Midway through “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical,” the chart-topping composer responds to a colleague’s suggestion that she perform in public with a modest question: “I’m just a normal person; who wants to hear a normal person sing?” He replies, “Other normal people.”
Their exchange sums up the whole vibe of this biographical jukebox musical about a middle-class young woman from Brooklyn making her way in show business and finding her own voice after years of writing hit songs for other artists. As played by Samantha Gershman in her Drury Lane Theatre debut, King is the quintessential girl next door: sweet, earnest and family-oriented. And, when she sings, mesmerizing.
Unfortunately, the musical struggles to overcome one of the typical challenges for this type of show: It features plenty of nostalgic tunes of the era — in this case, pop music and rock ’n’ roll of the late 1950s through early ’70s — but the plot isn’t all that compelling. The major conflicts stem from King’s turbulent first marriage and the difficulties of being a working mother in the music industry. It’s a warm story of personal resilience and growth, but the dramatic tension doesn’t hold up over the course of two and a half hours.
Not that this shortcoming has hampered the success of the musical, which has a book by Douglas McGrath and music and lyrics by Gerry Goffin, Carole King, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. “Beautiful” ran on Broadway for nearly six years, transferred to London’s West End and has toured the U.S. twice. More recently, it’s made the rounds of Chicago’s regional theaters: the Marriott in 2023, Paramount in 2024, and now Drury Lane in a production directed by Jane Lanier with choreography by Gerry McIntyre and music direction by Carolyn Brady.
The show begins with 16-year-old Carole Klein, soon to be known as Carole King, getting her first break by selling an original song at the Brill Building in Manhattan, the center of publishing and songwriting for the pop music industry at the time. A precocious student who graduated from high school two years early, she meets her future lyricist and husband, Gerry Goffin (Alex Benoit) as a freshman at Queen’s College. By age 17, Carole is married, expecting their first child and writing her way to the top of the Billboard charts with Gerry.
With its focus on King’s early career, the show offers an inside look at how the music industry operated in this era, when fewer performers wrote their own music but rather relied on songwriting teams such as King and Goffin — and the couple’s friends and rivals, Barry Mann (Andrew MacNaughton) and Cynthia Weil (Alexandra Palkovic). Ensemble members portray some of the artists they wrote for, including the Drifters (Averis Anderson, Makenzy Jenkins, Austin Nelson Jr. and Michael Turrentine), the Righteous Brothers (Maxwell J. DeTonge and Ian Geers), the Shirelles (Lydia Burke, Raeven Carroll, Alanna Lovely and Chamaya Moody) and Little Eva (Moody). Popular tunes such as “Will You Love Me Tomorrow,” “On Broadway” and “The Locomotion” are given lively renditions, providing snapshots of their journeys from the writing studio to full-fledged hit.
King and Weil make familiar foils in their contrasting approaches to work and family life. Both are ambitious, competitive artists, but King dreams of raising children in the suburbs while Weil resists the institution of marriage despite her budding relationship with Mann. While King comes across as a bit buttoned-up, and certainly not a fiery second-wave feminist, she asserts her autonomy in her own time and way. On opening night, the audience cheered during the scene when she finally draws a firm line with her unfaithful husband.
Gershman’s performance is certainly worth seeing if you’re a fan of King’s music. She captures King’s unembellished tone and homey Brooklyn twang with a relaxed stage presence that makes her seem like someone you could get coffee with. And if you’re patient, you’ll hear “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” and “I Feel the Earth Move” — so don’t leave before curtain call is over.
Emily McClanathan is a freelance critic.
Review: “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical” (2.5 stars)
When: Through March 23
Where: Drury Lane Theatre, 100 Drury Lane, Oakbrook Terrace
Running time: 2 hours, 35 minutes
Tickets: $53-$125 at 630-530-0111 or drurylanetheatre.com
