As Carole King, Sara Shepherd is “Beautiful” at The Muny

“Beautiful: The Carole King Musical” opened on Broadway in 2014 winning two Tony awards for Best Leading Actress in a Musical and Best Sound Design. It ran on Broadway until 2019 making it the 27th longest running musical in Broadway history. It chronicles Carole King’s early songwriting career; her collaboration, marriage, and divorce to Gerry Goffin; and ends with her 1971 solo concert at Carnegie Hall.

The Muny opens its 105th season with this jukebox musical and fans of the genre will not be disappointed. If you are unfamiliar with Carole King’s early career and collaboration with Gerry Goffin, familiar tunes such as “Will You Love Me Tomorrow”, “Up On The Roof”, “The Locomotion”, and “Chains” will educate you regarding her significance in rock and roll history. Fellow competing collaborators Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann also play a part in the story with their contributions of such notable hits as “On Broadway” and “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling”. Only at the end of the piece do we glimpse the Carole King with whom most of us are familiar when she moves to California to pursue her solo career with her songs “You’ve Got A Friend”, “It’s Too Late”, and “Beautiful”.

Jackie Burns, as Cynthia Weil, and Jarrod Spector, as Barry Mann (who also played Barry Mann on Broadway) shine in this production in their acting and singing as the foils and comrades to Carole and Gerry. Sara Sheperd, as Carole King, owns the role in the final scenes when she metaphorically and physically lets down her hair, miraculously loses her nondescript east coast accent, and moves to California. Steven Good, as Gerry Goffin, is the weak link in the cast and comes across as whiney and entitled throughout the show. It’s a treat to see local actor and producer Sharon Hunter, as Genie Klein, grace the Muny stage. Side note to Mssrs. Coleman and Isaacson: with the plethora of local talent perhaps one or two more local actors could be added to the Muny cast. I for one would love to see more of our amazing locals represented. Ensemble members playing the original bands that covered the early tunes (including The Shirelles, The Drifters, Little Eva, and The Righteous Brothers) do a fine job.  

The biggest problem I have with “Beautiful” is the book itself. The story on its own is just not that interesting. While the songs are well done, often they are repeated (first Carole and/or Carole and Gerry sing it, then the band that covers it sings it, in its entirety) which seems unnecessary for an already lengthy musical. And there are a lot of songs. Granted it is a jukebox musical, and if you are a fan of the genre you will definitely get your money’s worth.

“Beautiful: The Carol King Musical” at The Muny runs through June 18th. For information go to The Muny website.