Beautiful: the Carole King Musical @ Her Majesty’s Theatre (28/02,15/03/2018)

Full Vibrant Energy – A riveting tale of triumphant empowerment not to be missed!

(photo from http://www.hmt.com.au/whats-on/beautiful-at-hmt-theatre/)

It’s been a while since a show has made me cry, laugh and my heart swell with warmth and love — where I swayed, bopped and tapped, lip-synced and felt the earth move under my feet. Beautiful: The Carole King Musical did exactly just that.

Written by Douglas McGrath, directed by Marc Bruni with choreography by Josh Prince and music direction by Jason Howland, Beautiful tells the empowering true story of a young Brooklyn woman’s journey to find her own voice, her musical identity and her persistent pursue to become a composer songwriter in 1950s Manhattan, New York. Who is this young woman in this story I hear you ask? It is none other than multi-Grammy, Songwriter Hall of Fame and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee: Carole King; one of the most talented and successful American female composers, singer-songwriters of the latter half of 20^th century.

Similar to other jukebox musicals such as Jersey Boys and Georgy Girl, Beautiful uses timeless songs of the 50s to 70s written by the original protagonist to convey the story. In Beautiful’s case, songs such as You’ve Got a Friend, I Feel the Earth Move, Will You Love me Tomorrow and (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman among many others by King herself or in collaboration with her then husband Gerry Goffin were use to tell King’s story to its audience. But, unlike other jukebox musicals, Beautiful also incorporates other songs of the 50s-70s that are not written by King such as On Broadway, We Gotta Get Out of This Place and Oh! Carol in order to not only complement the magnificent recording studio/music factory-esque backdrop and set design by Derek McLane but also paint a bigger, fuller picture of the classic rock era ambiance on stage — thus enabling the audiences to journey back in time to the early days of King’s career all the way to her breakthrough as a solo artist with the release of Tapestry in 1971.

Apart from the focus on King’s progression in her professional life, King’s personal life including all the love, hardships and eventual heartbreak with Goffin also comes to life on stage.  Needless to say, the show leaves no stones unturned; however, what’s remarkable about this show (making it unlike others) is that it doesn’t emphasise on the hardships and the heartbreaks of King’s life; the show instead focuses on her triumphant self-empowerment, her optimism towards life, her perseverance and her long-lasting friendships.  It is because of this decision to concentrate on the positive side of King’s life that makes this not only a refreshing, tremendously uplifting, moving, joyous and heart-swell with warmth musical of the 21^st century but one that audiences can and will easily fall head over heels in love with.

There are a total of 24 stellar cast members including the always delightful all-rounders Mike McLeish and Anna Wood as music producer Don Kirshner and King’s mother Genie Klein. 18 out of the 24 are ensemble cast members and boy were they outstanding with their powerful vocals, flawless dancing and on-point acting! Particular mentions are needed for two performers who caught my attention throughout the show: Cameron McDonald with his bass-baritone vocals as Bill Medley of The Righteous Brothers and Chloé Zuel, with her bubbly vocals and buoyant stage presence as Little Eva. All in all, the entire ensemble members are truly a force to be reckon with. Like chameleons, they are able to, throughout the show, transform themselves into multiple characters with each scene change and nailing every one of the different personalities and characteristics.

I have been very fortunate to have been able to see both understudies and main casts during my visits to the show. On my first visit, both understudies for Carole and Gerry — Stefanie Caccamo and Andrew Cook, were on and I was ecstatic. Caccamo and Cook’s interpretations of the two characters were captivating; Caccamo brought a sense of vulnerability and innocence with a hint of the strong “not a damsel in distress”-esque heroine to her portrayal of King while Cook gave a smooth and convincing performance as Goffin.  A highlight from these two were hearing their vocals intertwine seamlessly together as they sang Some Kind of Wonderful and Take Good Care of My Baby; it was really music to my ears.  They both without a doubt shined on stage as bright as Carole King herself.

On my second visit, I got to see the main cast Esther Hannaford and Josh Piterman as King and Goffin and I was absolutely thrilled. Characters are always meant to be multidimensional, diverse and up for interpretation, and so it is always exciting to see different people giving a different interpretation and flavor to the characters.

There is an indescribable and mesmerising chemistry between Hannaford and Piterman, especially when it comes to their impeccable stage presence where they consistently complement one and other on stage. As individuals, Hannaford brings an immense amount of energy as King with a crisp, flawless lyrical performance throughout. With every song, Hannford’s hauntingly beautiful vocals fills the theatre, bringing shivers down our spines and spellbinding us to sway and bop to her renditions. Triple threat Piterman also brings an unforgettable performance as the complexly layered character that is Gerry Goffin. Piterman convincingly delivers the multi-layered Goffin — from the charming, confident and talented lyrist on the surface to the insecure, self-doubting, anxious and eventually depression-stricken man who slowly collapses into his own blackhole of self-destruction and escapism from realty through drug use and infidelity. It is important to note the level of difficulty in portraying the antihero, the characters audiences love to hate, the “not exactly the bad guy but not exactly the good guy either” type characters like Goffin — Piterman triumphs in the role and there’s nothing but praise and respect for him(if at any point you felt it was hard to watch his character on stage or have developed a dislike towards his portrayal by the end of the show, it means Piterman has succeeded). The only ever so slightly disappointment for me personally was Goffin’s role not having a lot of singing opportunities because Piterman undoubtedly has one of the most dynamic and melodic vocals in the Australian musical theatre scene.

Completing the principal cast are Mat Verevis and Lucy Maunder as King’s closest friends Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil.  Like Hannaford and Piterman, there’s an unexplainably remarkable chemistry and prowess between Verevis and Maunder’s dynamic partnership on stage that is probably one of the biggest highlights in the show. Their vibrant and playful energy bounced off of each other; their perfectly timed humour and punch lines along with their incredible vocals beautifully blended and interlocked with one and other in their performance of Walking in the Rain; Verevis and Maunder leaves their audience in a fit of laughter and happiness throughout the show — there isn’t a more perfect pair to portray Mann and Weil than these two powerhouses. As individual performers, Verevis raises the roof with his rendition of We Gotta Get Out of This Place while Maunder nails the performance of Happy Days are Here Again — showcasing perfectly Weil’s poise, confidence and her wonderful sense of dry humour.

Enthralling and crisply crafted, Beautiful: the Carole King musical is, like its title, a truly BEAUTIFUL masterpiece. Guaranteed an unmissable magical dancing and singing night out for all ages, you’ll have to prepare yourselves for some wonderful ear-worms that’ll have you humming and belting out hit tunes for ages!

Beautiful: The Carole King Musical is currently playing at Her Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne until June 24. Click here for more information on Beautiful.