Life and songs of Carole King coming to county stage
Carole King's rise to stardom, and a host of unforgettable classics, will be celebrated on a county stage later this year.
Shrewsbury Musical Theatre Company (SMTC) is busy rehearsing for its next production – Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.
The group will be putting on four performances of the show at Theatre Severn in Shrewsbury from Thursday, June 13, to Saturday, June 15.
The musical tells the inspirational story of King's rise to stardom, charting the ups and downs that saw her go from one half of a hit song-writing duo to one of the biggest singer-songwriters in history.
Audiences can look forward to a stream of unforgettable classics including 'You've Got a Friend', 'One Fine Day', 'So Far Away', 'Take Good Care of My Baby', 'Up on the Roof', 'You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling', 'Will You Love Me Tomorrow', and 'Natural Woman'.
Crayg Wellbeloved, a member of SMTC for ten years, is directing the production, his first time in charge of a show for the company. He is accompanied by musical direction from Brandon Corfield.
The talented cast are currently five weeks into rehearsals and Crayg said they were excited about sharing an emotional and inspirational story – packed with classic songs.
He said: "I think over her career Carole King wrote more than 180 songs for other groups and herself, and all her biggest numbers are in here for people to bop along to.
"These are songs she wrote about her life so they fit well into a moving story and how she found strength after being treated quite badly by her first husband.
"You get to see the emotions, the events behind the songs, and why she wrote them."
Crayg said he was delighted to be directing his first show, adding that the cast were "so good" that it was making his job easy.
The title role of Carole King is being played by Amelia Wildmore-Evans, with Nathanael Hodgkiss playing the star's first husband, Gerry Goffin.
Playing their best friends and songwriting rivals Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil are Scott Sutherland and Jess Knowles, while leading the iconic groups The Shirelles and The Drifters are professional soloists BeeBee Bassey and Raphael Tate.
For tickets and details of showings visit https://www.theatresevern.co.uk/shows/whatson/beautiful-the-carole-king-musical.
