Beautiful
You've got to get up every morning
With a smile in your face
And show the world all the love in your heart
Then people gonna treat you better
You're gonna find, yes you will
That you're beautiful, as you feel -- Carole King
Tuesday night Drew and I got the chance to see Beautiful, the musical based on the life of Carole King. Act I deals with her first songwriting efforts for Don Kirshner, her introduction to Gerry Goffin, their successful songwriting partnership, their marriage, and their friendship/competition with the songwriting team of Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann. In Act II, Cynthia and Barry are heading towards marriage while Carole and Gerry are headed for divorce. The show begins and ends with Carole's 1971 Carnegie Hall concert, celebrating her groundbreaking album, Tapestry.
Both teams were part of the Brill Building hit factory, writing songs for the Shirelles, the Chiffons, the Crystals, the Drifters, and the Righteous brothers, and later for the Monkees, the Animals, Paul Revere and the Raiders...
There's a cameo by "Neil Sedaka" -- Carole and Neil dated briefly, before either was famous.
(And Drew and I were laughing, because all of the major characters -- Carole, Gerry, Cynthia, Barry and Don Kirshner -- were all Jewish.)
Such fun, fun music.
And a really fun show.
Afterwards, one of the actors gave us a back stage tour. Here we are on the stage:
In the second photo, you can see the set piece that serves as the offices of the Brill Building, located at 1650 Broadway -- just a few blocks from the theater.
This first video is a clip from the Tony Awards, featuring the show's original cast:
And I could not end this post without something from Carole herself:
With a smile in your face
And show the world all the love in your heart
Then people gonna treat you better
You're gonna find, yes you will
That you're beautiful, as you feel -- Carole King
Tuesday night Drew and I got the chance to see Beautiful, the musical based on the life of Carole King. Act I deals with her first songwriting efforts for Don Kirshner, her introduction to Gerry Goffin, their successful songwriting partnership, their marriage, and their friendship/competition with the songwriting team of Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann. In Act II, Cynthia and Barry are heading towards marriage while Carole and Gerry are headed for divorce. The show begins and ends with Carole's 1971 Carnegie Hall concert, celebrating her groundbreaking album, Tapestry.
Both teams were part of the Brill Building hit factory, writing songs for the Shirelles, the Chiffons, the Crystals, the Drifters, and the Righteous brothers, and later for the Monkees, the Animals, Paul Revere and the Raiders...
There's a cameo by "Neil Sedaka" -- Carole and Neil dated briefly, before either was famous.
(And Drew and I were laughing, because all of the major characters -- Carole, Gerry, Cynthia, Barry and Don Kirshner -- were all Jewish.)
Such fun, fun music.
And a really fun show.
Afterwards, one of the actors gave us a back stage tour. Here we are on the stage:
In the second photo, you can see the set piece that serves as the offices of the Brill Building, located at 1650 Broadway -- just a few blocks from the theater.
This first video is a clip from the Tony Awards, featuring the show's original cast:
And I could not end this post without something from Carole herself:
Love your jean jacket.
ReplyDeleteCoffee is on
I've always love Carole King and that song! Looks like so much fun!
ReplyDeleteSounds like it was a great show.
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