Review: BEAUTIFUL, King's Theatre, Glasgow

 

 

First staged in 2013, Beautiful is a musical that tells the story of songwriter Carole King. Directed by Nikolai Foster this is a brand new production from Theatre Royal Bath, Mayflower Theatre and Leicester Curve.

Starting out as a teenage songwriter in Brooklyn, Carole Klein is desperate to sell her songs to record labels in New York City. When she meets Gerry Goffin the pair start a professional and romantic partnership that leads to huge success. Leading the cast is Molly-Grace Cutler who is spinge-tinglingly good as King.

What sets this musical apart from other musicals and previous productions of the show is that every role is played by an actor-musician. The onstage chemistry is fantastic and this decision has breathed new life into an already brilliant musical.

Featuring songs by Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann as well as Carole King and Gerry Goffin, Beautiful is jam-packed with hit songs. Rather than shoehorning songs into the script as is the case in most jukebox musicals, the songs are performed in a timeline of when they were written and found chart success.

With strong performances and hit song after hit song, this is an exceptional production of a truly great musical.

Photo credit: Ellie Kurttz