FIVE HELPMANN® AWARD WINS INCLUDING BEST MUSICAL | RAVE REVIEWS AT BRISBANE PREMIERE
“OKAY I’m making it official. Beautiful: The Carole King Musical is the perfect musical” – Courier Mail
Oh Carol! It has been a triumphant week for joyous Broadway hit Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, winning top honours in five categories at the annual Helpmann® Awards and marking its Brisbane premiere with full houses and rave reviews.
Now playing at Lyric Theatre, QPAC for a strictly limited season, the uplifting true story of the most successful female songwriter of the 20th century took home gongs for Best Musical, Best Female Actor in a Musical for leading lady Esther Hannaford, Best Direction of a Musical, Best Female Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical and Best Male Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical at the theatre industry’s Helpmann® Awards last week.
The production opened in Brisbane on Thursday, with theatre goers on their feet in raptuous applause for the talented cast of 24 performers. Rave reviews followed with Courier-Mail critic Phil Brown writing “It has everything. It’s beautifully written, it’s moving, it’s funny, it has great songs and a cast that couldn’t be better… No wonder it won all those Helpmann awards earlier in the week.”
“HONESTLY There wasn’t a moment in it that I wasn’t absolutely enthralled!” – 4KQ
“ALL KINDS OF WONDERFUL” – Channel Seven
“What a show. Standing ovation indeed – I would still be there if the theatre hadn’t closed around me!” – Australian Stage
Beautiful celebrates Carole King’s remarkable rise to stardom, including her troubled relationship with husband and song-writing partner Gerry Goffin and their close friendship and playful rivalry with fellow song-writing duo Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil.
The feel-good song list is jam-packed with timeless hits from the 60’s and 70’s, including You’ve Got a Friend, Will You Love Me Tomorrow, It’s Too Late, Locomotion, (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman, I Feel the Earth Move, You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling, On Broadway and We Gotta Get Out Of This Place.
Critics have been unanimous in praise for leading lady Esther Hannaford’s “sublime performance” (Daily Telegraph) since the Australian premiere at Sydney Lyric Theatre in September 2017. She is one of the country’s most awarded performers, now with two Helpmanns, a Sydney Theatre Award and three Green Room Awards to her name.
The cast includes Josh Piterman as ‘Gerry Goffin’, Lucy Maunder as ‘Cynthia Weil’ and Queenslander Mat Verevis as ‘Barry Mann’ in his Helpmann® Award-winning music theatre debut. Stage veterans Mike McLeish as ‘Don Kirshner’ and Anne Wood as King’s mother ‘Genie Klein’ complete the principal cast.
Beautiful was written by the Oscar®, Emmy®, BAFTA and Tony® Award-nominated Douglas McGrath, directed by Marc Bruni, choreographed by Josh Prince and produced in Australia by Michael Cassel in association with Paul Blake and Sony/ATV Music Publishing.
The Brisbane season is the last chance to see Beautiful anywhere in Australia – the musical must leave QPAC on Sunday 2 September after a 12 month tour around the country.
Final tickets are now on sale from QPAC or beautifulmusical.com.au.
“INCREDIBLE, INSPIRING” – Channel Nine
“EVERYONE WAS ABSOLUTELY GOBSMACKED AT ESTHER HANNAFORD” – 4KQ
“She is warm, she is vulnerable, she is magnificent” – Stage Whispers
“And the songs, my god, the songs” – Courier Mail
“The show is seamless from the get-go, with every moment memorable” – Australian Stage
“SENSATIONALLY ENTERTAINING” – Macquarie Radio Network
“A FIVE STAR TRIUMPH” – Channel Seven