A brilliantly innovative use of set and cast made this production outstanding.
Everyone has heard the song ‘(You make me feel like) A Natural Woman’, but you might not know that it was written by Carole King, along with many other famous hits.
From the beginning, this show was intriguing because as we all took our seats, chatting away and getting comfortable, there was no curtain to hide the set, and the set itself seemed like a mash of random pieces and music gear left there untidily. The cast entered the set in an unassuming manner, ambling onto the stage in a similar way to us audience members as we took our seats. No grand entrance or rising curtain. But then, suddenly, the lights changed, the music started and the cast snapped into action. Some of the audience, I’m sure, must have stopped their conversation mid-word. This seemed like a risk, but it really worked and had the audience captivated.
The set turned out to be a recording studio, and also one of the most innovative sets I have ever come across. A large amount of it was mobile and was constantly on the move, making different sets such as a house, a dressing room and a stage – the backstage crew must have had their work cut out but they did the whole thing completely seamlessly, as did the actors/musicians. This was especially impressive because the band were not in the pit as expected. They were the actors. The ingenious idea of having the base set in a recording studio meant there were instruments everywhere, and the cast were almost all multi-instrumentalists, meaning for each song they would somehow end up playing. Even the assistant musical director doubled as an actor, conducting surreptitiously whilst on stage. I was constantly impressed, and even more so because I didn’t notice a single error or sticky moment – the whole thing was totally slick. The lighting was also brilliantly designed and executed to give the perfect mood for each scene.
I grew up listening to the music my parents liked, which, I now realise, a large amount of was written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin, or Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann who were the other two leads. The four of them were certainly extremely talented and the story of the show, for a large part, followed their success and friendly rivalry for writing hits, and then the contrasting ways in which the two partnerships ended up. I loved the songs, but then I was already a fan of Carole King so that wasn’t a surprise, although just how many songs she’d written for other artists was a revelation.
I would like to give a special mention to Molly-Grace Cutler who played the role of Carole herself. Her acting and vocals were outstanding, and she also had to play sixteen-year old Carole through to her as a 29 year old with two children, meaning the character matured a lot over the show which would have been an extra challenge.
The story wasn’t a comedy, but there was some humour in it which worked really well.
To have the audience on their feet for the opening night on a rainy Tuesday in November is definitely proof of the quality of this show. The audience in general seemed to be much older than me, but I would recommend it to people my age too. I felt it was particularly inspiring for aspiring songwriters and creatives.