PicksInSix Review: Beautiful: The Carole King Musical - Drury Lane Theatre

“You’re beautiful as you feel.” 
PicksInSix® Review | Guest Contributor | Kaitlyn Linsner

“Beautiful: The Carole King Musical,” an entertaining journey through Carole King’s life, is now playing at Drury Lane Theatre through March 23. Featuring a book by Douglas McGrath and lyrics and music by Carole King, Gerry Goffin, Barry Mann and Cynthia Well, this musical is particularly special and nostalgic for those who grew up listening to the music from the 60s and 70s. 

The show begins with brilliant, 16-year-old Carole (Samantha Gershman) selling her first original song to Donny Kirshner (Michael Lawrence Brown) at the Brill Building in Manhattan. From there, she meets her husband Gerry Goffin (Alex Benoit), who writes the lyrics to her compositions, and the two of them generate hit after hit while their good friends and competitors Cynthia Weil (Alexandra Palkovic) and Barry Mann (Andrew MacNaughton) work across the hall trying to keep up. Carole faces difficult personal struggles as a young mother in the music industry and being married to an absent, unfaithful husband yet she still rises to fame all culminating with her widely successful second studio album Tapestry. 

Directed by Jane Lanier with musical director Carolyn Brady and choreographer Gerry McIntyre, “Beautiful” is an inspiring story, and a delightful behind-the-scenes look at how the music industry worked back when performers often did not write their own songs. While the plot lacks the depth to really explore the relational complexities of Carole’s young life in particular, there is such fun in learning about the origin stories of so many beloved songs. Plus, the talented cast elevates the musical with strong vocal performances throughout.

Gershman shines as Carole bringing such warmth to her heartfelt and earnest performance. She sings beautifully, doing especially well to capture the soft, sultry tones of Carole’s voice. Her performance of “(You Make Me Feel) A Natural Woman” is a top highlight of the show. 

Other highlights include The Drifters’ (Averis Anderson, Makenzy Jenkins, Austin Nelson Jr., Michael Turrentine) flawless and ebullient performance of “On Broadway” and “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” by The Shirelles (Lydia Burke, Raeven Carroll, Allanna Lovely, Chamaya Moody). Palkovic and MacNaughton have such chemistry on stage with MacNaughton bringing a bit of delightful camp to his performance as Mann.

Packed with great music from start to finish, “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical” is a lovely celebration of one of the most successful songwriters in American history. A good choice for all music lovers. 

GUEST CONTRIBUTROR | Kaitlyn Linsner serves as an Assistant Attorney General in the Public Utilities Bureau of the Office of the Illinois Attorney General.

PHOTO | Brett Beiner

Beautiful
The Carole King Musical
Drury Lane Theatre
Oak Brook
through March 23, 2025

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PicksInSix Review: The Secret Garden - Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre

Outstanding Performances Seed Theo’s ‘Secret Garden’
PicksInSix® Review | Guest Contributor | Ronald Keaton

It’s a famous children’s story that ends up, in this reincarnation, being the most adult tale in the room—and it works in both realms.  The Francis Hodgson Burnett 1911 novel “The Secret Garden,” presented by the always ambitious Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre as its annual holiday offering through December 22, tells the tale of Mary Lennox, a girl doing her best to stifle her grief through her own entitlement, while simultaneously searching for her self-worth at a Yorkshire estate full of colorful gardens, one of which is locked away, kept in secret, while also holding surprises of its own.

Mary (a complicated role in this guise that Joryhebel Ginorio handles with great aplomb and intelligence) is orphaned because of a cholera pandemic in India that took the lives of her parents and her guardian. She has been sent to England to live with her uncle, Archibald Craven (Will Koski offers articulate, clear choices with a handsome, tight tenor voice to boot), who is mourning himself the death of his wife Lily—seen and heard in ghostly form, as others are in this musical, by the graceful presence and voice of Brennan Martinez. Now Mary is very entitled, it seems, but the arc of this attitude is not given very much shrift, thanks to the fabulous Dakota Hughes as Martha, a chambermaid who exerts much influence and calm on Mary, all the while showing her own excitement in life.

The parade of characters, all with varying degrees of influence, include: Martha’s brother Dickon (an easy, accessible Lincoln J. Skoien), who actually tells Mary of a ‘secret garden’ to explore; Ben (a folksy turn by Bill Chamberlain), a gardener who keeps his word to Lily to tend the estate gardens after her passing; Mrs. Medlock (Kathleen Puls Andrade, properly conservative and authoritarian), who meets Mary first and takes her to her new home; Colin (an honestly thankless role given fine depth and nuance by Kailey Azure Green), whose health diagnosis keeps the lad bedridden for a major part of the story; Rose (with Rachel Guth’s lovely singing voice), Lily’s ghostly sister; and Dr. Neville Craven (Jeffrey Charles makes him more human than the character deserves), the nemesis here who has kept Colin in bed for most of his life.

A word should be said about this adaptation. People who know Brunett’s beloved book are aware, as they watch the progress of the musical, that Dr. Craven has been elevated to the status of villain and given more strength in the plot by original bookwriter/lyricist Marsha Norman, so some of his influence and characterization are a bit contrived in its expansion to help make such a choice work. Same with the fact that the story’s conclusion is not just Mary’s story, but Colin’s as well—and how the ‘secret garden’ actually might contain its own healing magic.

But that’s why adaptations are of varying degree. And the choices made do indeed allow truly fine musical moments to occur; the duet between Neville and Archibald about “Lily’s Eyes” is a great sight and sound to behold between Mr. Koski and Mr. Charles. Martha’s solo “If I Had A Fine White House” is energetic and fascinating, as shared by Dakota Hughes. In fact, the entire Lucy Simon score is offered in a mature, charming guise by music director Carolyn Brady and her charges.  And this chorus… outstanding. Wow!

Director Christopher Pazdernik requires praise here, too. The Theo space is simply a flat stage that needs lots of filling. And it’s been done admirably. There are six or so tables with four seats at each table, all enveloped in the walled seating that the space has available. But Mx. Pazdernik, a literal expert in musical theatre story and history, weaves the cast in and out of the seating area with small set pieces and literal lit areas for the ‘invisible’ chorus to inhabit. It’s pretty imaginative and strong. The minimalist set pieces from scenic designer Rose Johnson are a fine corollary. Levi J. Wilkins offers constant atmospheric lighting to proper and spirited effect for Lucy Elkin’s rich costumes. “The Secret Garden” is a surprisingly difficult story to tell, even with today’s sensibilities and maturity. But at Theo, it has earned a respect as a marvelous holiday offering.

GUEST CONTRIBUTOR | RONALD KEATON received an Equity Jeff Award for the performance of his one-man show CHURCHILL. www.solochicagotheatre.com  Coming soon, his new solo play “Echo Holler.” www.echoholler.com

PHOTO|Time Stops Photography

Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre
presents
The Secret Garden
721 Howard Street
Evanston, IL
through December 22, 2024

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