Theatre / Musical
Review: Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Hippodrome
Over the past 60 years Carole King has written or co-written more than 100 hit songs, which have been sung by more than 100 artists. Beautiful: The Carole King Musical covers the first 13 years of that incredible career, beginning and ending at King’s 1971 Carnegie Hall concert as she reflects on the journey she’s taken to get there.
We see a confident 16-year-old heading from Brooklyn into New York, certain she can sell her latest song to producer Donnie Kirshner. And we follow her story, both personal and professional, through her first marriage to Gerry Goffin and their song-writing partnership, to its breakdown and the solo success that started with the albums Writer and Tapestry.
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It’s a story punctuated by hit after hit, Bronté Barbé shining in the lead role and backed up by a talented ensemble appearing as the artists who performed her songs – The Drifters, Shirelles, Little Eva and others.
We also meet King and Goffin’s friends (and friendly rivals) Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, whose own songs included On Broadway, a hit for The Drifters, and You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling, sung by The Righteous Brothers.
In a show full of musical highlights, I particularly enjoyed Some Kind of Wonderful, Will You Love Me Tomorrow, and (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman. One Fine Day, which ends Act One, gave me goose bumps, and I was slightly put out when the interval arrived.
Beautiful is a lovely show that doesn’t demand anything of its audience and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Beautiful continues at the Hippodrome until Saturday, April 7. For more info, visit www.atgtickets.com/shows/beautiful-the-carole-king-musical/bristol-hippodrome
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