Interview: Emotions Too Big To Hold: MSMT Presents BEAUTIFUL: THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL

“I think Carole King is a poet. She paved the way for so many women who came after her in [popular music]. There is such a rawness and pure emotion in her music that feels like poetry to me,” declares actress Kathryn Boswell, who will play Cynthia Weil in BEAUTIFU: THE Carole King MUSICAL at Maine State Music Theatre.  “When you don’t have the words to express what you feel, you write it in poetry or music because some of these emotions are just too big to hold.” 

“Carole King writes about such universal themes, about love and humanness – emotions that are always relevant,” concurs Alfie Parker, Jr., who serves as Associate Choreographer and plays one of The Drifters in the show. The musical, which explores the rise to stardom of popular music legend, Carole King, runs at MSMT from August 7 -24 and concludes the company’s spectacular 2024 season.

Both Boswell and Parker are making their MSMT debuts in this new production, but both have played their roles before. For Boswell, it is the third time to portray lyricist Cynthia Weil, King’s friend and sometime creative rival, having undertaken the part previously at the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia and on national tour, while Parker served as Director/Choreographer Parker Esse’s Associate Choreographer and played one of the Drifters in an earlier production at Casa Mañana in Dallas.

Boswell  recalls finding her theatre vocation as a child in Dallas, when she performed alongside her mother in a community theatre production of JOSEPH & THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT  “I was an awkward kid, but I felt safe and accepted in the theatre, and I went on to do SOUND OF MUSIC and other shows. In high school I became serious about making theatre my career and went on to the Cincinnati Conservatory.”  After graduation she became a swing in GIGI on Broadway and later on tour. “It was like being shot out of a cannon.  I covered eleven parts and understudied Vanessa Hudgens, and I gained a true appreciation for the work swings and understudies do.”  Boswell counts among the highlights of her career to date playing Young Phyllis in FOLLIES at St. Louis Repertory, understudying and going on in the title role in ANASTASIA on Broadway and on tour, and recently the BEAUTIFUL tour.  “Playing Cynthia [Weil] is so lovely. It’s such a gift to walk into work every day with joy in your heart.”

Parker recalls his first experiences getting hooked on theatre in his hometown of State College, Pennsylvania. “I was in fourth grade, and I saw a sixth grade production of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF. I was in awe!  In high school I saw A CHORUS LINE and decided that was what I wanted to do.  I quit track so I could do theatre and applied to colleges for musical theatre programs.  He confesses he actually got into Penn State’s BFA program through the back door after his application was initially rejected. “When I was in high school, I had been in A SOLDIER’s PLAY on campus, and the director knew me; he told me ‘We want you in the program - Go fill out the paperwork.’ I did and went on to get my BFA from Penn State.”  Since then, Parker, who has an extensive background in dance and choreography, has understudied and performed as the Genie in ALADDIN on Broadway, the national tours of MISS SAIGON, MEMPHIS, and EVITA, and at numerous regional theatres across the country. He cites as one of his fondest memories doing H.M.S. Pinafore at the Guthrie: “I loved the goofiness of the production and the enhanced scene work.”

Both Parker and Boswell recognize the legendary status of Carole King and are enjoying the opportunity BEAUTIFUL affords to explore her music and the music of her contemporaries like The Drifters, The Shirelles, The Righteous Brothers, and, of course, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. Says Parker, “I think I had been hearing their songs all my life, but didn’t realize who had written them until I did this musical. It is great to do this show and take a deep dive into the world of The Drifters, The Shirelles, the whole music scene of the time.”

Boswell observes that her mother had King’s Tapestry album, and “she was a big fan especially of King’s later music, but I didn’t know that much about her beginnings. She and Gerry [Goffin] wrote so many hits so young.”

Asked about playing supporting characters in BEAUTIFUL and what the relationships were between King and Weil/Mann and King and The Drifters, Boswell replies without hesitation: “You understand [from this show] that in the music business of the time, every single relationship was so important.  Everyone needed everyone else. The people who sang the songs needed the people who wrote them and vice versa. Songwriters would never have been able to get their work out there without someone who wanted to sing it.  [In addition,] Cynthia and Carole were women trying to find a footing in a male dominated world. They felt a camaraderie as well as a rivalry.  They pushed each other to be better.” 

Parker believes that by writing for and collaborating with groups like The Drifters and The Shirelles, King and Goffin became “part of the process that brings social change. Those groups were looking for music to break the barrier of race. Carole decided at a young age that she wanted to partner with black folks and help move things forward with music.”

In terms of storytelling, Boswell feels that Douglas McGrath’s book “packs a big punch in a short amount of time” and does a fine job “of helping you understand how Carole stepped into her own voice, how she became who she is today.  “

Parker concurs that “the musical gives an overview of her struggles without diving deeply into all of them. It inspires you to learn more about King and helps you understand the struggles she faced and had to overcome.”

Much of the coherence of the storytelling can be credited to Director/Choreographer Parker Esse.  Says Parker, “He is an actors’ director. He is an amazing human being to work with. He creates an environment that is safe and fun, filled with creativity and collaboration. He is a brilliant director and fantastic choreographer who creates movement that is dynamic, powerful, moves the plot forward. Working with him is a dream.”

Boswell adds, “It is so lovely to have trust and respect [in rehearsal.] As an actor, you are vulnerable when you put your heart out there, so having a great leader helming the show makes everyone feel things are going to be OK.”

Asked what each actor considers the essence of his/her character, Boswell enthuses about Cynthia Weil, “As a woman it’s easy to feel you have to apologize especially in rooms you are not certain you should be in. Whenever I feel like that, I think of Cynthia and am inspired by her. She walked through the world with so much fire, so much passion, and moxie.”

Parker says simply of The Drifters: “They had style and class.”

Looking forward to telling the Carole King story to Maine audiences, Alfie Parker, Jr. hopes they will take away a message about “experiencing hard things, making hard choices, and still moving on and allowing yourself to grow and to transform and transform again.”

Kathryn Boswell thinks the production “will speak to people who have experienced heartache and loss and have had to pick themselves back up. The show unpacks so much of how Carole King found her own voice and became the singer and songwriter she is today. This musical is different from many jukebox musicals in that it has so much heart.”

 

Photos courtesy of MSMT, Jared Morneau, photographer

BEAUTIFUL: THE Carole King MUSICAL runs from August 7-24, 2024, at MSMT’s Pickard Theater, 1 Bath Rd., Brunswick, ME 04011 www.msmt.org  207-725-8769

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