Near West Theatre’s ‘Beautiful’ is some kind of wonderful...yes it is
There is something absolutely delightful about an opening night at Near West Theatre. The shows are usually sold out as alum congregate at the “theater village” that exemplifies diversity, equity and inclusion (qualities that have been under fire as of late). It is an evening of heartfelt hugs and kisses as former staff, actors, musicians and stage crew gather to support the newest offering from “ordinary people, extraordinary theater”.
The newest offering is “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical”. This is a Jukebox musical with book by Douglas McGrath and music by Carole King, Gerry Goffin, Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann. This is an extremely ambitious undertaking as every bit of music is deeply ingrained in the American physique. Not only do you need to find someone who looks and sounds like Carole King but also imitators of well known 50’s groups. It is a daunting task indeed. Luckily, NWT is up to the challenge.
Carole King (Molly Andrews-Hinders) aka Carole Joan Klein was born in Manhattan, New York City and was the only daughter of parents Eugenia (a teacher) and Sidney (a firefighter). The family later moved to Brooklyn, purchasing a small two-story duplex in which they rented the upstairs for extra income.
After purchasing a piano, Eugenia (Carole Leiblinger-Hedderson) or Genie began teaching Carole basic piano skills at the age of four. It was soon discovered that Carole had an insatiable curiosity about music as well as absolute pitch being able to name a note by simply hearing it.
Soon, mother Klein began giving Carole more involved lessons with King on the piano stool with a phone book on the seat helping her reach the keys. Carole was taught music theory, technique, notation, reading and timing. With her skill of absolute pitch she was soon able to master any pop song she heard on the radio.
Skipping two grades, Carole was enrolled at Queens College at the age of 16. She met and fell in love with Gerry Goffin who was a Chemistry major and lyrics writer. They were married at 17 when she became pregnant with their first daughter, Louise. Their first break was with the hit song by the Shirelles’ “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” that went all the way to number one.
Working for Don Kirshner out of the Brill Building at 1650 Broadway in New York City they were soon writing songs for the hottest acts in the country. These included The Everly Brothers, Little Eva (who was their baby sitter), Tony Orlando, Bobby Vee, The Drifters, Earl-Jean, The Chiffons, The Monkees, Aretha Franklin and Dusty Springfield.
In 1968 Goffin and King divorce and she moves to Laurel Canyon in Los Angeles. She teams up with James Taylor and Joni Mitchell for Lou Adler’s Ode label where she finally hits gold with the release of her solo album “Tapestry” that includes numerous hit singles including “You’ve Got a Friend”, “It’s Too Late”, “I Feel The Earth Move”, “So Far Away”, “Beautiful”, “Where You Lead”, “(You Make me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” with the album and singles dominating the number one position on the charts for weeks on end and ending up selling 30 million copies.
Molly Andrews-Hinders stars as Carole King with the look, voice and piano playing skills necessary to pull off the part. She looks very comfortable on stage, especially when performing all of the solo numbers but this is just part of the show. There is a real chemistry with Mark Pack as Gerry Goffin who portrays a man with a troubled mind. There is also a friendly competition going on at the Brill Building between Carole and Gerry as they try to outdo Cynthia Weil (Marissa Lahn) and Barry Mann (Zach Palumbo) who have their own side story of romance going on. The various singing groups such as The Drifters, The Shirelles, The Righteous Brothers as well as Janelle Woods, Little Eva, Neil Sedaka and Marilyn Wald all give authentic performances of the various hit songs.
The show is tightly directed by Trinidad Snyder who keeps a brisk pace throughout. My only complaint is the multiple staging changes that stretched the show out to just over two hours plus a fifteen minute intermission. In some productions that I have seen, a number of individual static set ups are assembled on stage with lighting used to highlight them.
Cassandra Miller is the choreographer who spent many hours over the past months getting everyone comfortable with their dancing roles. Rachel Woods is the musical director and the seven piece orchestra seated above the stage does an excellent job. Laura Carlson Tarantowski’s scenic design gives plenty of room for the ensembles to perform. Vanessa Cook is in charge of the many costume designs and does a wonderful job matching the performance costumes of the era as well as the everyday clothes of that time. James Romeo handles the sound duties with everyone coming out crisp and clear. Likewise Jesse Uguccini’s lighting design is superb. Mia Jones is charged with assembling the many 50’s and 60s era props and scored on every single item. One unsung hero that should be mentioned is Bryce Cook as wig supervisor. There are a huge amount of wigs needed to pull off this production and each one looked fresh and well coiffed.
With its great music expertly performed this show is destined to be a huge success. Molly Andrews-Hinders was born to play Carole King with a supporting cast and ensemble that brings her story to life. This is theater just for the fun of it. It truly is beautiful.
The Near West Theatre production of “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical” will be on stage at 6702 Detroit Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio through April 13, 2025. for more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.nearwesttheatre.org/ or call (216) 961-6391.
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