Review: BEAUTIFUL, King's Theatre, Glasgow
While many may know Carole King for her Grammy award winning album Tapestry, she had an impressive number of writing credits before performing as a solo artist. Opening on Broadway in 2014, Beautiful follows a young Carole King from the beginning of her career up until her famous performance at Carnegie Hall.
The structure of the show sets Beautiful apart from other jukebox musicals. Each song performed is part of the story and nothing feels as though it has been shoehorned into the script. There is also a very interesting story to be told as Carole King sold her first song at age 16 and married lyricist Gerry Goffin at 17. They married because she was pregnant and then embark on their songwriter career together. Beautiful also covers the relationship between Carole and Gerry and their song-writing friends Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann who worked from the same agency.
The song list in Beautiful is almost overwhelming. Carole King produced hit after hit and while you may not have known that she had written these songs- you'll definitely have heard them. From the songs King released herself such as "It's Too Late" and "I Feel The Earth Move" to "The Locomotion" and "Some Kind Of Wonderful". Paired with the songs of Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann "We Gotta Get Out Of Here" and "He's Sure The Boy I love" there isn't a single filler track in the entire show.
The cast is terrific and the four main actors have excellent chemistry together. Bronté Barbé is wonderful as Carole King and really captures how she changes as an artist throughout the years. While she has confidence in her own work from the beginning it is when King feels able to release her songs as a solo artist that she really shines.
Beautiful doesn't feel as though it has been scaled down in any way for the touring production. The staging is absolutely stunning and is a visual treat throughout. Between the fantastic performances, timeless songs and engaging story this is not one to miss!
Beautiful is at the King's Theatre, Glasgow until Saturday 17th February.
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