Beautiful, which begins with King's Brooklyn roots and traces her rise to stardom with the recording of the "Tapestry" album, premiered on Broadway Nov. 21, 2013, at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre and opened to strong critical notices Jan. 12.
A London production, which Playbill.com previously reported, will begin performances Feb. 10, 2015, in the West End at London's 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 Oct. 2015; and Blumenthal Performing Arts Center in Charlotte, NC, among other cities to be announced.
Casting has not been announced; however, a recent report indicated that Beautiful's Tony Award-winning star Jessie Mueller may headline the national tour. 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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