Lights come up on Stephen Sondheim Theatre stage, bare except for a woman and a piano, pouring out a familiar tune. The woman?—Carole King (played by Jessie Mueller). As for the song, you’d be hard-pressed to find an audience member who doesn’t recognize the haunting melody of King’s classic, So Far Away.
Mueller pauses from her playing to address the audience: And you know what’s so funny about life? Sometimes it goes the way you want and sometimes it doesn’t. And sometimes when it doesn’t, you find something beautiful. These words provide the framework for Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, which takes its audience on a journey through King’s career as one of popular music’s most legendary songwriters. During last week’s Tony Awards, Mueller took home top prize for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical. Nominated in a total of seven categories, Beautiful also won for Best Sound Design of a Musical.
Douglas McGrath, who wrote the show’s book, gives the script a simple format that works to highlight its dazzling musical numbers. The story begins with a young Carole, begging her mother (played by Liz Larsen) to allow her to leave their Brooklyn home to go audition one of her songs at Don Kirshner’s office in Times Square. Her mother finally caves, and Carole sells her first song at the ripe old age of sixteen. The aspiring songwriter’s career really takes off, though, when she meets the broodingly handsome Gerry Goffin (played by Jake Epstein; understudied in this performance by Chris Peluso) in the halls of their college. Gerry’s knack for lyrics and Carole’s talent for music composition prove a match made in pop heaven, skyrocketing the couple to professional success working for Don Kirshner and penning many of the top billboard hits of the 1960s.
Under the direction of Marc Bruni, the bulk of Beautiful takes us behind the scenes of those hallowed offices where King and Goffin crafted their songs. We, the audience, get a fly-on-the-wall view of these moments of creation, and the complicated but loving relationship between the two. Anika Larsen and Jarrod Spector, in the roles of Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann, act as oft-hilarious foils as the couple’s close friends and professional rivals. A superb supporting cast brings the music of King, Goffin, Weil, and Mann to life, with office scenes often culminating in a creation of a new song that is then performed by its chosen group, whether it be The Drifters, The Righteous Brothers, Little Eva, or The Shirelles.
On June 19, Gerry Goffin passed away at the age of 75. Beautiful: The Carole King Musical stands as a testament to Goffin’s incredible talent as a lyricist. The show runs through January at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre. For more information, please visit http://www.beautifulonbroadway.com/.
-Brigid Ronan
