Review: Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Theatre Royal Bath – ‘an energetic musical from a huge cast’

Leicester Curve’s touring production (with Theatre Royal Bath and Mayflower Theatre) of Douglas McGrath’s jukebox Carole King musical is almost everything you’d expect – with a little more and a little less.

I hadn’t seen the original London/Broadway production, so was surprised to hear so much from contemporaries of Carole King and her collaborator-husband Gerry Goffin, mainly from the duo Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil (Who Put The Bomp?, On Broadway, You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’ and more).

I would also have wished for more story about a life that’s seen King release 20 albums since 1971’s brilliant Tapestry.

But that’s about the book (the musical-world’s word for a script) and not about this production. So let’s hear about that.

Nikolai Foster directs a huge cast of 20 who come together as a real team to deliver 28 numbers – no-one’s getting short-changed here! They play Neil Sedaka, The Righteous Brothers, The Shirelles, The Drifters, Little Eva and perform as an ensemble, too.

The energy is high, and there’s nicely warm characterisation from both Carole’s mum, Genie Klein, played by Claire Greenaway, and hypochondriac writer and competitive friend Barry Mann (the very enjoyable Jos Slovick).

Louise Francis, Naomi Alade, Amena El-Kindy and Adrien Spencer as The Shirelles – photo: Ellie Kurttz

Frankie Bradshaw’s set is pitch-perfect; never fussy, tonally ideal and does the job of holding the illusion together (just what you want).

Ben Cracknell’s light design takes us from Carnegie Hall to skiing chalets and Brooklyn apartments, while the costumes (Edd Lindley), choreography (Leah Hill) and sound (Tom Marshall) protect the bubble and complete our sense of complete immersion in the story.

But the star of the show in every way is Molly-Grace Cutler, whose King is not only immediately likeable in every way, but who also captures her voice exceptionally well. Not only that, but of course she is never off-stage, and delivers the equivalent of a full gig, in character. I know this is what musical performers do, of course, but it doesn’t make it any the less impressive. Her performance is a convincing, heart-warming joy to watch.

Beautiful – tour – 2022 Production photos taken on the 28th February 2022, at Curve Theatre Leicester, Directed by Nikolai Foster

She’s well supported by Seren Sandham-Davies (Cynthia Weil), Jos Slocvick (Barry) and Tom Milner (Gerry Goffin), who has the unenviable task of playing a pretty unlikeable husband, and does it well.

Steve Sidwell’s orchestrations of these 28 numbers make it look easy – and should be mentioned for that alone. With musical supervisor Sarah Travis, they have pulled off a musical that had the audience joyously on its feet at the end.

There’s no doubt that so many in the audience would have been up much sooner if they hadn’t had to pay attention to an unfurling story. The energy and passion of the show’s final two numbers are something it would have been wonderful to see elsewhere in our evening; without a doubt, they are the stand-out highlights of the night.

The cast of Beautiful, The Carole King Musical – photo: Ellie Kurttz

Beautiful: The Carole King Musical is at Theatre Royal Bath from March 17-26 at 7.30pm, with 2.30pm matinees on Thursday and Saturday. Tickets are available at www.theatreroyal.org.uk.

Main photo: Ellie Kurttz

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