Beautiful, the Carole King musical
The story of Carole King is quite a story. A fresh-faced 16 year-old who sold a song, married, established herself as one half of a song-writing duo, and years later found herself performing her own music. There’s more to it than that, but I don’t want to ruin the story for when you go and see Beautiful, the Carole King Musical. Because that’s something you really need to do. The soundtrack to this musical is pure brilliance. As the posters proclaim, it contains ‘hit after hit’, and is basically a catalogue of many of the most-loved songs of the 60s and 70s. My aunt and uncle described it as their ‘soundtrack to growing up’. And I, even though I wasn’t born until 1992 so definitely missed out on this era, recognised a good 80% of the songs. I guess that alone says something for the enduring appeal of King’s music. As well as being a fascinating and inspiring story, the musical is excellently put together. The set was relatively simple, with the small piano gliding on and off...