Powerful direction of a dream cast is augmented by a tight band and impressive stage design
Beautiful The Carole King Musical lights up the Arvada Center stage as the season opener — and it’s a colossal hit. From the first notes of the overture to the final notes of the classic King song “Beautiful,” the performance is jam-packed with familiar tunes that can only be described as chart-topping through and through.
Granted, Beautiful is yet another jukebox musical tying together King’s music with the story of her life. But here the storyline is not used as an excuse to rehash King’s library of hit records for the sake of two-and-a-half hours in the theatre. Not by a long shot. Beautiful has a compelling behind-the-scenes storyline encapsulating the rise of King first as a songwriter and eventually as a singer from her teen years to her heralded performance at Carnegie Hall.
Directed by Lynne Collins, artistic director of Arvada Center, Beautiful is a high-velocity production opening in Brooklyn in 1958 when Carole King (Emily Van Fleet) is a fledgling songwriter peddling her first song “It Might as Well Rain Till September,” to music producer Don Kirshner (Geoffrey Kent). Although Carole’s mother Genie (Leslie O’Carroll) is opposed to her daughter “wasting her time” on the music business, she eventually jumps on board as King’s star begins to rise.
While continuing her studies in college, Carole meets a handsome classmate, Gerry Goffin (Seth Dhonau) whom she immediately collaborates with musically and personally. Their song “Some Kind of Wonderful” is recorded by the Drifters (Luther Brooks IV, Kyle Carter, Ty-Gabriel Jones, Frederick Webb) just as Carole announces she is pregnant, and they marry. Given an office at the famed 1650 Broadway building – home to much of the music industry at the time – Carole and Gerry meet fellow songwriters Cynthia Weil (Adriane Leigh Robinson) and Barry Mann (EJ Dohring).
Seth Dhonau and Emily Van Fleet | Photo: Amanda Tipton Photography
The Shirelles (Elise Frances Daniells, Krisangela Washington, Erin Willis, Michaela Murray) record Carole and Gerry’s iconic “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?” — going straight to number one. However, all is not well on the home front when Gerry confesses to Carole, that he is unhappy in the marriage and is in fact contemplating an affair with songstress Janelle Woods (Elise Frances Daniells) as she performs their hit tune “One Fine Day.” Despite trouble in the marriage, winning songs continue to be produced including the audience favorite “The Locomotion,” performed by the hugely popular Little Eva (Michaela Murray).
In the meantime, the writing team of Weil and Mann have hits of their own including “On Broadway” and the soulful “You’ve Lost That Loving Feelin” performed by the Righteous Brothers (Bryce Baxter, Jeremy Rill). Despite the competitive nature of the music business, the four become good friends sharing their triumphs and tragedies across the board.
As Carole’s marriage eventually dissolves, she continues to write music and is encouraged to sing her own songs rather than shepherding them out to already-established performers. Having moved to California to start over, Carole’s success continues to mount as she finally agrees to sing her own material leading to her international best-selling album “Tapestry.”
L-R: Emily Van Fleet as Carole King, Adriane Leigh Robinson as Cynthia Weil, EJ Dohring as Barry Mann and Geoffrey Kent as Don Kirshner | Photo: Amanda Tipton Photography
Commanding the stage for the entire performance, Van Fleet plays King with complete conviction. Her winning portrayal is equally balanced between the punctuated storyline and the iconic songs that she performs as King. Vocally she is up to the challenge and demonstrates her emotional range with each hit song. Dhonau portrays Goffin not so much as a villain, but rather as a lost soul searching for that elusive connection in life that the right relationship might bring. Capping off the top four, Robinson and Dohring offer strong characterizations as Weil and Mann stabilizing the action as things unravel for Carole and Gerry. In the role of Don Kirshner, Kent gives a standout performance as the talent-seeking music producer, and O’Carroll as Carole’s mother Genie is ideally suited as the music star’s overbearing yet proud mother.
Collins’ direction is fast-paced and to the point providing a realistic backdrop to the sometimes-tumultuous life of a young Carole King making her way to stardom. Her direction is solid, and she maximizes the energetic and diverse cast, bringing to life the varied musical styles called upon in the script. Kelly Van Oosbree’s choreography is an exciting compilation of classic dance moves filling the stage with unbridled exuberance and enthusiasm. Music director Alec Steinhorn leads a seven-person orchestra that fills the auditorium with rich musical accompaniment.
There is yet one other star of the show worth mentioning. The scenic design by Brian Mallgrave is nothing short of phenomenal. The design itself is of special note, but the way the scenery moves in and out of the playing space is breathtaking, with the scenic elements floating freely through space with seemingly little effort.
Beautiful The Carole King Musical is far and away superior to most recent entries in the jukebox musical category, and this Arvada Center production nothing short of musical and theatrical bliss.
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