Review: Some Kind of Wonderful - BEAUTIFUL: THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL at Maine State Music Theatre

Powered by poetry, fueled by raw and resilient emotion, and presented with passion and high voltage energy by a company committed to the music and message, BEAUTIFUL: THE Carole King MUSICAL triumphantly takes the stage as the finale of Maine State Music Theatre’s 2024 season. Exploring the early life and creative journey of popular music’s living legend, Carole King, BEAUTIFUL is a biographical jukebox musical that plays like a top 10 hit parade, at the same time that it tells its disarmingly, immediate and vulnerable story. With the luminous Kyra Kennedy giving a deeply authentic, earthy, and uplifting performance in the title role, BEAUTIFUL offers both absorbing entertainment and inspiration.

BEAUTIFUL: THE Carole King MUSICAL boasts a book by Douglas McGrath and a score comprised of classics by Carole King and her contemporaries - among them, Gerry Goffin, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, The Shirelles, The Drifters, and The Righteous Brothers, all of whom appear as characters in the musical. The story arc focuses on Carole King’s humble but determined beginnings in Brooklyn, her spunky, scrappy climb up the songwriter’s ladder of success, as well as her personal struggles in her marriage and professional life, especially in navigating the man’s world of the music industry.

Director/Choreographer Parker Esse (Alfie Parker, Jr. Associate Choreographer) directs with a sure hand and a stylistic respect for the material. His narrative is compelling, and his choreography effectively conjures up the 1960s and 1970s. Especially effective are the transitions from the songwriters’ demo performances to the staged performances by the groups that made the recordings famous.

Music Director Ben McNaboe (Jacob Stebly, Associate Music Director) leads the eight - piece orchestra with lyricism and confidence, eliciting a rich modulated sound. With piano at the heart of King’s early career, McNaboe and Stebly, on the keys, render King’s songs with flair.

Kyle Dixon’s set decor has an appropriate late 20th century feeling, blending a versatile unit set consisting of platforms framed with lighting strips, latticed drops that transform with lights and projections, and a small array of strategic props. These are skillfully blended with Luis Garcia’s video/projections to make a kinetically fluid backdrop, while the rear wall projections conjure up the various specific locales of the work.

Jesse Klug‘s lighting design further complements the look, capturing the pulsating glamor of the performances and the more intimate realism of personal moments. Shannon Slaton achieves an authentic and pleasing soundscape with nods to the to the ambiance of period recorded sound.

Madison Queen (Kevin S. Foster II, wigs) provides the realistic late 20th century costumes, many of which may appear to a present-day audience charmingly funky or quaint. Amy Bertacini helms the show as Production Stage Manager.

BEAUTIFUL is a musical that relies on a dynamic and cohesive ensemble, with many of the actors playing multiple roles. As Carole King, Kyra Kennedy makes an impressive MSMT debut (her second undertaking of the role). Kennedy inhabits the role with utter naturalness, projecting King’s raw and honest emotions and her vulnerability combined with her determination. She brings to the role a powerful vocal range and assured presence in one memorable song after the other, building to the trio of stunning finale songs, “Natural Woman,” “Beautiful” and “I Feel the Earth Move.”

Jeff Sullivan makes a handsome and empathetic Gerry Goffin - an irresistible charmer, an original talent, and a deeply flawed human being. He poignantly captures Goffin’s struggle with his inner demons in his intense rendition of “Pleasant Valley Sunday.”

Kathryn Boswell infuses Cynthia Weil with a combination of fierce ambition and tenderness; she projects the cool assurance of the lyricist and brings vocal power to the part. Nick Moulton captures Barry Mann’s nerdy neurosis, his spontaneous creativity and wry wit, delivering some excellent duets with Boswell, and enjoying a breakout moment of his own in “We Gotta Get Out Of This Place.”

Ever the comedic genius with impeccable timing, Charis Leos portrays Genie Klein as an overprotective, sometimes sharp-tongued Jewish mother, wary of her daughter’s career ambitions and life choices. Reed Campbell plays a note perfect Donnie Kirshner, the tough talking, warmhearted music producer with an eye for talent.

The Drifters - Alfie Parker, Jr., Trevail Maurice, Jeremiah Valentino Porter, and DeShawn Bowens - give convincing renditions of the group’s “On Broadway” and “Up On the Roof.” So, too, do Giselle Amarisa Watts, Paris Porsché Richardson, Candace Haynes, and Mikayla White as the Shirelles convey the seductive appeal of the group in both their music and performance. Seth Eliser and Randy Cain stir hearts and memories in The Righteous Brothers with a melting rendition of “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling.”

Other outstanding features come from Rachel Gubow as an unapologetic Marilyn Wald, Candace Haynes as a sultry Janelle Woods, and Mary Beth Donahoe as King’s teenage friend, Betty.

As BEAUTIFUL’s heroine, Carole King, Kyra Kennedy launches into the final number of the show, “Beautiful,” pounding the keys and singing with an unvarnished, untamed abandon, there is a seismic energy that ripples through the house. Not only is the MSMT audience experiencing the culmination of the singer’s poignant and inspiring story, but they are also feeling the sense of of a spectacular season drawing to close on a thrilling high note. BEAUTIFUL makes the perfect finale to what has been one of the finest MSMT seasons, in recent memory. This is production is BEAUTIFUL to listen to, to look at, and to embrace with its uplifting message of resilience in the face of struggle, and perseverance in finding one’s own creative voice.

Not only is Carole King’s music and the music of her contemporaries worthy of celebration, but so, too, is MSMT, This has been a remarkable season of debuts, innovations, breakout technical progress, and captivating imagination - one that, to borrow Carole King’s phrase, is truly “Some Kind of Wonderful!”

 

Photos courtesy of MSMT, Jared Morneau, photographer

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

 

 

 

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