Beautiful The Carole King Musical At Theatre Royal, Nottingham Review

Reviewed by Louise Edwards

Most people mainly know the inspirational Carole King as a talented performer with classic hits such as (You Make me Feel Like a) Natural Woman and It Might as well Rain until September to name just a few. However, Beautiful The Carole King Musical, based on the book by Douglas McGrath, reveals how she crafted many many more chart hits we all know and love, but don’t recognise as her work.

The show, which charts the early life and beginning of the career of Carole king, is bookended with King, played by the Oliver award winner in The Worst Witch, Molly-Grace Cutler, performing at New York’s Carnegie Hall in 1971. Cutler’s voice is incredible, as she really does become Carole herself with spine tingling accuracy.

The action then flashes back to 1950’s Brooklyn and Carole as a teenager, when she meets her first husband, and musical partner, Gerry Goffin (played by Tom Milner) who writes the words to accompany her music. They strike a deal with Don Kirshner (played by Garry Robson) a music producer who matches songwriters to artists and sets them on their way to stardom. They are both young and when Carole finds herself pregnant, they get married and struggle by working during the day and composing at night.

That is until they compose the song Will You Love Me Tomorrow and this becomes a hit for The Shirelles, also contributing to the breakdown of segregation between black and white artists.

The talented duo continues to churn out hit after hit for artists such as The Drifters, Little Eva and Janelle and the show really is a series of “Wow!” moments as every song they create is a goosebump-generating hit.

Accompanied by their friends and at times rival song writer/composers, Cynthia Weil (played by Seren Sandham-Davis) and Barry Mann (played by Jos Slovick) the story follows Carole’s journey with her young family, the breakdown of her marriage, and eventually her move to Los Angeles and the launch of her own singing career.

Beautiful is really only a snapshot of the colourful life that Carole has had but this small glimpse is a window into the talent of those song writers and composers that we often don’t see in the limelight.

This incredible feel good show full of toe-tapping classics is definitely one not to be missed and you don’t have to be a huge fan of Carole King to enjoy every minute. The orchestra are all on stage and this incredible bunch of musicians and actors brings to life the music so you almost feel like are back in the 1960s.

Tickets cost from £21.50
Beautiful The Carole King Musical is on at Theatre Royal, Nottingham until Saturday 8 October
For more information or to book tickets visit https://trch.co.uk/whats-on/beautiful/or call the box office on 0115 989 5555
Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall, Theatre Square, Nottingham, NG1 5ND

More tour dates can be found here https://beautifulmusical.co.uk/tour/