Music brings people together.
I was in high school when Carole King's Tapestry was released in 1971, and my chorus teacher, Pam Perry, took a group of us to see King in concert at the Arie Crowne Theater in Chicago. Almost 50 years later, Patricia Freeman and I saw King and James Taylor in concert in St. Louis. Springfield's local production is a very fun, very moving and highly innovative Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, at the Hoogland Center for the Arts. The show opened last week, and it could very well be sold out by the time you read this. An extra performance for Thursday, March 14, was added last week.
Thanks to Gus Gordon and the Hoogland for securing the rights to the show, making it one of the few granted to community theaters in the area.
Taking a composer's music output and creating a show around the songs has become a regular thing in recent years. This is one of the best of the long string of "jukebox musicals." King wrote many hits and her songs are beloved by many, but her personal story is not well known. I wouldn't even call this a jukebox musical; even though King and company's catalogue is all here, the personal story is what the show is about. The musical opens with King at Carnegie Hall and flashes back to her high school years in Brooklyn, already writing songs as a teenager.
King is played by Anna Maisenbacher, a local performer who has grown up on Springfield stages (The Secret Garden as a child; she was in Rent and played both Wendy and the title role in separate productions of Peter Pan). She brings a grounded realism to the role, as well as an infectious joy through the two-act show. Her voice and piano playing bring back the memories of Carole King so many of us have. It's as though she's channeling King, quite an achievement. The audience responds and Maisenbacher has a way of making the show an intimate conversation between her and the audience.
Diane Dietz coached Maisenbacher on piano, and she, along with Sue Hamilton are the vocal directors. Doug Hahn's energetic conducting leads a magnificent orchestra.
In the show, King meets Gerry Goffin and they began writing songs together, and also become a couple. Goffin is played by Ryle Frey, who shows us a man wrestling with his own demons. The songwriting team of Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil are played by Jakob Hankins and Allyssa Shultz. Carrie Levin is King's mother, Genie Klein. Gus Gordon is record producer Don Kirshner, who guides them all in their rise to fame.
Leigh Steiner has directed the musical with love and respect as she guides her large cast through many years and a lot of great music. She never lets them forget about the heart, and brings out the drama within each character, which makes this show not only fun and surprising, but a tremendously moving "play with songs." There is a fusion of quality singing and truth-in-acting. Beautiful never stops moving, choreographed by Brittney McLaughlin and assisted by Brianna Gude-Price – even the scenic and lighting design seem choreographed. The costumes and hair are excellent, including the best wigs I've seen onstage in a while.
The show features stars who sang King's early songs: The Shirelles, The Chiffons, The Drifters, Righteous Brothers, Neil Sedaka, etc., played by an ensemble who all give show-stopping performances. Chrissy Mauck as Little Eva owns the stage in Locomotion; the smooth voices of the local Napier brothers play The Drifters and they could easily perform their own show, that's how good they are. DJ Shultz and Jeff Prince are standouts as The Righteous Brothers, as is Elijah Sadler as Neil Sedaka. Jasmine French, Chrissy Mauck, Brianna Gude-Price, Lexi Tyus and Regina Ivy all play singers who make up The Shirelles and The Chiffons, with beautiful harmonies throughout.
Once Anna won the role to play Carole King at auditions, she worked on the piano playing with Diane Dietz for several months. "Anna has the very human, vulnerable side of Carole King," says Dietz, "and she was very dedicated to learn the mechanics and theory of playing the piano as King did. It was all about the music."
Music can bring people together. That was the case opening night.
About the show
Beautiful: The Carole King Musical runs March 14 through Sunday, March 17. Remaining tickets can be found by through the box office (217-523-2787) or the Hoogland Center for the Arts website: www.hcfta.org.
Phil Funkenbusch of Havana will direct The Trip to Bountiful for Quincy Community Theatre in September. Reach him at [email protected].
