The life and work of singer/songwriter Carole King is celebrated in the musical Beautiful, coming to the Aldwych Theatre in February 2015. Picture: Elissa Kline
The West End production of the two-time Tony Award-winning Beautiful – The Carole King Musical will open at the Aldwych Theatre in February next year. Based on the early life and career of legendary singer/songwriter Carole King, Beautiful has a book by Douglas McGrath, with words and music by Gerry Goffin, Carole King, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, and is directed by Marc Bruni.
Public booking for Beautiful – The Carole King Musical opens today, 5 September 2014, with London previews beginning on 10 February 2015 and with the show currently booking to 13 June 2015. Press night is on 25 February.
Carole King said: “A few years ago I went to an early reading of a new musical about my life. Though some scenes about my younger years were very emotional for me, I could tell it was going to be a good show. I didn’t go to the opening on Broadway, but when I finally worked up the courage to see it, I loved everything about Beautiful! This show is an honest portrayal of my early life with Gerry Goffin and our friendship with our competitors Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. It captures the essence of my emergence as a singer and my growth as a woman. I love that the next chapter of the Beautiful story is taking place in London’s West End. I have so many good friends in London and warm memories of good times there. I can’t wait to re-visit!”
Beautiful – The Carole King Musical is the untold story of her journey from school girl to superstar; from her relationship with husband and songwriting partner Gerry Goffin, their close friendship and playful rivalry with fellow songwriting duo Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, to her rise to stardom. Along the way, she became one of the most successful solo acts in music history.
With a cast of 26 and an orchestra of 12, Beautiful – The Carole King Musical features the Carole King classics including ‘So Far Away’, ‘It Might As Well Rain Until September’, ‘Take Good Care of My Baby’, ‘Will You Love Me Tomorrow’, ‘Up On the Roof’, ‘Locomotion’, ‘One Fine Day’, ‘You’ve Got a Friend’, ‘(You Make Me Feel Like) a Natural Woman’ and ‘I Feel the Earth Move’, along with hits like ‘You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling’, ‘On Broadway’ and ‘Uptown’ from songwriters Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil.
Multi award-winning Carole King fought her way into the record industry as a teenager and sold her first hit, ’Will You Love Me Tomorrow’, when she was just 17. By the time she was 20 she was writing number ones for the biggest acts in rock‘n’roll, including The Drifters, The Shirelles, Aretha Franklin and The Monkees. In a first for a female singer/songwriter, King’s album Tapestry won all three of the 1971 key Grammy Awards – record, song and album of the year. The same year King also won the Grammy for Best Female Vocalist. With more than 25 million records sold, Tapestry remained the best-selling album by a female artist for a quarter of a century. More than 400 of her compositions have been recorded by over 1,000 artists, resulting in 100 hit singles and six Grammy awards.
Beautiful – The Carole King Musical has choreography is by Josh Prince with set designs by Derek McLane, costume designs by Alejo Viettii, lighting by Peter Kaczorowski and sound by Brian Ronan. Orchestrations and music arrangements are by Steve Sidwell.
The Tony Award-winning show continues at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre on Broadway where it opened on 12 January this year starring Jessie Mueller as Carole King. A US tour will commence in September 2015 in Rhode Island.
Casting and further information about the West End production will be released at a later date.
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