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MELBOURNE | Beautiful: The Carole King Story, has come to Melbourne after a successful US and UK tour, and a stint in Sydney, and is here to share the story and songs of songwriting powerhouse Carole King. The City Lane was invited to the preview show, and had a thoroughly enjoyable experience.
The musical is based on the life of Carole King, and tracks her journey from a 16 year old high school student who dreams of becoming a song writer to the success of her Diamond certified, multiple Grammy award winning album Tapestry. As someone born in the 1980s with little knowledge of King’s career beyond the hit single “It’s Too Late”, Beautiful is a real eye opener. As hit after familiar hit is performed, the sheer breadth of King’s back catalogue becomes apparent – she wrote/co-wrote 118 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 between 1955 and 1999.
The musical covers King’s relationship with Gerry Goffin and the couple’s friendship with songwriters Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, who also had a string of hits throughout their career. Familiar tunes from King and Goffin include include Some Kind of Wonderful (The Drifters), One Fine Day (The Chiffons), Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow (The Shirelles), Locomotion (Little Eva), (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman (Aretha Franklin) and I Feel the Earth Move (Carole King). From Mann and Weil it’s hits like You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin (The Righteous Brothers), On Broadway (The Drifters) and We Gotta Get Out Of This Place (The Animals).
Melbourne born, multiple award-winner Esther Hannaford plays the role of King fantastically, nailing the vocal range and strong emotions of the role, while Josh Piterman plays the role of the deeply conflicted Goffin superbly. Lucy Maunder, last seen in Matilda The Musical, plays the role of Weil and Mat Verevis, in his theatre debut, takes on the role of Barry Mann. Beautiful is admittedly quite formulaic in the way it goes about things, but the interesting story, strong performance of the cast and fantastic songs mean that it’s a very enjoyable two and a half hours of entertainment, regardless of how much or how little you know about King.
Once the Melbourne run is up, the musical will continue its tour Brisbane (opens July 2018).
Visit Ticketek to book your tickets today.
Beautiful: The Carole King Story
When: 22 February 2018 – 24 June 2018
Where: Her Majesty’s Theatre. 219 Exhibition Street, Melbourne VIC 3000
Cost: $60.00 – $195.00 plus handling fee