Interview: Chatting with Alexandrea And Justin Reynolds of BEAUTIFUL: THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL at STAGES St. Louis

Beautiful: The Carole King Musical is currently playing at STAGES St. Louis. The jukebox musical tells the story of how young a young teenager became one of the most prolific songwriters of all time. King penned the music that defined a generation.

Long before King was recording her own studio albums and charming fans with the hit music from her album Tapestry, she was writing songs for some of the most popular recording acts of the 1960’s and 70’s. King, and her writing partner/husband Gerry Goffin, penned The Shirelles’ hit single “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow” and The Drifter’s hits “Up on a Roof” and “Some Kind of Wonderful.”

Actors Alexandrea (Alex) and Justin Reynolds play members of The Shirelles and The Drifters. Alex sings lead on “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow” and Justin takes the lead on “Up on a Roof.” The couple, married in real life, sat down with Broadway World to talk about getting the opportunity to work together at STAGES St. Louis and sing King’s iconic tunes.

Alex has family ties to St. Louis and has performed with two touring companies at The Fox Theatre. She said, “My mom grew up in Jennings, and I was in the tours of Hamilton and Summer: The Donna Summer Musical that have played here.” Then, she and Justin shared that there is one other tie to St. Louis. It involves how the met.

The Reynolds were both were cast in the national tour of Motown: The Musical in 2017. The casting director for that production was Gayle Seay. Yes, the same Gayle Seay who is now the artistic director at STAGES St. Louis. “She hired both me and Alex and that’s how we met,” Justin beamed.

Alex added, “We attribute our love story to her. She is our matchmaker.”

Justin and Alex are no strangers to playing music icons on stage. Both have portrayed some of the biggest hit makers of the last six decades. Alex made her Broadway debut in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical portraying Janelle Woods. Following that role, she hit the road with the tour of Summer: The Donna Summer Musical as the titular disco queen.

“I had made my Broadway debut, and the next thing I hoped to do was lead a show,” Alex said. “While I was working in Beautiful on Broadway, I got the opportunity to audition for the role of Donna Summer. The audition process was going well, but I completely tanked the final callback. I just wasn’t good.”

The casting team saw something special in Alex and asked to see her another time. That next audition won her the title role. “It was an amazing responsibility to tell Donna Summer’s story,” she said.

Justin played Smokey Robinson in Motown: The Musical. “It was a dream come true to play an icon, and all-around good guy, like Smokey Robinson. He has molded much of the music that we still listen to today.” Justin said he never got sick of singing his songs, then he laughed and shared, “but I did get tired of the Jheri Curl wig. I couldn’t stand that wig.”

Alex teased and giggled. “He looked so cute in it!”

Justin continued, “It was really cool to work with Berry Gordy and get that knowledge of how they created Motown.” Following the role in Motown, Justin again played Smokey Robinson in the Marvin Gaye Musical Pride & Joy. “People say I sound a lot like Smokey Robinson when I sing. After seeing Motown for the first time, I knew it was a role I wanted to play.”

Alex and Justin’s early careers took a similar path. Both gained valuable experience performing on cruise lines. It was Alex’s first job following college. Justin didn’t go to college. He took a different route, using the work on the cruise ship as his training ground. Both are grateful for that opportunity and agree that it helped shape them as performers by building their confidence as actors and singers. Alex called it an excellent springboard.

“Unlike Alex, I didn’t go to college. I booked a performing job on a luxury cruise line named Silversea. The shows that we did were very versatile, and I got to sing a lot of different kinds of music.” Justin told Broadway World that the styles of music included pop, Motown, and a classical pop opera show that was sung in Italian and French. “I was a sponge, and I was able to find my voice singing classical arias,” he said.

In addition to performing in Beautiful on Broadway, Alex has also been in the Broadway companies of Diana and A Beautiful Noise. She was also a member of the company in the Encores production of The Tap Dance Kid.

Just prior to the pandemic, Justin created a production company, and a two-hour concert show called “Motown and More.”  He started the show with three other men he had met in Motown: The Musical. Post-pandemic the show played a 10-month residency in Georgia at the Savannah Theatre. Now, five years later the show has played in regional theaters, at corporate events, on cruise lines, and performed with the Cleveland Symphony orchestra.

Both are thrilled to be part of this company telling Carole King’s story. They talked about how special it is to work together and how well Beautiful is being received by the audiences.  Alex said, “There is something very special about this show and the powerful way Carole’s story is told. It really takes you back in time and shows what special an artist she was.”

Nodding and agreeing, Justin said, “The story is so good. You think you know Carole King’s music but there are so many surprises when you hear all the songs she wrote.” He paused for a brief second and continued talking about his fellow cast members. “The cast is so dynamic, and the leads are fantastic. This is the fifth time Bri has played Carole. She is top notch, and so are David, Kailey, and Sean.” Justin was referencing actors Brianna Kothari Barnes (Carole King), Sean McGee (Gerry Goffin), Kailey Boyle (Cynthia Weil), and David Socolar (Barry Mann.)