In the late 1950s and early ’60s, breaking into the music business meant writing pop songs and pitching them to a producer, who would then select an established singer or group to record them. So it went for a 16-year-old Brooklynite named Carole King (nee Klein), as depicted in the jukebox musical biography Beautiful, now receiving a very worthy production at the Wick Theatre in Boca Raton.
Bookended by scenes from a Carnegie Hall concert soon after King accepted her place in the spotlight, signified by her multiple Grammy Award-winning album Tapestry, the show charts her journey from ambitious introvert to empowered singer-songwriter icon. And if most of us do not associate her with such early compositions as “Some Kind of Wonderful” (recorded by The Drifters), “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow” (The Shirelles) and “The Locomotion,” (Little Eva) later hits such as “So Far Away,” “You’ve Got A Friend,” “Tapestry” and the show’s title tune form a treasured soundtrack for the lives of the Baby Boomer generation.
Director Jeffrey B. Moss does a fine job marshaling the many moving parts of this episodic show, but his best decision was casting Monet Sabel in the central role of King. The exuberant, full-throated singer-actress has played the part in four previous productions of Beautiful, yet she brings an admirable freshness to her performance at the Wick.
Sabel’s creation of King is crucial to the musical’s success, but Beautiful is no one-woman show. The most dramatic story thread concerns King’s doomed marriage to her longtime lyricist, Gerry Goffin (Sean William Davis), who battles his own demons of uncontrollable anger, drug addiction and infidelity. Beyond their musical collaboration, they are all wrong for each other, but Davis still manages to make Goffin a sympathetic character.
Together, they have a marathon rivalry and friendship with the songwriting team of Barry Mann (Taylor Hilt Mitchell) and Cynthia Weil (Leah Sessa). He is a hypochondriac and she is obsessively chipper, an amusingly toxic combination. In all, the cast numbers 22, including facsimiles of the Drifters and Shirelles, choreographed by Quincy Legito with aptly synchronized dance steps.
Less successful is the script by Douglas McGrath, which is surface-deep and riddled with soap opera tropes, as is often the case with jukebox biographies. But don’t let it worry you. You are there for the music, right?
Beautiful ranges from 1958 to 1971, and Alejo Vietti’s original costume designs help to chronicle the changes in fashion. The passage of time can also be seen in the increasingly curly and wild wigs on King, designed by Bobby Zlotnik. Also an asset to the show’s pace are the set pieces designed by Mike Sabourin, anchored by a series of erector-set lighting towers.
Although not up to the dramatic quality of Jersey Boys, which it clearly tries to emulate, Beautiful is far superior to the many show biz biographies that followed it. Director Moss and company manage to gloss over most of the material’s shortcomings and there is no denying the evocative potency of King’s musical score.
BEAUTIFUL: THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL, Wick Theatre, 7901 N. Federal Highway, Boca Raton. Through Sunday, Feb. 16. $89-$119. 561-995-2333 or visit thewick.org.