Katie Brayben will play the title role in the West End production of Beautiful – The Carole King Musical opening at the Aldwych Theatre in February next year
Alan Morrissey will play King’s husband and song-writing partner Gerry Goffin, with Lorna Want as song-writer Cynthia Weil,Glynis Barber as Genie Klein, King’s mother, and Gary Trainor as music publisher and producer Don Kirshner. London previews beginning on 10 February 2015 and with the show currently booking to 13 June 2015. Press night will now take place on 24 February at 7pm. Final casting will be announced shortly.
Beautiful – The Carole King Musical, is based on the early life and career of legendary singer/songwriter Carole King. Beautiful has book by Douglas McGrath with words and music by Gerry Goffin, Carole King, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil and is directed by Marc Bruni. Choreography is by Josh Prince with set designs by Derek McLane, costume designs by Alejo Viettii, lighting by Peter Kaczorowski and sound by Brian Ronan. Orchestrations and Music Arrangements are by Steve Sidwell. Beautiful – The Carole King Musical will be produced in London by Paul Blake and Sony/ATV Music Publishing.
Beautiful – The Carole King Musical is the untold story of her journey from school girl to superstar; from her relationship with husband and song-writing partner Gerry Goffin, their close friendship and playful rivalry with fellow song-writing duo Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, to her remarkable rise to stardom. Along the way, she became one of the most successful solo acts in music history, and wrote the soundtrack to a generation.
Singer-songwriter Katie Brayben will play the title role of Carole King. She is currently playing Princess Diana in King Charles III at the Wyndham’s Theatre and previously was seen in American Psycho: A new musical thriller at the Almeida Theatre. Her other theatre credits include Joking Apart for Nottingham Playhouse, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Ragtime for Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, 13 for the National Theatre, Company for Southwark Playhouse, Return to the Forbidden Planet on tour in the UK and Mamma Mia! both in the West End and on tour internationally. The screen credits include Vera and This Way Out.
Glynis Barber returns to the West End stage to play Genie Klein, Carole King’s mother. On television she is best known for playing Harriet Makepeace in Dempsey and Makepeace and Soolin in Blake’s Seven. Her more recent television credits include Glenda Mitchell in EastEnders, Jean McAtter in The Royal, Belinda in Family Affairs and Grace Barrowclough in Emmerdale. Her other television credits include Visitors, Lucky Jim, The History of Mr Polly and Turkish Delight/Popcorn. On film her credits include Point of Break, The Edge of Tomorrow, On The Nose, Deja vu, The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Wicked Lady. Her previous theatre credits include Love Letters for Dundee Rep, Season’s Greetings on tour, Separate Tables and Make Me A Match for the Mill at Sonning, the national tour of The Graduate, And Then There Were None at the Duke of York’s Theatre, Once in a Lifetime for the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Piccadilly Theatre and A Murder is Announced at the Vaudeville Theatre.
Alan Morrissey was last on stage in I Can’t Sing at the London Palladium. His work for the Royal Shakespeare Company includes Twelfth Night and As You Like It. For Shakespeare’s Globe he toured in Romeo and Juliet. His screen credits include Nick Van Barr in Holby City as well as appearances in Doctors, Endeavour and The League of Gentlemen: Apocalypse.
Lorna Want has most recently played Winnie in Annie Get Your Gun on tour in the UK. Her West End credits include Footloose, Evita, Parade, The Fantasticks and Dreamboats and Petticoats. Her regional theatre credits include Robin Hood for the Cambridge Arts Theatre, Peter Pan at the Manchester Opera House and Les Miserables at the Birmingham Hippodrome.
Gary Trainor’s theatre credits include Potted Potter at the Garrick Theatre and on tour in the US and Australia, The Shawshank Redemption at Wyndham’s Theatre, The Old Vic New Voices 24 Hour Plays, Into The Woods at theLandor Theatre, Jago at the Pleasance Theatre in Edinburgh and Prophecy at the Public Theatre in New York. He has also toured the UK in Buddy, Frankenstein: The Year Without a Summer, Stones in His Pockets and The Oxford Passion.
With a cast of 26 and an orchestra of 12, Beautiful – The Carole King Musical features the Carole King classics including So Far Away, It Might As Well Rain Until September, Take Good Care of my Baby, Will You Love Me Tomorrow, Up on the Roof, Locomotion, One Fine Day, You’ve Got a Friend, (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman and I Feel the Earth Move, along with hits like You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling, On Broadway and Uptown from songwriters Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil.
