Jesse Mueller Beautiful on Broadway - H 2014
Photo Joan MarcusThe high notes of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical are set to soar beyond Broadway as the production will start its London run and U.S. tour.
According to the Associated Press, a West End production of the Tony-nominated show will begin previews on Feb. 10 at the Aldwych Theatre. A U.S. tour will kick off in September 2015 at the Providence Performing Arts Center in Rhode Island, followed by a 12-week run at Chicago’s Oriental Theatre as well as dates at the Pantages in Hollywood and in Durham, N.C., and Charlotte, N.C. Other engagements are also planned.
The Broadway musical stars Jessie Mueller, who won the Tony for her portrayal of the iconic singer-songwriter. Written by Douglas McGrath and directed by Marc Bruni, Beautiful depicts the emergence in the 1960s of Carole King and Gerry Goffin as a legendary pop songwriting team alongside their best friends and fellow tunesmiths Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. While the Broadway biomusical was developed with King’s full cooperation and endorsement, the singer-songwriter previously said in interviews before it opened in January that she had no plans to see it, finding the prospect of reliving her early years and her turbulent marriage to Goffin too painful.
She came around after watching the production. “I learned a lot of new things about myself from watching Jessie portray me. At that age, I had no idea of who I was or what was good about me or what was not good about me. I’ve sort of learned that over the years, but to see that with such clarity …” King reflected at the Tonys following Mueller’s win.
“Jessie found all this on her own, and what she portrays is so true, it’s so true for me. We were saying to each other that we’ve given each other a gift. … I think it’s such a gift to see myself as the woman I was then and actually like myself.”
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