye Schaffner, and Mia Thornton) delight the audience not only with their voices but also with their dancing. “One Fine Day” featuring Taye Schaffner as Janelle Woods and Ray Bellamy, Kaya Konevitch, and Mia Thornton as the backup singers is one of the best group performances of the production. Rebecca J. Bremer brings comedy and heart to her performance as Genie Klein, Carole’s mother. Joe Kemprowski finds just the right balance of sarcasm and genuine emotion to his larger-than-life role as music producer Don Kirshner.

One of the most engaging parts of the show is seeing the development of the friendship between Goffin and King and Mann and Weil. Carly Lafferty and TJ Creedon are perfectly cast as Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann. They play off one another beautifully and with excellent comedic timing. Their harmonies are outstanding, as highlighted in “Walking in the Rain”, and Creedon’s performance of “We Gotta Get Out of this Place” deserves the thunderous applause it receives. Alec Michael Brashear portrays Gerry Goffin with wonderful nuance, emphasizing the good and the bad in Goffin and King’s marriage and hinting at his drug use and mental illness. Brashear’s resonant voice is lovely and a fantastic match for Brittany Grove’s vocals on their duets. Grove takes on the role Carole King, filling the role with humility, grace, and emotion. Her voice is perfectly suited to the role, reminding the audience of the journey King took from songwriter to singer-songwriter to performing at Carnegie Hall.

Beautiful: The Carole King Musical is filled with truly beautiful moments. The cast performs with such energy and heart that they bring the audience to their feet. For your opportunity to catch this engaging jukebox musical, visit www.keystonetheatrics.com/beautiful/ to get your tickets today!

Photo credit: Marc Faubel (HSGuy)

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