17 – 26 March

Brand-new staging of BEAUTIFUL – THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL tours to Bath’s Theatre Royal directed by Nikolai Foster

A new stage production of Beautiful – The Carole King Musical appears at Bath’s Theatre Royal from Thursday 17^th to Saturday 26^th March as part of a nationwide tour, directed by Nikolai Foster, whose recent credits include acclaimed five-star productions of A Chorus Line and West Side Story.

Beautiful tells the inspiring story of Carole King’s rise to stardom, from being part of a hit song-writing team with her husband Gerry Goffin, to working with fellow writers and best friends Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann, before becoming one of the most successful solo acts in popular music history. Based on the story of King’s remarkable rise from singer/songwriter to chart-topping music legend, this stage production takes audiences to the heart of her landmark 1971 album Tapestry and features a host of classic songs including (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman, Take Good Care Of My Baby, The Locomotion, You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’, Up On The Roof, You’ve Got A Friend and I Feel The Earth Move.

The company of talented actor-musicians starring in the new staging of Beautiful – The Carole King Musical is led by Molly-Grace Cutler (The Worst Witch, Girls Don’t Play Guitars, We’ll Live And Die In These Towns) as Carole King. Tom Milner (Holby City, Waterloo Road) plays Gerry Goffin, Carole’s former husband and collaborator. Seren Sandham-Davies (Crazy For You, Brassed Off) and Jos Slovick, who performed in the original West End production of Once, appear as the husband and wife song-writing duo Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann.

Garry Robson plays music producer and talent manager Don Kirshner. Claire Greenway, who originated the role of Sister Mary Patrick in Sister Act at the London Palladium, will play Carole’s mother Genie Klein, and Dan-De-Cruz is the production’s on-stage Musical Director. The cast also features Naomi Alade, Kemi Clarke, Chris Coxon, Amena El-Kindy, Louise Francis, Dylan Gordon-Jones, Jessica Jolleys, Sorrel Jordan, Myles Miller, Peter Mooney, Adrien Spencer and Kevin Yates.

The musical is directed by Curve’s Artistic Director Nikolai Foster, whose recent credits include acclaimed five-star productions of A Chorus Line, West Side Story and 2020’s streamed production of Sunset Boulevard – at Home.

Beautiful – The Carole King Musical is written by Douglas McGrath, with songs by Carole King, Gerry Goffin, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. Carole King’s music is brought to life by Grammy Award-winning orchestrator Steve Sidwell and adapted by Tony Award-winning Curve associate and musical supervisor Sarah Travis with choreography by Leah Hill.

Douglas McGrath’s book for Beautiful was nominated for the Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards. A filmmaker and playwright, his films include the Oscar-winning Emma, Nicholas Nickleby and Infamous; the documentaries His Way and the Emmy Award-nominated Becoming Mike Nichols; and the screenplay for the Oscar Award-nominated Bullets Over Broadway. For theatre, he has also written Checkers and The Age Of Innocence.

Theatre Royal Bath Productions and Mayflower Theatre Southampton present Curve’s production of Beautiful – The Carole King Musical which opened at Leicester Curve appearing from 28^th February to 12^th March before touring to the Theatre Royal Bath followed by Brighton, Edinburgh, Southampton, Newcastle, Dartford, Malvern, Cambridge, Cardiff, Birmingham, Sheffield, Nottingham and Manchester.

Curve’s Chief Executive Chris Stafford and Artistic Director Nikolai Foster said:

“Carole King’s body of work speaks for itself and it is an honour to work on a show which celebrates some of the greatest pop songs ever written and the extraordinary life of the woman who has provided the soundtrack to our lives across the decades.”

“In Molly-Grace Cutler, we have the perfect actor to lead our production and embody the spirit of King’s supreme artistry. Molly leads a phenomenal company of actor-musicians, who will recreate all the hits live onstage, under the supreme musical talents of Grammy winner Steve Sidwell and Tony winner Sarah Travis.”

Pop music would be very different without Carole King, who at age 17 wrote her first number one hit with Gerry Goffin, Will You Love Me Tomorrow, for The Shirelles. The dozens of chart hits Goffin and King wrote became legendary, with number one hits for acts including The Drifters, Aretha Franklin and The Monkees. 1971’s Tapestry took King to the pinnacle, speaking personally to her contemporaries and providing a spiritual musical backdrop to the decade. More than 400 of her compositions have been recorded by over 1,000 artists, resulting in 100 hit singles and six Grammys. In 2021, Carole King was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for a second time, becoming the first person to be inducted separately as both a songwriter (1990) and a performing artist (2021).

Beautiful – The Carole King Musical appears at the Theatre Royal Bath from Thursday 17^th to Saturday 26^th March. To purchase tickets contact the Theatre Royal Bath Box Office on 01225 448844 or book online at www.theatreroyal.org.uk

Photo credit:  Ellie Kurttz