The production opened to strong critical notices Jan. 12, and is the first new musical of the 2013-14 season to recoup. The production garnered a Best Actress Tony Award for leading lady Jessie Mueller, who earned acclaim for her performance as King. The musical, which has played to full houses, grossed $1,300,961 for the week ending Sept. 14.
Representatives for the musical confirmed to Playbill.com that Mueller has extended her contract with the production through March 2015.
"Beautiful has become a bonafide phenomenon and we couldn’t be more pleased and proud," producer Paul Blake said in a statement.
In recent weeks producers also announced that a London production and U.S. tour will launch in 2015. The London production will begin performances Feb. 10, 2015, in the West End at the Aldwych Theatre, towards a Feb. 25 opening night.
A U.S. tour will launch Sept. 15-20, 2015, at the Providence Performing Arts Center (PPAC) in Providence, RI, followed by a 12-week limited engagement at the Oriental Theatre in Chicago, IL (Dec. 1-Feb. 21, 2016), with stops planned at the Hollywood Pantages in Los Angeles, CA; DPAC, Durham Performing Arts Center in Durham, NC, in October 2015; and Blumenthal Performing Arts Center in Charlotte, NC, among other cities to be announced.
Beautiful features a book by Academy Award nominee Douglas McGrath, who collaborated with Woody Allen on the screenplay for "Bullets Over Broadway." He also penned "Infamous" and "Emma."
Marc Bruni (Pipe Dream, Ordinary Days, Old Jews Telling Jokes) stages the production with choreography by Josh Prince and musical direction by Jason Howland.
Here's how the creators bill the musical: "Long before she was Carole King, chart-topping music legend, she was Carol Klein, Brooklyn girl with passion and chutzpah. She fought her way into the record business as a teenager and, by the time she reached her twenties, had the husband of her dreams and a flourishing career writing hits for the biggest acts in rock 'n' roll. But it wasn't until her personal life began to crack that she finally managed to find her true voice. Beautiful tells the inspiring true story of King's remarkable rise to stardom, from being part of a hit songwriting team with her husband Gerry Goffin, to her relationship with fellow writers and best friends Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann, to becoming one of the most successful solo acts in popular music history. Along the way, she made more than beautiful music, she wrote the soundtrack to a generation."
Beautiful is produced by Paul Blake, Sony/ATV Music Publishing, Jeffrey A. Sine, Richard A. Smith, Mike Bosner, Harriet N. Leve/Elaine Krauss, Terry Schnuck, Orin Wolf, Patty Baker/Good Productions, Roger Faxon, Larry Magid, Kit Seidel, Lawrence S. Toppall, Fakston Productions/Mary Solomon, William Court Cohen, John Gore, BarLor Productions, Matthew C. Blank, Tim Hogue, Joel Hyatt, Marianne Mills, Michael J. Moritz, Jr., StylesFour Productions, Brunish/Trinchero, and Jeremiah J. Harris.
Visit beautifulonbroadway.com.
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