Beautiful – The Carole King Musical has set its closing date and will have its final performance on October 27th at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre.
By its final performance, the musical (which follows the success and career of singer-songwriter Carole King) will have played for 2,418 performances after having 60 preview performances. Jessie Mueller’s portrayal of the titular artist earned her the 2014 Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical. Vanessa Carlton (yes from that song from White Chicks) is currently playing Carole in a limited run that ends on September 1st.
The producers of the show, Paul Blake and Mike Bosner, described their run on Broadway as “remarkable”. They went on to say that the regional and international performances will serve as a tribute to the “…Incredible artists involved, from the inimitable Carole King, and Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, to Douglas McGrath and Marc Bruni, our entire design team, and every single cast member who has lent their talent to our productions”. They concluded their statement with a warm and loving recognition of the entire team at Beautiful in saying “There is no way to adequately express our awe or gratitude for every single person in our Beautiful family.”
The musical has a book by Tony and Academy Award Nominee, with direction by Marc Bruni and choreography by Josh Prince. The music of the show was written by the teams of Gerry Goffin/Carole King and Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil.
While on Broadway, Beautiful has enjoyed seven Tony Award nominations, two Tony Wins (Mueller for her performance, and Brian Ronan for sound design), and a Grammy win for Best Musical Theatre Album. Audiences have enjoyed performances from actors like Jessie Mueller, Anika Larsen, TyNia Brandon, Kara Lindsay, Jessica Keenan-Wynn and many more.
The current cast has 2 Broadway Black Broadway Debuts, Alex Hairston and Gabrielle Elisabeth. So to quote Oprah, “Hello, let’s celebrate that”.
With the American tour entering its fifth year, and a film adaptation announced, Beautiful’s closing on Broadway is by no means the end of Carole King’s story being told. So if you aren’t able to see the show while it’s on Broadway (which I recommend doing), you can still experience everything the show has to offer.
