Review: BEAUTIFUL: THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL Shines at Theatre By The Sea

Beautiful: The Carole King Musical focuses on the life and work of singer/songwriter Carole King and her husband and writing partner, Gerry Goffin.  It’s both a fantastic showcase for the astounding number of famous songs King and Goffin wrote together, and an interesting look into one of the aspects of the music industry that doesn’t get as much attention–the music factory of the Brill Building in New York.  Unlike other jukebox musicals, Beautiful has the interesting element of much of King’s earlier work being songs she sold to other groups.  So, in addition to hearing catchy songs, this production replicates performances by The Shirelles, The Drifters, the Righteous Bothers, Little Eva and many, many more.  Theatre by the Sea’s cast are across-the-board fantastic, and even for those who are a bit burned out on jukebox musicals, this show has more than enough to recommend it, above and beyond the catchy songs.

The action of the show proceeds chronologically from the day Carole King sells her first song and gets matched up with lyricist Gerry Goffin, to the release of her amazingly successful album Tapestry.  Spending a couple hours listening to the songs King wrote is honestly staggering. The work of Brill Building rivals (and friends) Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann is also included, and it starts to feel after a while like these four individuals wrote every famous song from the 50s and 60s.

Monet Sabel as Carole anchors the show, and brings the perfect blend of relatability and raw talent.  Her singing voice is a showstopper, and she makes King seem likable, and someone you want to root for.  Tim Quartier gives Gerry Goffin a brooding intensity that seems very appropriate for a poet; and Alaina Mills as Cynthia Weil and Andrew Poston as Barry Mann, bring a bit of brightness to every scene they’re in.  The competition aspect between these two songwriting teams is also a particularly fun element of this show, and makes it seem as if they all made each other better, and we all benefited from their efforts.

The rest of the cast does double and triple duty as members of various musical groups King/Goffin and Weil/Poston wrote for, and it’s fantastic to see them.  At the end of the night, one feels like they’ve been able to see 12 mini-concerts in addition to a biographical musical.

The fantastic cast aren’t the only talent on stage; special attention must be paid to the work of Bobbie Zlotnick’s wig and hair design.  This show covers a wide swath of time, that had a lot of specific hairstyles.  Zlotnick’s many, many wigs all look fantastic, appropriate to the time and situation, and manage to transform members of a not-too-big cast into completely different people over and over.  It’s an incredibly impressive display of artistry that really grounds the various scenes in their appropriate time and place.

Beautiful is an easy-to-watch and entertaining night of theatre that will have you dancing in your seat (but don’t sing along, please).  As with every show at TBTS, the caliber of talent on that stage is revelatory.

Beautiful: The Carole King Musical runs through July 8 at Theatre by the Sea.  Tickets are available at theatrebythesea.com or by calling (401) 782-8587.

Photo: Monet Sabel (Carole King). Photos by Mark Turek.

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