Beautiful The Carole King Musical

The new Broadway musical based on the life and works of Carole King is currently in previews at the Steven Sondheim Theatre in New York City.  Fresh off an almost completely sold out trial run in San Francisco, Beautiful does not disappoint.  I went into the show not anticipating much except to enjoy the music and seeing Jake Epstein on stage again.  (Author's note: I have an extreme dislike for shows with three guys wearing the same jacket and snapping and doing the electric slide in unison.)  However, this show was more than just a juke box/doo wop musical; it was full of passion and heart.  It was well written, witty, and completely captured me.

Jessie Mueller plays the role of Carole King.  She is a dynamic force and her performance is riveting.  Her voice and energy bring Carole completely to life and there were many times I found myself convinced that she actually was King.  Mueller also ages in this show from a naïve teenager to a full grown strong independent woman.  The minute changes she makes in her body movements and characterizations and even her speech patterns make her aging completely believable.   Jake Epstein portrayed the troubled Gerry Goffin.  Goffin and King married in their teens when King became pregnant.  Over time Goffin’s emotional troubles led to him being diagnosed as bi-polar.  Epstein played this role with an intensity of feeling and did not treat Goffin merely as a womanizing asshole.  Mueller and Epstein have a wonderful chemistry onstage.  Their emotions have a spontaneity that lends itself to wonderful unrehearsed realism.

The role of Cynthia Weil was played to perfection by Anika Larsen.  She was not merely beautiful but enchanting as the outspoken Weil.  Larsen’s comedic timing was spot on often granting levity to a scene that might have otherwise ventured into the maudlin.   Another standout performance came at the hands of Jeb Brown.  His Don Kirsher was alternately slimy music executive and caring mentor.  He was simultaneously charming and oily.  Marc Bruni’s direction of this show was excellent.  The staging of the actors and the way they interacted shows the hard work of an intensely talented director.  He took this story and music and and made it fresh and exciting and took it out of the realm of American Bandstand and Doo-Wop musicals and made you care about more than just hearing hits from the golden era of rock and roll.

The technical aspects of this show deserve high praise as well.  There were so many wonderful things going on with the set it was basically a techie wet dream.  Every set piece moved on its own, gliding effortlessly on stage and off.  The piano that Mann and Weil and Goffin and King use alternates back and forth between their offices and the way that the actors work with it as it moves was perfection.  The set had height and depth but it was used smartly, not just to overwhelm and say “Hey, look at us we’re on Broadway and spent a shit ton of money on big shiny things!!”.  However it is deceiving in its apparent simplicity.  The whole set worked together and definitely lent that little bit of theatre magic that every show needs.

  Beautiful was truly a beautiful show.  It was fun and energetic but had touching moments of depth and poignancy.  I feel like its only issue will be the range of people that will come to see it.  Age wise I was one of the youngest members of the audience and I would hate to see it suffer because younger generations have shitty taste in music.  I could go on for days about all the wonderful things that happen in this show, but why not go see it yourself?  Beautiful is in previews at the Steven Sondheim Theatre in New York City and opens on January 14th. For more information and tickets go to www.beautifulonbroadway.com !

Getting ready for the show to start!

The AMAZING Jessie Mueller

The always fantastic JAKE Epstein