This past Sunday was my day off which meant I finally had a day off with my roommates! I woke up and my roommate Kourtney said she had just bought a ticket to see the national tour of Beautiful for the evening. So I hopped on my laptop and bought a ticket as well.
We decided to walk to the show because it was only 15 minutes away. Needless to say it was freezing and we dodged a few creeps along the way, but we got there with plenty of time to spare. I bought a water and a peanut butter cookie and we took our seats. Kourtney was in the same seat as me but in the row in front of me because we bought our tickets separately (and last minute/cheap). We were really high up, but we were both extremely excited to see some awesome theatre anyway.
Going in I knew nothing about the show (or Carole King's life- however you want to see it). I didn't even know any of her songs. But I still enjoyed the show quite a bit!
The show reminded me a lot of Bandstand-just without the swing dancing, PTSD, Corey Cott, and Laura Osnes. A man and a woman trying to write music and get a number one hit.
The show was in the jukebox style (which threw me back to my days working on All Shook Up) which Kourtney and I agreed we were not the biggest fans of. There were quite a few extremely short scenes which headed into a song that didn't advance the plot in the slightest. It worked in a sense because they were singing the songs Carole King was writing but it still frustrated me. However, at least the ensemble members were slaying regardless of whether or not it helped advance the plot.
I was also extremely frustrated with Gerry's character in general. The amount of times I wanted Carol to hit him was more than I care to admit. I also really wanted Carol and Cynthia to team up and co-write songs after they both got frustrated in their relationships. I was like YES THESE TWO FIERCE FEMALES ARE GOING TO LEAVE THEIR MEN AND KICK SOME BUTT. But alas, that didn't happen.
However, one thing I absolutely loved about the show was the automation. At first I thought the piano's were on a slip stage, but after they started rotating/spinning I realized it was most likely automation. AND IT WAS INCREDIBLE. I really want to know the specifics of how it works/and about calling automation in general so if anyone reading knows more about this please let me know.
They also had the collections buckets out at the door for Broadway Cares, which I frankly think every theatre should do regardless or not if they are an equity house. Are there rules on which theatres can do this?
Anyways, despite my critiques, it was a beautiful night at the theatre and I loved getting out with my roommate. After a long day working a fundraiser with 160 kids the day before, it was a nice reminder of why we do what we do. We are planning on going to see most of the national tours coming through that space and I am already looking forward to it!
As always much love,
Chelsea ❤️