The Pittsburgh CLO returned for their 80th summer season this week with a musical destined to be a hit — because it’s already filled with classic songs.
“Beautiful: The Carole King Musical” is a jukebox musical, meaning that it’s a show populated with songs that already existed and were popularized by an artist or producer. In the case of “Beautiful,” the audience is treated to a bop through the catalog of prolific singer-songwriter Carole King.
This is what I like to call “the good kind of jukebox musical” — one that functions essentially as an in-person biopic, telling the star’s story with the aid of their impactful songs. Much like “Jersey Boys,” less like “Mamma Mia!” With a book by Douglas McGrath, the musical premiered on Broadway in 2014 and was nominated for seven Tony Awards, netting two.
The CLO production runs through Sunday at the Benedum Center in Downtown Pittsburgh.
Whisking the audience back to the late 1950s, the show introduces 16-year-old Carole (Kyra Kennedy) as she ventures off to sell the songs she wrote. Kennedy matches King’s songs beautifully with the rich tone of her voice, and she is also amazing at injecting emotion into her vocal performances. In the process of coming up in the songwriting world, she meets music executive Don Kirshner (J. Alex Noble), friends and fellow songwriters Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann (Lee Harrington and Barrett Riggins) and her own writing partner who became her husband, Gerry Goffin (Dylan S. Wallach).
While the musical’s first half can often feel a little Disney-fied, with convenient coincidences and winky references to famous pop culture, there’s emotional heft to Act Two that often stems from Wallach’s manic and engrossing performance. Harrington and Riggins are the underrated stars of the show, with Riggins especially providing the show’s best one-liners and several soulful vocal turns.
The show absolutely packs in the tunes, from hits that King penned for other acts to a selection of songs from her legendary 1971 album “Tapestry.” In perfect glitzy gowns and suits, actors played groups including The Drifters and The Shirelles as they sing and dance to “Up on the Roof” and “Will You Love Me Tomorrow.” Costume designer Mary Folino made a perfect fit of prim dresses, shiny suits and even the more hippie-inspired looks of the late ’60s and early ’70s as the years pass in the show’s narrative.
Scenic designer Derek McLane put together high-quality sets that were both vibrant and lived-in, especially with the help of lighting design from Paul Miller and Jonathan Spencer. Music director Catie Brown directed the top-notch PCLO Orchestra through sweeping and dramatic orchestrations of these timeless pop songs, especially through a charming medley towards the show’s start.
Director and choreographer Dan Knechtges impressed with the different layers of performance in the show, and he handles both astutely. The musical numbers are flashy and well-choreographed for the time period in which they take place, and the larger story packs a punch in between. While the book has its weaknesses — for the first half, the plot can often seem perfunctory and only in service of getting to the next song — Knechtges’ direction goes a long way to keeping things on pace.
With all its other advantages, “Beautiful” also has another platinum-selling one: the nostalgia factor. From “You’ve Got a Friend” and “It’s Too Late” to “On Broadway” and “The Locomotion,” this show is jammed with omnipresent timeless tunes that got Wednesday night’s audience singing along. A post-curtain-call sing-along of “I Feel the Earth Move” ends the performance on a perfect note.
Pittsburgh CLO’s “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical” runs through June 28 at the Benedum Center in Downtown Pittsburgh. For tickets and more information, visit pittsburghclo.org.