As a critic I try to not let my personal expectations and biases impact my reactions too much but it’s impossible to not have it happen a little. I am a human being with life experience and opinions after all. Fortunately sometimes a show is actually helped by those expectations and something is much better than I expect it to be. That is always such a fun experience to be more delighted by a production than I anticipate. Such is the case with Pioneer Theatre Company’s new show Beautiful: The Carol King Musical.

I’m by no means a jukebox musical hater and have enjoyed some of the biographical types over the years but they can often be on the dry and boring side- going through the motions of the rise and fall of a singer with their accompanying tunes. This is what I was expecting with Beautiful but what I got was a much more interesting study of the creative and writing process and the ebbs and flows of marriage and friendship.

Admittedly part of my surprise at this show is because of my own ignorance. I had no idea that Carol King wrote so many classic songs. In fact, we only get 5 songs from King’s Tapestry era. Not only is this show (book by Douglas McGrath) not just a laundry list of King songs but it also tells the story of Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil and has many of their songs. This is a couple I’d never heard of which made the experience all the more fresh and fascinating.

At PTC King is played by Sara Sheperd and it is clear this role is in her bones as she didn’t miss a beat throughout. I found it particularly impressive how she transitioned from teenager energy at 16 when it starts to a more mature woman and mother of 2 at the end. Kate Casalino’s hair and makeup also deserves a shoutout for making these transitions convincing and seemingly effortless.

Anthony Sagaria plays King’s husband and songwriting partner and his role is written a little more one-note but he brings all he can to the role. He’s definitely your typical tortured artist we see in these types of jukebox musicals but because we see enough empathetic moments from him and with them as a couple that it works quite well.

I can see why Beautiful is a daunting production to put on. The huge cast, number and variety of songs performed would be challenging for any company but PTC is up for the challenge. I admire director Karen Azenberg’s staging of the musical numbers keeping them compelling and always aware of how they are impacting our lead characters. When the Drifters are singing “Up on the Roof” or The Shirelles with “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow” we can see the other actors responding and how the song and songwriting is affecting them.

The set by Jason Simms with lighting by Dawn Chiang is on the simple side with most of the time spent in a studio with a 2-story structure they used for different scenes. The back of the stage has a light board that helped create tone with different colors but the focus of this show is on the music and the characters experiences writing said songs (maybe I like jukebox musicals better about song writers than singers?)

If readers are reticent to see another jukebox musical I’d encourage them to give Beautiful: The Carol King Musical at Pioneer Theatre Company a try. The only real flaw I had with it is the fake piano playing could have been either done better or hid more. It was pretty obvious but that’s a small complaint for a wonderful production with truly beautiful performances and a tribute to the power of songwriting and the creative process. It’s a win for PTC! Beautiful is playing through March 1st and tickets can be purchased here.

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