Beautiful: The Carole King Musical is the final production of The Carnegie’s crowd-pleasing Summer Theatre Series. It was preceded by successful stagings of The Rocky Horror Show in June and tick, tick, BOOM! In July.) Although King aspired to be a songwriter from the age of 16, she had a circuitous path to success as a performer. This popular jukebox musical chronicles her path from a breathless but modest teenaged wannabe through her initial creative success, often challenged by a difficult marriage to Gerry Goffin, another creative but erratic songwriter. In the early ’70s, she was convinced to become a performer, and the result was Tapestry, a winner of multiple Grammys and one of the best-selling albums of all time.
With a book by Douglas McGrath, the 2014 Broadway musical used a two-pronged approach. Much of the show’s first act recreates her original hits performed by pop stars during the 1950s and 1960s, including The Drifters (“Some Kind of Wonderful”), The Shirelles (“Will You Love Me Tomorrow,” “Up on the Roof”), Little Eva (“The Locomotion”) and the Righteous Brothers (“You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling”). In the show’s second act we see King coming into her own as a star performer with “Chains,” “It’s Too Late,” “You’ve Got a Friend,” “You Make Me Feel Like (A Natural Woman)” and the show’s title song, “Beautiful.” Throughout Beautiful, these and other songs provide deeper insights into King’s own life — her rocky marriage (“Will You Love Me Tomorrow,” “One Fine Day” and “It’s Too Late”), as well as her long friendship and rivalry with another creative team, Cynthia Mann and Barry Weil.
Staged by directors Ed Cohen and Dee Anne Bryll (with choreography by Bryll and Julia Jenkins), Beautiful at the Carnegie succeeds with a cast of abundantly talented singers and dancers. Two actors stand out: Bethany Xan Kerr as King and Cary Davenport as Goffin. Both are strong actors and excellent voices. Kerr, who earned a master’s degree from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland has worked in New York and on national touring productions, as well as numerous regional theaters. Davenport is a grad of Northern Kentucky University’s theater program and a 10+ year performer with Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, where he created an original musical based on Shakespeare’s As You Like It.
Kerr winds her way through King’s early career, portraying the kind of modest exuberance that became the hallmark of the singer’s career. Kerr’s voice and piano playing are a perfect fit for this role. She brackets the show with passionate performances from King’s Carnegie Hall concert in 1971 of “So Far Away” to get the action underway; she returns to that venue for the closing number, “Beautiful,” a fitting summary of her mindset.
Davenport takes on the challenging role of the intense and driven Goffin. As a serious-minded student at Queens College, he almost dismisses King with a remark about the greatness of Mozart. She turns him around by sitting down at the keyboard and playing a classical piece. The strains of an unexpected pregnancy and early parenthood shape the couple’s lives, and Davenport convincingly handles the rollercoaster ride of anger, unfaithfulness and eventual emotional breakdown.
Jenny Herndon plays King’s spunky rival and friend Cynthia Weil, and she’s matched with Grant Bell as the jocular, commitment-averse Barry Mann. Their ebullient performances of “He’s Sure the Boy I Love” and the tender “Walking in the Rain” provide more context for the couple and their will-they-won’t-they relationship.
The large and abundantly talented cast of actors, singers and dancers includes Julie Coppens as Genie Klein, King’s fretful but loving mother, and Sean Miller-Jones as harried but insightful music publisher Don Kirshner. The Drifters (Jathan “JB” Briscoe, JT Langlas, Tobias Rytting and Donald Washington) and The Shirelles (Kertu Bell, Diana Hutchinson, Victoria Okafor and Ashley Olivia Matt) have mastered the finely tuned choreography of backups and lead singers. Several of them step out of their foursome for some spirited solo numbers, especially Hutchinson as Little Eva, engaging the entire company in an infectious performance of “The Locomotion.” Aaron Marshall and Ethan Kuchta put in momentary takes as early rock-and-roll stars (including Neil Sedaka, King’s high school classmate whose “Oh, Carol!” was a 1958 hit — about his crush on her). The pair come together as The Righteous Brothers for an authentic, over-the-top rendition of “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling.”
The action is played out on a nicely detailed and versatile set resembling a recording studio. Tyler Gabbard (the Carnegie’s producing director of theater) handled the scenic design: a long, wide see-through window into a “studio” for seven musicians who accompany the show. The set has blonde wood paneling, hung with microphones, guitars and other paraphernalia. There’s no effort to create realistic settings for homes, offices and even a nightclub (The Bitter End, where King is coaxed onstage for the first time) — with lighting (by designer Chris Lipstreu) and clear storytelling, it all works perfectly.
The Carnegie has announced its 2025 Summer Theatre Series: The Color Purple (June), Always … Patsy Cline (July) and Grease (August). Given the success of this summer’s productions, the Carnegie will surely be a destination for more enjoyable summertime musical theater in 2025.
Beautiful, The Carole King Musical, produced by The Carnegie in Covington, continues through Aug. 25. More info: thecarnegie.com.
This article appears in Aug 7-20, 2024.