Multi award-winning Carole King fought her way into the record industry as a teenager and sold her first hit, Will You Love Me Tomorrow, when she was just seventeen. By the time she was twenty she was writing number ones for the biggest acts in rock ‘n’ roll, including The Drifters, The Shirelles, Aretha Franklin and The Monkees. In a first for a female singer/songwriter, King’s album Tapestry won all three of the 1971 key Grammy Awards—record, song and album of the year. The same year King also won the Grammy for Best Female Vocalist. With more than 25 million records sold, Tapestry remained the best-selling album by a female artist for a quarter of a century. More than 400 of her compositions have been recorded by over 1,000 artists, resulting in 100 hit singles and 6 Grammy awards.
The two-time Tony award-winningBeautiful – The Carole King Musical continues at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre on Broadway where it opened on 12 January this year and has subsequently become one of Broadway’s top selling shows, playing to capacity houses. A US tour will commence in September 2015 in Rhode Island. The original Broadway cast recording of Beautiful – The Carole King Musical is available on Ghostlight Records via www.beautifulonbroadway.com/look-listen/musicROD LEMMOND (Associate Scenic Design)
Rod Lemmond has been Senior Designer and Partner at David Korins Design since its inception. He has been the Lead Associate on more than 200 shows and projects over the past 10 years. His Broadway credits include Annie, Chinglish, An Evening with Patti LuPone & Mandy Patinkin, Magic/Bird, Godspell, The Pee-Wee Herman Show, Lombardi, Passing Strange and Bridge and Tunnel. Rod has also worked extensively both off-Broadway and regionally and on TV, commercial & film projects around the country. Rod is a fourth generation craftsmen and woodworker. His knowledge of construction, furniture and its design has been a major contribution to the many projects produced by David Korins Design. Rod holds a Masters of Fine Arts from New York University/Tisch School of the Arts with a concentration in design for Theater and Film.
ESOSA (Costume Design)
Broadway: Porgy and Bess (Tony Award nomination), Topdog / Underdog. Off-Broadway: Second Stage: Water by the Spoonful; By the Way, Meet Vera Stark (Lucille Lortel Award); Trust; Crowns. MCC: Break of Noon (Geffen Playhouse). Delacorte: The Capeman. Public Theater: Juan and John, Father Comes Home from the Wars, Romeo and Juliet. NYTW: The Misanthrope, All That I Will Ever Be. Regional: La Jolla/Center Theatre Group: American Night; Arena Stage: Ruined, Cuttin’ Up, Senor Discretion Himself (Helen Hayes Award nominee); Alliance: Twist; Pasadena Playhouse: Twist (2011 Ovation Award); A.R.T.: Best of Both Worlds; Geva Theatre: Fences; Berkeley Rep: The Blue Door; Bay Street Theatre: Big Maybelle: Queen of the Blues; Turandot: The Rumble for the Ring; Ain’t Misbehavin’; Centerstage: Once on This Island, Gleam; Williamstown Theatre Festival: Whaddabloodclot!!!; Denver Center Theatre Co.: Sense & Sensibility The Musical (upcoming). www.esosadesign.com
NATASHA KATZ (Lighting Design)
has designed extensively for theater, opera, and dance. Recent Broadway credits: Once (Tony Award®), Follies, Sister Act, Elf, The Addams Family, The Little Mermaid, The Coast of Utopia: Salvage (Tony Award), A Chorus Line (revival), Spelling Bee, Tarzan, Aida (Tony Award) and Beauty and the Beast. Other designs include Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Royal Ballet), Buried Child (National Theatre, London), Cyrano (The Met), Carnival of the Animals (NYCB), Don Quixote (ABT); EFX! (Las Vegas). She has worked extensively Off-Broadway including Altar Boyz and The Normal Heart. Her many regional credits include work at: The Mark Taper Forum, Trinity Rep, ART, Dallas Theatre Center, Spoleto, Alliance and Seattle Rep. Opera/dance: NYC Ballet, London Royal Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, San Francisco Ballet, Philadelphia Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, Edinburgh Festival, Metropolitan Opera, and The NYC Opera. Concert acts: Shirley MacLaine, Ann-Margret and Tommy Tune. Las Vegas: EFX! Permanent lighting installations: Niketown NYC and London and the Big Bang at the Museum of Natural History in NYC.
