Beautiful: The Carole King Musical At The Little Theatre Leicester Review

DISCLOSURE – TICKETS TO SEE THE SHOW WERE GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER AND GUEST FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW

Reviewed by Sue Rumble

Intro
This show is the inspiring true story of Carole King’s remarkable journey from teenage songwriter to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. It contains many classics that most people will recognise. Carole King, born Carole Klein, was young songwriter from Brooklyn with a unique voice. This musical takes you through her life. She wrote many chart-topping hits for the biggest acts in music to her own life-changing, trailblazing success with her album Tapestry. The show features unforgettable classics – “You’ve Got a Friend”, “One Fine Day”, “So Far Away”, “Take Good Care of My Baby”, “Up on the Roof”, “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling”, “Will You Love Me Tomorrow”, and “Natural Woman”.

Venue & facilities
The Little Theatre is a predominantly voluntary run organization which is home to Leicester Drama Society. It has run for nearly a hundred years and is located in the heart of Leicester’s city centre. It has a 350 seat auditorium and a lovely bar which also serves hot drinks for before the show and at the interval. There are so many interesting photos and pictures all around – take a walk down the corridor to the disabled toilet – worth a look. There are two car parks within easy walking distance.

Review
What an absolutely amazing show from an amateur operatic society. The show tells the heart warming story of Carole’s life in the 60’s and 70’s with some ups and downs as well as happy times and romance. Her husband and songwriter partner (Gerry Goffin – played by Nick Wilkins)) meet their fellow songwriters at Don Kirshners (played by David Lovell) Music Empire and they form a lifelong friendship with the pair – Barry Mann (played by Alex Thompson) and Cynthia Weil (played by Cara Gibson).

The many hit songs written by both pairs run throughout the performance with great orchestration and back up singers. We didn’t realise that Carole had written some of these songs which were sung by great bands such as The Drifters, Bobby Vee, Little Eva , he Righteous Brothers and The Shirelles.

The setting was very simple with very few props but what they used and the way it was done was extremely effective. The costumes were also simple but in keeping with the time of the story. Some sparkles for the Drifters and the Shirelles!

The 4 main characters all had fantastic voices but I must give a massive shout out to Natasha Carr, who played Carole – with a voice like hers she could go far. Considering all the cast have day jobs this was a very professionally put together show and the performance was incredible. Those in the ensemble did a great job playing different characters, singing and dancing.

Definitely a show to see if you want start to finish music that everyone will be able to sing along to, alongside a warming storyline that gives an insight into the life of Carole King and what she achieved, in spite of some difficult times. Would recommend 100%

Price & Value
The price range of tickets, in my opinion, is extremely good value for money given the quality and length of performance.

Price of Tickets – £18 – £19

19th to 23 November 2024
Running Time – 2 hrs 35 mins inc. interval

Rating: 5/5

https://thelittletheatre.co.uk/whats-on/beautiful-the-carole-king-musical/
Website – The Little Theatre, Leicester
Book tickets – The Little Theatre, Leicester
Tel : 0116 255 1302
The Little Theatre, Dover Street, Leicester LE1 6PW