By J. E. Ballantyne Jr.
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — With the ever-growing genre of the jukebox musical, which includes such titles as “Forever Plaid,” “Mamma Mia!”, “Jersey Boys” and “Ain’t Misbehavin’,” to name a few, you might think there isn’t much room for more. But this type of musical has become a staple of American musical theater.
The American songbook has provided rich music and storylines well suited to the Broadway stage for many decades, and I’m sure there will be more to come. But none is more captivating than “Beautiful – The Carole King Musical,” which opened the Youngstown Playhouse’s 100th season on Friday at the DeYor Performing Arts Center.
With a book by Douglas McGrath and music and lyrics by Carole King, Gerry Goffin, Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil and Phil Spector, Beautiful traces the early life of Carole King before she became Carole King. As a young songwriter, King and her partner Goffin produced songs that were destined to become classics over the years.
This production is pure glamour and spectacle. You won’t find anything in this town that comes closer to a full-fledged Broadway production than this eye-opening performance at the DeYor. Since it’s Carole King, you better have a good King on stage. And Carole King at the Playhouse is a showstopper. Brooke May takes on this demanding role and blows away even the most stubborn skeptic.
Small in stature but immensely talented, Austintown native May has a lot to offer in this powerful role. With her attention-grabbing vocals, she sings the King songbook with ease, making you feel like you’re actually watching the real King on stage and not an actress. But that’s not all, she can act too. Her command of the role never falters as she effortlessly navigates the many joys and sorrows King has experienced on her journey. She handles the emotional range of the role like a seasoned pro.
Vocally, she has many highlights. It’s difficult to choose just a few, but the ones that caught my eye on the way home were “It Might As Well Rain Until September,” “It’s Too Late,” an emotional “Will You Love Me Tomorrow?” and “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman.” But if I had more space, I could go on.
Many of King’s early works were written with his partner/husband Gerry Goffin. Goffin, played by Sam Early, is an inspiration at first but succumbs to his own demons as the relationship progresses. Early presents a sympathetic character who audiences initially bond with but the tables turn and audiences become increasingly sour towards him. Early handles the character’s extreme highs and lows very well, something many people in the entertainment industry struggle with – I’ve seen it first hand many times. But Early is the perfect complement to May’s Carole.
The couple’s best friends are Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, also songwriters, played by Connor Bezeredi and Brianna Rae Quinn. Both provide much of the comedy in the show and deliver some great numbers such as “Happy Days Are Here Again,” “Who Put the Bomp,” “He’s Sure the Boy I Love,” and “Walking In the Rain.” Bezeredi delivers an endearing portrayal of Mann, showing comic frustration at Carole and Gerry always stealing their number one hits. Quinn is a strong actress with a good singing voice and delivers a layered portrayal of Cynthia.
The only problem with Quinn was that she didn’t fill the large hall enough with her dialogue. Even though she had a microphone, many of her lines were lost because they just didn’t have enough oomph. A microphone doesn’t make you louder, it just amplifies what you put into it.
The rest of this large cast is professional in every way. Maureen Collins is always a safe choice, as here as Genie Klein (King’s mother). She makes a rare appearance, but she makes them memorable. Many pop in and out of various roles: Shawn Lockaton was entertaining as Neil Sedaka and one-half of the Righteous Brothers. John Cox is central as music publisher Don Kirshner, bringing lightness and humor to a character who could get lost in the crowd. Cox makes him stand out, and you wait for his next appearance.
James Major Burns, Logan-Lee Edwards, Joshua William Green and Christian “CJ” Hall, who make up the Drifters, were a huge hit, as were Arielle Green-Hall, Reia Frost, Nikita R. Jones and Mikayla Moore as the Shirelles and Lockaton along with Khaled Tabbara as the Righteous Brothers and a crowd-pleasing performance of “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling.” Reia Frost, as Little Eva, also had the crowd cheering with “The Locomotion.” Add to that a strong ensemble with great choreography and you have a Broadway show.
The cast wasn’t the only thing to see though. A fantastic set acquired from the Walnut Street Theatre makes the entire production shine. Lights, lights and more lights with numerous flying parts flying in and out. Being a multi-level set, it provided the opportunity for creative staging during the musical numbers. It is a feast for the eyes. The lighting design by Ellen Licitra is perhaps the best she has ever done and she did a great job. The costume design by Brian Palumbo was time period appropriate and colorful. The choreography by Megan Cleland was perfect, especially on The Drifters and The Shirelles, and suited that style and time period.
Stage managers don’t often appear in reviews, but production manager Isa Foltz and her assistant Caitlyn Santiago deserve high praise for lightning-fast scene changes that went as smoothly as melted butter. Speaking of choreography, these were perfectly choreographed.
Since this is the 100th season, it was fitting that many former Playhouse actors returned to perform in this production. It was great to see these faces back on a Youngstown stage.
This production was a great homecoming for Michael J. Moritz Jr., who produced the original Broadway production and appears here in that capacity, in addition to serving as musical director. Directed by John Holt, this was the largest Playhouse production ever attempted, and this show is Mike Moritz’s signature through and through. You can tell this is his baby and he brought all the glitz and glamour of New York to Youngstown.
If you don’t have tickets yet, get some. This is a historic year for the Youngstown Playhouse and this is a historic production.
“Beautiful – The Carole King Musical” continues August 24th at 7:30 p.m. August 25th at 2:30 p.m.
Pictured above: Maureen Collins and Brooke May in a scene from the Youngstown Playhouse production of “Beautiful: The Carole King Story.”
Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
