Interview: BEAUTIFUL: THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL National Tour's Rachel Coloff Talks Starring as Genie & More!

The National Tour of the Tony and Grammy Award Beautiful-The Carole King Musical, is coming to the Kimmel Cultural Campus' Academy of Music February 22 - 27, 2022! The long-running Broadway hit, now making it's way across the country, charts legendary singer-songwriter and hit-making machine Carole King's journey from the start of her career as a young woman in the music industry, to the ultimate heights of stardom.

A true, inspiring, toe-tapping musical, Beautiful tells the story of Carole King's rise to the top, from her marriage with songwriting partner Gerry Goffin, to her friendship with fellow writers and friendly competitors, Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann, to becoming one of the most successful performers in music history.

Beautiful features some of the most beloved songs of all time, written by Gerry Goffin/Carole King and Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil, including "I Feel The Earth Move," "One Fine Day," "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman," "You've Got A Friend" and the title song, "Beautiful."

BroadwayWorld spoke with Rachel Coloff, currently starring in the National Tour of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical as Carole King's mother, Genie, about the show's message, her favorite moments in the musical, her favorite part about playing Genie, and much more.

Tickets can be purchased by calling 215-893-1999 or online ata??www.kimmelculturalcampus.org.

How has it been returning to live performances after all this time, and being able to travel the country with the National Tour of Beautiful?

It has been thrilling, actually, to be out there in front of live audiences and hearing their reactions, giggles, twitters, big guffaws. In massive numbers or even small groups, it doesn't matter, it is a thrilling experience, and I think that everyone in the cast - I believe I can speak for everyone on this- we are just incredibly grateful for this experience, to perform this show and all the fantastic material in it, all the songs, for live audiences. There is just no other experience like it. And to have that taken away- out of safety and to take care of ourselves and everyone else- I think it was really, really hard. But we're all grateful, it's thrilling. It couldn't be a better show because it makes everyone feel so great, especially at the end.

Absolutely. Can you tell me about the role you play - Genie- and your favorite thing about getting to play this character?

I love Genie Klein! Or as she's later known, Eugenia Gingold. I love her. She is someone who had really been through it. She put herself through school, she went to Brooklyn college, she had an English and Drama Theatre degree, she loved music, she was just really a well-rounded person, and she gave Carole so much. And I think she maybe, like a lot of parents who want to perform, had some jealousy of her own daughter, and yet pride at the same time. I think she wasn't always as encouraging to her daughter as she could have been, but when it really came down to it, she believed in her daughter and gave her the support and encouragement that she needed to move on from Gerry Goffin and do the work that Genie knew that she could do.

She introduced her to the piano, she was her first music teacher, she really put this artistic world at her daughter's feet, and Carole really lapped it up. And that's the thing I think is so amazing about what Genie did, she knew her daughter was artistic, and she gave her this incredible world and encouraged her. I think she was scared, and wanted her to be secure, so she really pushed her to be a teacher, but she really did see at a certain point in Carole's life that she was incredibly talented and supported her from that moment on. And later became her acting coach, actually!

I love Genie. She is complicated, but at her core she loves her daughter, and believes in her, and wants the absolute best for her. Genie really planted these seeds and gave her these roots that would allow her to be that female trailblazing singer-songwriter, and make Tapestry, which was one of the bestselling albums in the world.

One of the best albums of all time. Do you have a favorite moment in the show?

I have favorite moments, I have favorite songs. One of my favorite moments is the moment when Carole King just walks right in and tells Don Kirshner that she's going to try out this song for him, and she's nervous and scared because she's never performed for that many people. There's, like, four people in the room [laughs]. And it is this funny moment, they all look around because she says, "I didn't realize there were going to be so many people in this room." But, it's just an amazing moment, that she is that shy, that inexperienced, but she just keeps going.

And then Cynthia has this moment of incredible moxie and chutzpah where she walks right in and she says, "I'm here to sing for you, and I've got this song, it's right here in my throat, and I think I know what's best for me," and it kind of blows Don Kirshner's mind. Women walking in and saying, "You're going to listen to me!" and the guys being so blown away by the precociousness of these young women who are just so sure. It's true stories, great stories that young women can really look to.

There are so many great moments! Let me ask, do you feel that you've changed as a performer since the pandemic began? Does it feel differently to you, being on stage?

I do. I kind of feel that I do not take any performance or show for granted. Omicron has made things precarious, and asked everyone to take very good care of ourselves and every person around us. So the opportunity to perform is more special, and therefore you are always thinking about the way that you can be just as committed, try to make every moment as fresh as possible, and as real as possible. That old adage of just telling the story as best and honest as you possibly can.

We've only had one show cancelled because of Covid. This is going to be a challenge for theaters and audiences to say, "We care about theatre, we care about the people sitting around us, and we're going to vaccinate, we're going to boost, we're going to wear our masks, and we're going to go to the theater, and we're going to enjoy this opportunity that is more and more special." Covid has really asked us to reassess all the things that are important in our lives. Performing live is a privilege.

Absolutely. I think that audiences members feel similarly, people who go to the theater have the same renewed sense of appreciation for being able to go. On that note, what would you like to say to people who are planning to come see the National Tour of Beautiful?

I would say that you are in for the most fascinating, interesting, thrilling, incredibly entertaining show. You will feel so good at the end of it. I think that you will discover things about songs you thought you knew that you would be so surprised about, as I was. I thought I knew everything about Carole King. I thought I knew so much about songs from the 70s, the 60s, because I've done a bunch of girl group shows. But there was so much I didn't know, and I think it's so fascinating to sit there and watch this amazing story unfold. This young, sixteen-year-old girl turning into this young woman, and everything that she goes through I think will be incredibly moving, surprising, entertaining, thrilling, and you will feel fantastic at the end of the show. It is a great show about a lot of American treasures, Cynthia Weil, Barry Mann, Gerry Goffin, Carole King, they're really great American treasures, and the show really celebrates that. You're going to feel great.

This show shows you the beginning of someone who was absolutely groundbreaking every step of her career. And it's just such an inspiring show for young women to come and see, or for anyone who is young and wants to be a singer-songwriter. She starts out behind the scenes and then she ends up blazing this trail. And it's so inspiring, I never get tired of the story.

Photo credit: Joan Marcus