YOUR KIND OF MUSIC. YOUR KIND OF MUSICAL.
For five years, BEAUTIFUL, the Tony and Grammy Award-winning Carole King musical, has thrilled Broadway with the inspiring true story of one woman's remarkable journey from teenage songwriter to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
From the string of pop classics she wrote for the biggest acts in music to her own life-changing, chart-busting success with Tapestry, BEAUTIFUL takes you back to where it all began- and takes you on the ride of a lifetime.
Featuring over two dozen pop classics, including "You've Got a Friend," "One Fine Day," "Up on the Roof," "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling," "Will You Love Me Tomorrow," and "Natural Woman," this crowd-pleasing international phenomenon is filled with the songs you remember- and a story you'll never forget.
Certainly, its prime attraction is the marvellous Jessie Mueller, avoiding impersonation, but otherwise perfectly channeling the contradictions of King (neé Klein), as she goes from precocious 16-year-old tunesmith in the late fifties to singer/songwriter star with the release of her seminal album Tapestry in 1971. Jake Epstein, the Canadian talent who first rose to fame onDegrassi: The Next Generation, ably co-stars as her husband/lyricist Gerry Goffin with whom she wrote chart toppers like Some Kind of Wonderfuland The Locomotion for artists like The Drifters and Little Eva...With a spotty script by Douglas McGrath, Beautiful often feels like an extended (and somewhat sanitized) episode of TV's Behind the Music...King, in this version of the story anyway, handles her husband's affairs and breakdowns with admirable restraint and understanding. This doesn't quite work as drama, though Mueller is such a scene stealer, so charming in her self-deprecation, that Beautiful never falls entirely flat.
Following in the footsteps of crowd-pleasers like Jersey Boys and Motown: The Musical, this is entertaining boomer bait that elevates its by-the-numbers narrative with great songs. It's also a tremendous showcase for the talented Jessie Mueller as she embodies King's blossoming from songwriter-for-hire to empowered performer of her own material...McGrath's book flirts openly (though not displeasingly) with sitcom dialogue, and by no means skirts the clichés and shortcuts of hackneyed behind-the-music chronicles. But the story, and perhaps more importantly, the characters, are never less than engaging...The ace up the show's sleeve, however, is Mueller's lovely performance as King, full of self-effacing humor, emotional depth and understated vulnerability. She conveys the burgeoning singer-songwriter's creative drive while wrestling quietly with her ingrained, old-fashioned sense of the expectations for a wife and mother. There's a disarming yearning quality to her characterization that makes us root for Carole to spread her wings. And her vocals are superb, capturing King's colloquial style while insinuating her own personality into songs that work like a time-travel machine for the musical's target audience.
2014 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
West End |
West End West End |
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2015 | US Tour |
First National Tour US Tour |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2014 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Actress in a Musical | Jessie Mueller |
2014 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Book of a Musical | Douglas McGrath |
2014 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical | Anika Larsen |
2014 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Musical | Beautiful: The Carole King Musical |
2014 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Orchestrations | Steve Sidwell |
2014 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Sound Design in a Musical | Brian Ronan |
2014 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Jessie Mueller |
2014 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Production of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Musical | Beautiful: The Carole King Musical |
2014 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Actress in a Musical | Jessie Mueller |
2014 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical | Jarrod Spector |
2014 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical | Anika Larsen |
2014 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding New Broadway Musical | Beautiful: The Carole King Musical |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Book of a Musical | Douglas McGrath |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Good Productions |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Brunish & Trinchero |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Roger Faxon |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Larry Magid |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Kit Seidel |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Lawrence S. Toppall |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Fakston Productions/Mary Solomon |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | William Court Cohen |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | John Gore |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | BarLor Productions |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Matthew C. Blank |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Tim Hogue |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Joel Hyatt |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Marianne Mills |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Michael J. Moritz, Jr. |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | StylesFour Productions |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Patty Baker |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Orin Wolf |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Terry Schnuck |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Elaine Krauss |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Mike Bosner |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Richard A. Smith |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Jeffrey A. Sine |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Harriet N. Leve |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Sony/ATV Music Publishing |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Paul Blake |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Beautiful: The Carole King Musical |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Orchestrations | Steve Sidwell |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical | Jarrod Spector |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical | Anika Larsen |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical | Jessie Mueller |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Sound Design of a Musical | Brian Ronan |
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