BEAUTIFUL: THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL to Play The Gateway Playhouse Beginning Next Month

Beautiful: The Carole King Musical - the Tony and Grammy Award-winning Broadway hit about the life and career of one of the most prolific female songwriters in history - continues The Gateway's 75th Season and will run at The Gateway Playhouse from August 9 – September 8, 2024.

Long before she was the musical legend known to the world as Carole King — she was Carole Klein, a spunky, young songwriter from Brooklyn with a unique voice. From the chart-topping hits she wrote for the biggest acts in music to her own life-changing, trailblazing success with Tapestry, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical takes you back to where it all began — and takes you on the ride of a lifetime.

Beautiful: The Carole King Musical is the inspiring tale about a girl who became King with a stirring book by the late Oscar and Tony-nominated Douglas McGrath and the music and lyrics of icons Carole King, Gerry Goffin, Barry Mann, and Cynthia Weil. Features such unforgettable classics as “I Feel the Earth Move,” "You've Got a Friend," "One Fine Day," "So Far Away," "Take Good Care of My Baby," "Up on the Roof," "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling," "Will You Love Me Tomorrow," and "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman," this musical phenomenon is filled with the songs you remember and a story you'll never forget.

Beautiful: The Carole King Musical is directed by Larry Raben, choreographed by Debbie Roshe, and music directed by Bryson Baumgartel. Director Larry Raben has directed 13 shows at The Gateway which includes this past season's JERSEY BOYS, CLUE starring Sally Struthers, Disney's The Little Mermaid, Disney's Newsies The Musical, Murder On The Orient Express, Kinky Boots, Cabaret, Mamma Mia!, Nice Work If You Can Get It (IRNE nomination), Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, The Producers, Sunset Blvd and as an actor Sugar (Jerry/Daphne). He directed Tony winner Joe DiPietro's Falling For Eve Off-Broadway (York Theatre). Other regional credits include School Of Rock (Tuacahn Amphitheatre), JERSEY BOYS (Phoenix Theatre Company), Buyer & Cellar (Laguna Playhouse), Catch Me If You Can (Musical Theatre West), Tru (CSW), and Titanic (Moonlight).

Choreographer Debbie Roshe returns to The Gateway after choreographing JERSEY BOYS, A Christmas Carol, Disney's The Little Mermaid, The Bodyguard, Disney's Beauty and the Beast, and Memphis. Other work includes The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Disney's Beauty and the Beast at the Argyle Theatre, Palm Beach at La Jolla Playhouse (Robby Award Nomination), A Novel Romance and Zona, The Ghost of Greenbriar Off-Broadway, Damn Yankees at the Ivoryton Playhouse, Sing A Christmas Song at George Street Playhouse, Young Tom Edison for Theatreworks USA, Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego? for PBS, The Dana Carvey Show, and a National Tour of The Rocky Horror Show. In addition, she is well known for her classes at Steps on Broadway and Broadway Dance Center in NYC which attracts many Broadway dancers and Radio City Rockettes.

Musical Director Bryson Baumgartel has played and conducted all over the world. Regionally, he spent four seasons conducting at Tuacahn Center, as well as other regional theaters in New York City, where he recently made his Broadway conducting debut in Merrily We Roll Along. Other credits include Justice, Disney's Aladdin, School of Rock, Disney's Beauty and the Beast, Hairspray, and Disney's HERCULES The Musical. 

Playing the title role of Carole King will be Kaitlyn Davis who was most recently seen starring as Carole King in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical at the Marriott Theatre, where she played the piano accompaniment live on stage and was ranked in the top three theatrical performances of the year by the Chicago Tribune. Kaitlyn previously played the role at Broadway at Music Circus, and understudied Carole in the national tour of Beautiful, where her portrayal was praised as "effortless yet powerful" (Broadway World), Baltimore Concert Opera, Ogunquit Playhouse, and John W. Engeman Theatre. 

The productions's earth moving cast includes Bill Coyne (The Wedding Singer, The Gateway; Greed: A Musical For Our Times, New World Stages; The Brightness of Heaven, Cherry Lane Theatre; and Li'l Abner, Fade Out/Fade In for Musicals Tonight!), Emily Grace Tucker (The Little Mermaid, Tuacahn Amphitheater and The Gateway; Cinderella, Musical Theater West; and A Chorus Line, Flatrock Playhouse), Lukas Poost (Jersey Boys, Clue, and Kinky Boots, The Gateway and Shrek the Musical, Broadway National Tour), Daniel Robert Sullivan (Dear Evan Hansen, National Tour and Jersey Boys, Las Vegas, Toronto & International companies), Angie Schworer (Some Like it Hot, Broadway and The Cher Show, The Gateway), Travis Keith Battle, Devin Price (Ain't Too Proud, 1st National Tour and Motown the Musical, 2nd National Tour), IMANI YOUNGBLOOD (Hood, Asolo Rep; Holiday Inn, Mill Mountain; and Little Shop of Horrors, EPIC Players), JASMINE Michelle Smith (Jersey Boys, Theatre Raleigh and SIX, Norwegian Cruise Line), GRACE ELLIS SOLOMON (A Bronx Tale, Into the Woods, and Little Shop of Horrors), BRITTA RAE (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical and The Prom, Short North Stage), JOSHUA SHEA COATES (Rock of Ages, The Gateway; The Scarlet Pimpernel, The John W Engemen Theater; and Marry Me A Little, Limelight Theater Company), SAMANTHA TULLIE (HAIR, The Woodstock Playhouse; Brooklyn the Musical, The Moxie Theater; and Jesus Christ Superstar, The Moonlight Amphitheatre), LEO CARMODY(Jersey Boys, Arts Center of Coastal Carolina; West Side Story, Southwest Michigan Symphony; and XANADU, CCM), JANAYSIA GETHERS (Little Shop of Horrors, Sierra Repertory Theatre and The Little Mermaid, Disney Cruise Lines), AVA JONES (Ragtime and Guys and Dolls, Count Basie Theater), Leron Wellington (Jimmy Buffett's Scape to Margaritaville, Nick Jr Live Tour, and Disney Cruise Lines), ADRIAN JSTN (The Color Purple, Disney's ECHO), and JUSTIN WAITE (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, John W. Engeman Theatre and Fireside Theatre; Rock of Ages, Mountain Theatre CO; and Grease, Clearspace).

Following in The Gateway's 75th season will be Irving Berlin's White Christmas and The Addams Family the Musical. 

Tickets for Beautiful: The Carole King Musical are on sale now and start at $59. For a complete show schedule and for more information on how you can save, contact the Box Office at 631-286-1133 or visit www.TheGateway.org.

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