Reagle’s ‘Beautiful’: King’s story inspires, entertains

By Rich Fahey

BEVERLY – It took Carole King years and years before she looked into the mirror and found the perfect person to deliver her music the way she wanted: Herself.

The  Reagle Music Theatre of Greater Boston’s lovely production of “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical” is a musical treat, tracking King’s career progress from the age of 16, when she began writing professionally, to her triumphant Carnegie Hall concert on June 18, 1971, her first concert performance in front of an audience after the groundbreaking release of her album “Tapestry.”

In all, King has penned more than 400 songs performed by more than 1,000 artists.   

“Beautiful” was nominated for seven 2014 Tony Awards and won two – for Jessie Mueller in the lead role and another for sound design.

“Beautiful” Is actually the story of two iconic songwriting duos: King (Olivia Palmer) and her late former husband Gerry Goffin (Shad Hanley), and their close friends and friendly competitors Barry Mann (Luke Hawkins) and his late wife, Cyntia Weil (Harley Seger), all safely ensconced in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame, with numerous Grammys and other awards.

And while King’s story and the musical’s book by Douglas McGrath aren’t quite as compelling as that of another jukebox musical, “Jersey Boys,” with its prison time and mobsters, there is enough angst and drama to keep you involved and entertained in the moments between the 27 musical numbers.

The role of Carole King requires an actor with a certain distinctive appearance and voice, and directors – in this case, director/choreographer Deanne Dys —  often opt  for someone who has performed the role successfully in the past.

Palmer fills the bill as both an actor and singer, capturing King’s vulnerabilities and insecurities about her looks — “I have the right amount of body. It’s not organized properly” – but also the distinctive timbre of her voice and her stunning talent, smart enough to skip two grades and attend Queens College at the age of 16.

But King also became a mother for the first time at 17 with husband and writing partner Goffin, juggling her career and motherhood along the way.

Hanley has a hard time pulling off Goffin as a young man but otherwise captures Goffin’s talent and the musical celebrates the inspirational lyrics he penned until his infidelities and mental illness combined to doom his marriage to King and their partnership.  

Hawkins’  Mann  is a womanizer of the first order before he meets his match in Seger’s  Weil; they have an easy chemistry and their on-again, off-again relationship provides several humorous moments.

There are fine supporting turns by Jennifer Bubriski as Genie Klein, King’s doting mother, who wanted a daughter who was a teacher but later raveled in her daughter’s fame and loved being a grandmother, and Jim Sorenson as Don Kirshner the hard-driving, nonpareil music producer who ground out hit after hit in the Brill Building at 1650 Broadway. Veteran Kevin Patrick Martin shows his versatility in a number of roles

The musical numbers include some of the greatest pop songs ever written, and the best moments are when iconic groups such as The Drifters and The Shirelles take the stage. The Drifters – lead singer Martinez Napoleon, Noah Colvin, Brandon Howard and Kenny Lee – perform “Some Kind of Love,” “Up on the Roof, and “On Broadway.” The Shirelles – Dey Chante, Sky Fortes, Rachel Thompson and Ekaterina Hicks-Magana – shine in “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow.”

With the huge songbooks available to producers, the 27 musical numbers include beloved songs written by Goffin/King and Mann/Weil such as “I Feel The Earth Move,” “One Fine Day,” “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” “You’ve Got A Friend” and the title song.

Reagle has made some wise decisions in staging “Beautiful.” Tony-winning scenic designer Derek McLane designed the scenic elements for “Beautiful” on Broadway and Reagle has used his design and other production elements that it leased for its production.  The set design aimed to capture the gritty realism of the Brill Building, where Carole King and other songwriters worked, and the energy of the music industry at the time

Director/choreographer Dys has coaxed some fine performances from her 21-person cast, which includes many performers from area colleges, some still seeking degrees and others recent graduates. Talented they are, but their inexperience may have affected some of the choreographed numbers, which were uneven at times.

The real Cynthia Weil died at the age of 82 in June 2023 but of course she will live on wherever the musical “Beautiful” is performed, and in the music she and Mann created.

King’s personal life after her divorce from Goffin and the triumphs of “Tapestry” and Carnegie Hall continued to have some bumps and bruises, including four marriages in all, and the death of ex-husband Goffin in 2014.

For those of us born after World War II, the 27 musical numbers in “Beautiful” are part of the soundtrack of our lives, covering the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s, and Reagle’s well-done retelling of King’s story both inspires and entertains.

Reagle Music Theatre of Greater Boston  production of “Beautiful: The Carole King Story.” Book by Douglas McGrath. Words and Music by Gerry Goffin and Carole King and Barry Mann and Cynthis Weil. Directed and choreographed by Deanna Dys. Musical direction by Mindy Cimini. At the Robinson Theatre, Waltham through June 22. ReagleMusicTheatre.com