Astoundingly BEAUTIFUL

The winner of the Helpmann Award's for Best Musical, Best Direction of a Musical, Best Female Actor in a Musical (Esther Hannaford), Best Male Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical (Matt Verevis) and Best Female Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical (Amy Lepmar), Beautiful truly was like it's name; a beautiful spectacle to observe. It was an honour and a privilege to be in the same room as Esther Hannaford, who was a pleasure to watch and managed to incarnate the essence of King's full heart and vocal dictionary while still adding in her own quirks. As the audience, we watched Hannaford track King's vocal journey so to speak over the span of thirteen years; from when her sixteen-year-old self moves to Brooklyn, becomes a teenage mother, marries the man she adores, divorces the man she once adored and sails over to Los Angeles in her 30's to live her dreams. Hannaford poured her heart and soul into each lyric and refrain, but none more so than her break up balled It's Too Late and Natural Woman, which moved everyone in the audience.

Hannaford is aptly supported by Josh Piterman, who's portrayal of Gerry Goffin's (King's husband and collaborator) overly anxious and manic depressed nature was so truthful and real that you could tell that he'd done his research. The chemistry between Lucy Maunder (Cynthia Weil) and Mat Verevis (Barry Mann) was fantastic, the pair providing a cute, classic rom-com to the harsh realities of King and Goffin's marriage.

But my favourite numbers of the show were the ones in which the ensemble dazzled the audience such as Up on the Roof, On Broadway and the Locomotion. Overall, my eyes couldn't help being transfixed on the members of the ensemble; with Josh Prince's joyful old-timey doo-woop choreography coating both the performers and the stage sugar and smiles. The choreography for The Drifters, who's cliche, time-esque moves made you both cringe and giggle in your seats. Derek McLane's shifting sets move the narrative along, primarily consisting of LED struck high panels resembling the baffled walls of a recording studio, which shift to depict various homes, as well as the Aldon offices at 1650 Broadway. Brian Ronan's sound design, Peter Kaczorowski's lighting design and Alejo Vietti's costumes add to the 'beautiful' effect by adding more colour to already joyous narrative.

Whilst the story only seeks to entertain, the music will take you on a journey, which you'll find nearly impossible to leave and I can guarantee that all of the songs will get stuck in your head. I really hope that this musical continues to tour for many years to come, as in our current political climate, the world really needs its warmth and love.

So come on and do the locomotion with Beautiful.

Show: Beautiful: The Carole King Musical

Venue: QPAC, Lyric Theatre

Season: Running until the 2nd of September

Tickets: qpac.com.au