PETER HYLENSKI (Sound Design)
Grammy, Tony and Olivier Award nominated. Selected Broadway designs include: Shrek the Musical (New York, US Tour, London), Rock of Ages (New York, London, Toronto, Australia, US Tour, Las Vegas), The Scottsboro Boys, Lend Me A Tenor, Elf, Wonderland, Cry Baby, The Times They Are A-Changin’, The Wedding Singer, Sweet Charity, Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me, Little Women, Brooklyn. Other credits: Le Reve at Wynn Las Vegas, Ragtime (London), Rocky das Musical (Hamburg), How To Train Your Dragon, Walking with Dinosaurs, Mame, Opening Doors, Annie. Architectural projects include 54 Below, the Plaza Hotel (New York City), Lake of Dreams at Wynn (Las Vegas), Chicago Auditorium Theater, Big Bang Theatre at the American Museum of Natural History. Peter is also a producer and engineer for film, album and television projects. He holds a BFA from Carnegie Mellon University.
TELSEY + COMPANY (Casting)
Broadway/Tours: If/Then, The Bridges of Madison County, All the Way, Kinky Boots, Newsies, Rock of Ages, Wicked, Evita, Porgy and Bess, Sister Act, Million Dollar Quartet. Off-Broadway: Atlantic, MCC, Signature. Regional: A.R.T., Dallas Theater Center, Goodman, La Jolla, Paper Mill, Signature. Film: Into the Woods, The Last Five Years,The Odd Life of Timothy Green, Friends with Kids, Margin Call, Sex and the City 1 & 2. TV: “Masters of Sex,” “The Sound of Music Live!,” “Smash,” “The Big C,” commercials. www.telseyandco.com
CHARLES G. LAPOINTE (Hair & Wig Design)
Broadway: Clybourne Park, Newsies, The Columnist, Magic/Bird, Bonnie and Clyde, The Mountaintop, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Merchant of Venice, Memphis, Henry IV, The Rivals, Cymbeline, Lombardi, Fences, Looped, Miracle Worker, Superior Donuts, 33 Variations, Guys and Dolls, In the Heights, Jersey Boys, The Color Purple, Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me, Good Vibrations, The Apple Tree, A Raisin in the Sun, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Lieutenant of Inishmoor, Radio Golf, Sight Unseen, High Fidelity, Xanadu, and Bring it On.
BRYAN CROOK (Co-Orchestrator/Additional Arranger)
is a producer, composer, arranger and multi-instrumentalist for Broadway, TV and films. He is an executive producer of Special Guest Music Productions. In addition to playing woodwinds for The Book of Mormon on Broadway, his recent work can be heard on Ice Age 4 (FOX), “Smash” (NBC), The 2011 Billboard Music Awards and The 2011 Emmy Awards. Other show credits include Rock of Ages, Billy Elliot, Mamma Mia!, West Side Story, Legally Blonde and Spelling Bee. His most important credits, however, are as a husband to Hilary and father to Liam, Ethan, and mystery baby #3.
ZANE MARK (Dance Arranger)
Broadway: Leap of Faith, All Shook Up, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Never Gonna Dance, The Full Monty, Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk (Tony and Grammy nomination) Bubblin’ Brown Sugar and The Wiz. Off-Broadway/Regional: Pippin, Frog Kiss, Crowns, The Brother Sister Plays, Ray Charles Live, Imagine Tap, Radiant Baby, George Wolfe’s Harlem Song (Audelco Award), Thunder Knocking On The Door, Insurrection, and Betsy Brown. Film: The Dancer Chronicles, Lackawanna Blues, Frances Ford Coppola’s The Cotton Club.
JOSEPH JOUBERT (Music Director/Conductor)
Credits as orchestrator, arranger, conductor, producer, musical director include Broadway’s Nice Work If You Can Get It, Leap of Faith; Caroline or Change; The Color Purple; Billy Elliot. Off-Broadway: Violet, Three Mo’ Tenors; Three Mo’ Divas. TV: “We Shall Not Be Moved;” “Macy’s Fireworks 2010.” Film: Nights in Rodanthe. Recording: Fantasia’s “I’m Here;” Century Men’s Beautiful Star; Total Praise, Broadway Inspirational Voices’ Great Joy. Accompanist/arrangements include Patti Labelle, Ashford & Simpson, Diana Ross, George Benson, and Kathleen Battle (White House and Carnegie Hall). Grammy, Emmy and Drama Desk Award nominee.
LISTINGS INFORMATION
Theatre: Aldwych Theatre, Aldwych, London WC2B 4DF
Dates: from 10 February 2015, booking to 13 June 2015
Press Night: 24 February 2015 at 7pm
Performances: Monday – Saturday 7.30pm, Thursday & Saturday matinees 2.30pm
Prices: performances up to 26 February 2015 £15 – £57.50
performances from 27 February 2015
Monday to Thursday performances £15 – £67.50
Friday and Saturday performances £15 – £69.50
No booking fees, all ticket prices include a £1.25 restoration levy
Box Office: 0845 200 7981
Website: www.beautifulinlondon.co.uk
