Checking out the story of a music icon, Jackie Davies reviews Beautiful: The Carole King Musical at Cardiff’s New Theatre!
Beautiful: The Carole King Musical opened to a standing ovation from a very appreciative audience at Cardiff’s New Theatre. Billed as a jukebox musical, it’s fair to say that the passion, energy and non-stop hits leave you breathless.
It tells the story of Carole King and her journey from her first penned Number One hit, ‘Will You Love Me Tomorrow’ at the tender age of seventeen, through to becoming a household name and celebrated performer in her own right. To date an unbelievable 400 of her compositions have been recorded by over 1000 artists resulting in 100 hit singles.
The musical covers Carole’s relationship with her husband and writing partner, Gerry Goffin and their mutual friendship with co songwriters Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil.
Set against their background of hits, the production features a cast of incredibly talented performers, each taking on multiple character roles and playing all their own instruments to boot!
Louise Francis, Naomi Alade, Amena El-Kindy and Adrien Spencer (The Shirelles) in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical 
Molly-Grace Cutler (Carole King) in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. 
Molly-Grace Cutler (Carole King) and Tom Milner (Gerry Goffin) in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. 
Molly-Grace Cutler (Carole King) and Tom Milner (Gerry Goffin) in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. 
Molly-Grace Cutler (Carole King) and cast in a scene from Beautiful: The Carole King Story Photo by Ellie Kurttz. 
Tom Milner as Jerry Goffin with Dylan Gordon-Jones, Kevin-Yates, Kemi Clarke and Myles Miller as The Drifters in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. Picture: Nikolai Foster
Molly-Grace Cutler is nothing short of a tour-de-force as Carole King, charismatic and engaging, she captures her voice exceptionally well. Tom Milner as Gerry Coffin cleverly adds the edge to her warmth.
They are well supported by Seren Sandham-Davies as Cynthia Weil and Jos Slovick as Barry. Their friendly song-writing rivalry adds a touch of humanity and comedy.
The huge cast offer a pastiche of the quartet’s hits, playing Neil Sedaka, The Drifters, The Shirelles, The Righteous Brothers and Little Eva as well as backing up the main characters.
A clever set takes us effortlessly from Carole’s Brooklyn apartment to a ski lodge, to recording studios and finally culminating in Carnegie Hall!
Definitely a ‘must-see’.
- Beautiful: The Carole King Musical continues at Cardiff’s New Theatre until May 28, 2022. Visit the New Theatre website for booking details.