“I still believe that everyone is beautiful in some way and by seeing the beauty in others we make ourselves more beautiful…”
Long before she was Carole King, chart-topping music legend, she was Carol Klein, a shy Brooklyn girl with both talent and inner chutzpah. She fought her way into the record business as a teenager and, by the time she reached her twenties, had the husband of her dreams and a flourishing career writing hits for the biggest acts in rock ‘n’ roll. Yet, in true show-biz fashion, it wasn’t until her personal life began to crack that she finally managed to find her true voice. In the end, she made more than beautiful music, she wrote the soundtrack to a generation.
Beautiful, playing at the Kennedy Center through January 2, is a jukebox musical relating Carole King’s remarkable rise to stardom. One might quibble that the life and music of King deserve more imaginative treatment than chronological storytelling, yet the smash Broadway show emerges as a slick and joyous celebration of female empowerment.
Like Jersey Boys, Beautiful features a smart, well-crafted, and often funny book (by Douglas McGrath) that cleverly threads together a memorable catalog of early rock hits such as “Some Kind of Wonderful” and “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?” while charting the rise and challenges of King’s relationships and career.
Director Marc Bruni and Choreographer Josh Prince have put together a fast-paced and exciting show. There is definitely an art to keeping a show moving swiftly enough that it can slow down for more touching moments. The fast and shiny juxtaposition of early musical numbers, for example, helps lay the groundwork for the later power of King’s solo numbers, “It’s Too Late” and “You’ve Got A Friend.” Yet without over-relying on the songs to give us those emotional moments, Marc Bruni also allows the book to stand on its own and gives it the attention that it deserves.
Initially, one of the more surprising aspects of the script is that Carole King herself (played by Sara Sheperd) emerges as the one of nicest, most normal, least eccentric personalities ever to be at the center of a Broadway musical—and one in danger of being over-shadowed in her own narrative. Indeed, early on, the production frequently seemed to push its central character aside for more interesting and entertaining moments played out by its skilled and talented supporting ensemble. One might even be forgiven for wishing, briefly in Act One, that friendly songwriting rivals Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann were the lead characters, played as they were with such scene-stealing abandon by Sara King and Ryan Farnsworth.
Yet the characterization of Carole King (and the performance of Sara Sheperd) builds incrementally. From the start, Sheperd layers in self-effacing humor, emotional depth, and understated vulnerability. She conveys the struggle between the burgeoning singer-songwriter’s creative drive and her ingrained, old-fashioned sense of the expectations for a wife and mother. There’s a disarming quality to her characterization that makes us root for Carole to spread her wings.
And certainly, any quibbles with script or production are forgiven whenever Sara Sheperd, in the modest persona of Carole King, sits down at the piano and pours heart and soul into familiar favorites from the composer’s songbook. Sheperd was the dance captain in the original Broadway production, yet her vocals are superb, capturing King’s colloquial style while insinuating her own personality into songs that work like a time-travel machine for the musical’s target audience.
Gerry Goffin, King’s husband and songwriting partner, is played by James D. Gish: he’s attractive and a fine singer, with some nice moments of vulnerability and awkward charm in Act One, but Goffin, who suffered from manic depression, comes off mostly as a wounded misanthrope. Ryan Farnworth earns solid laughs and audience affection as composer Barry Mann, while Sara King, as lyricist Cynthia Weil, is nothing short of a revelation. From her first offhand entrance, Sara King’s style, talent, and effortless charisma (a la Sutton Foster), held the audience in the proverbial palm of her hand. Cynthia Weil’s a lovely role in itself, depicting a woman who is confident, sympathetic, independent yet supportive, witty and warm, and a marvelously dynamic performer. Also winning is Matt Loehr in the role of Don Kirshner, the warm-hearted music producer who challenges his composers to weekly or daily competitions in which they must quickly pen a song which he might purchase for his roster of musical acts.
The script’s most awkward scenes involve the character of Carole’s mother, Genie Klein, who veers in Act One towards a cringe-worthy caricature of the overbearing Jewish mother, but who is allowed to have a few warmer moments in Act Two. Despite the limitations of her role, Rachel Coloff makes a nice impression, and earns her laughs and applause in Act Two with aplomb.
The rest of the ensemble shine as they switch (in dazzlingly quick costume changes) from playing various assistants, secretaries, and studio musicians into portraying the musical stars for whom King, Goffin, Mann and Weil composed—the Shirelles, the Drifters, Little Eva, Neil Sedaka, and (perhaps most memorably) the Righteous Brothers. Special kudos to Costume Designer Alejo Vietti for creativity and ingenuity in these quick changes. Throughout these ensemble scenes, the choreography overall is tight and spot-on with each music group represented and adapted well to the needs of the fast-paced show.
The deceptively simple set design by Derek McLane is abstract enough to be interesting, muted enough not to steal focus and flexible enough to carry us through many locations and the passing of time. Lighting designer Peter Kaczorowski deserves high praise for his ingenious use of color. As we first go back in time the set is bathed in sepia tones to invoke the feeling of a memory play, but each time a musical number happens the stage is awash with vibrant colors allowing us to feel the world coming to life with each passing note. An incredibly effective bit of stage craft!
As the show ends, Sheperd as King is allowed to vocally let loose on “A Natural Woman” and wrap up the evening by wrapping her heart around the title tune, the genial inoffensiveness of the musical’s dramatics may have denied her any chance of truly connecting the emotions of the songs to the character she’s been playing all night, yet for many, her mere performance of these final songs may be enough to make Beautiful a memorable night out.
We would say that it is beautiful that live theater is back, and that it is beautiful to celebrate a night with the music of Carole King.
Running Time: 2 hours and 30 minutes with one intermission
Beautiful: The Carole King Musical plays through January 2, 2022 in the Eisenhower Theatre at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, 2700 F Street NW, Washington, DC. For tickets call the box office at (202) 467-4600 or purchase them online.
