Tuesday July 11th,2017

BEAUTIFUL — The Carole King Musical review
Had the pleasure of seeing one of the best shows to come to Toronto this summer at the “Ed Mirvish Theatre”…..”Beautiful-The Carole King Musical” staring “Chilina Kennedy” (a long-time star of the Stratford and Shaw Festivals).  Kennedy plays Carole King(born Carol  Joan Klein) and the musical explores her life, from her days as an aspiring teenage songwriter growing up in Brooklyn,New York with her mother to working and collaborating with husband, lyricist Gerry Goffin(played by Liam Tobin) at Don Kirshner’s  Dimension Records. Together they would write some of music’s biggest hits including  “The Loco-Motion” by “Little Eva”, “Up on the Roof” by “The Drifters” and “You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman”. The show also features her relationship with fellow superstar songwriters and best friends Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann and finally, we learn about how King wrote and recorded  one of the greatest albums ever released, the Grammy winning LP “Tapestry” including the hit’s “It’s Too Late” & “You’ve Got A Friend”.  “Beautiful-The Carole King Musical” (written by Douglas McGrath) is funny, witty, emotional,educational and extremely entertaining.  It maybe 2 and a half hours (with intermission) but you get so into the music and story you won’t even notice.  It’s a beautiful tribute to one of music’s greatest songwriters.  I give “Beautiful-The Carole King Musical” 4 and a half stars out of five.
(Show runs June 27 to September 3, 2017    www.mirvish.com/‎)