Beautiful – The Carole King Musical At The Palace Theatre, Manchester Review
TICKETS TO SEE THE SHOW WERE GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER AND GUEST FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW.
Reviewed by Debbie Talbot
I was delighted and excited to have the opportunity to review Beautiful – The Carole King Musical at the Palace Theatre, Manchester last night. I travelled into Manchester city centre by bus and found the theatre to be in a great easy to reach location. For those travelling into the city centre by car, there was a spacious NCP car park close by. My guest and I did not have to queue to get into the venue. Staff on the door were friendly and very efficient. We then headed down to our seats in the stalls. I was happy to see that there were toilets conveniently located at one side of the auditorium, as well as toilet facilities elsewhere in the theatre building. I found the toilet facilities that I used in the auditorium to be clean, tidy and well looked after. My seat was comfortable and I had plenty of leg room. The theatre itself is stunning.
From the moment the show started I was gripped. My guest and I laughed so much. It gave me such a feel good feeling to be a member of the audience. The cast were phenomenal. Carole King (played by Molly-Grace Cutler) is such a likeable and down to earth character. I found myself routing for her from the first moment she stepped on stage. I loved how determined and resilient she was and the way she juggled motherhood and her career. I loved the chemistry Carole King had with Gerry Coffin (played by Tom Milner). Milner’s acting and musical talent wowed me. I must now mention Cynthia Weil (played by Seren Sandham-Davies) and Barry Mann (played by Jos Slovick). These two had wonderful chemistry and made me smile and laugh so much. Their friendship with King and Coffin shone through even though in their careers they could be competitive with each other.
The pre-interval part of the show took the audience through the early part of King and Coffin’s career when they were writing songs for other people to sing. I think that the show was perfectly balanced with regards telling the story and the musical numbers. I was so surprised at how many of the songs I knew. So many of them have been a part of my own life from childhood to now.
The set was great and the set changes flawless. The musical talent on that stage was just amazing. The costumes were fantastic. My favourite costume was that worn while The Loco-Motion was sung. It looked so funky and I was gripped at the way the song was sung whilst skating so well.
The second part of the show took the audience along when Carole King took the courageous leap to making an album of her own songs as a singer songwriter and where this took her. The songs at the end of the show made me feel so emotional in a good way. Most of the audience gave the cast a standing ovation. The very last song had so many people up on their feet. The cast looked overjoyed at the audience’s reaction to their performance. It was also clear what a lovely relationship the cast had with each other.
Stand out songs for me were (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman, Take Good Care Of My Baby, You’ve Got A Friend and The Loco-Motion.
My overall favourite character was King herself but Cynthia Weil comes in a very close second. I Loved Donnie Kirshner’s (played by Garry Robson) energy. Peter Mooney and Elliot Mackenzie were ‘swoonworthy’ as the Righteous Brothers and I found myself mesmerised by those actors playing The Drifters (Miles Miller, Kemi Clark, Kevin Yates and Jordan Lewis-Fernand). Carole King – you are one amazing person who I find to be very inspiring. Congratulations on all that you have achieved in your life. Molly-Grace Butler – you had such huge shoes to fill in playing the legend who is Carole King, but you filled them in such a talented and beautiful way.
Finally, I did want to mention how approachable and professional staff were throughout the theatre. Thank you for a wonderful evening which I will cherish and remember fondly. The show was an uplifting couple of hours of musical wonder.
Rating: 5/5 – I highly recommend this show and would see it again over and over.
The show is on from Tuesday 11th October 2022 until Saturday 15th October 2022
Tickets cost from £13.00 (subject to a transaction fee of £3.65)
For more information or to book tickets please visit Beautiful Tickets | Palace Theatre Manchester in Manchester | ATG Tickets or phone the box office on 0333 009 6690
For tour dates please visit Tour Dates | Beautiful – The Carole King Musical (beautifulmusical.co.uk)
97 Oxford Street, Manchester, M1 6FT