Beautiful – The Carole King Musical Makes its Broadway Debut
Beautiful – The Carole King Musical, a new musical about the early life and career of the legendary singer/songwriter, will debut at Broadway’s Stephen Sondheim Theatre this winter. The musical, directed by Marc Bruni, begins previews on November 21, 2013 and officially opens on January 12, 2014.
Carole King began as Carol Klein, a passionate talented singer/songwriter from Brooklyn. Before she became a chart-topping music legend, she fought her way into the record business as a teenager and, by the time she reached her twenties, had the husband of her dreams and a flourishing career writing hits for the biggest acts in rock ‘n’ roll. Beautiful tells the inspiring true story of Carole King’s remarkable rise to stardom, from a hit songwriting team with her husband Gerry Goffin, to her relationship with fellow writers Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann and becoming one of the most successful solo acts in popular music history. Along the way, she made more than beautiful music, she wrote the soundtrack for a generation.
King composed dozens of 1960s hits with then-husband Gerry Goffin before emerging as a recording artist in her own right. Her 25 million-selling hit “Tapestry” launched the singer-songwriter era in 1971 and became the first real blockbuster album. In addition to “Tapestry” King is best known for the hits “It’s Too Late” and “You’ve Got a Friend,” all three of which won a Grammy.
Tony Award-nominee Jessie Mueller will star as Carole King. Joining her in the cast are Jake Epstein as Gerry Goffin, Anika Larsen as Cynthia Weil and Jarrod Spector as Barry Mann. With a book by playwright and Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Douglas McGrath, direction by Marc Bruni and choreography by Josh Prince, Beautiful features a stunning array of beloved songs written by Gerry Goffin/Carole King and Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil. Beautiful had its pre-Broadway premiere in September at San Francisco’s SHN Curran Theatre.
