# Beautiful: the Carole King Musical at Orpheum Theatre, August 23, 2016

[SHNSF](http://beautifulonbroadway.com/about/) presents _Beautiful_: the Carole King Musical  
[Orpheum Theatre](https://www.shnsf.com/theatres/orpheum)  
[1192 Market St, San Francisco, CA 94102 USA](http://maps.google.com/maps?q=1192+Market+St,+San+Francisco,+CA+94102+USA&hl=en)  
8:00 PM, Tuesday, August 23, 2016

[[2016-08-21|Back to the previous event!]] ☸ [[:#section2016|Up to the 2016 yearbox!]] ☸ [[:2016#August_events|Up to the 2016 event list!]] ☸ [[2016-08-24|On to the next event!]]

## Act One

[8:m PM lights down, announcements, band out]

01. [8:m PM] _Overture_ - Orchestra
02. [8:m PM] _So Far Away_ - Carole King
03. [8:m PM] _Oh! Carol_ - Neil Sedaka
04. [8:m PM] _1650 Broadway Medley_ - Ensemble
05. [8:m PM] _It Might as Well Rain Until September_ - Carole
06. [8:m PM] _Be-Bop-A-Lula_ - Ensemble
07. [8:m PM] _Some Kind of Wonderful_ - Carole, Gerry Goffin and The Drifters
08. [8:m PM] _Happy Days Are Here Again_ - Cynthia Weil
09. [8:m PM] _Take Good Care of My Baby_ - Gerry and Carole
10. [8:m PM] _Who Put the Bomp (in the Bomp, Bomp, Bomp)_ - Barry Mann
11. [8:m PM] _Will You Love Me Tomorrow_ - Carole
12. [8:m PM] _He's Sure the Boy I Love_ - Cynthia and Barry
13. [8:m PM] _Will You Love Me Tomorrow_ reprise - The Shirelles
14. [8:m PM] _Up on the Roof_ - Gerry and The Drifters
15. [8:m PM] _On Broadway_ - The Drifters
16. [8:m PM] _The Locomotion_ - Little Eva and Ensemble
17. [8:m PM] _You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling_ - The Righteous Brothers
18. [8:m PM] _One Fine Day_ - Janelle, Carole, and Ensemble  
[set ends 9:m PM]

## Act Two

[9:m PM lights down, announcements, band out]

01. [9:m PM] _Chains_ - Carole and Ensemble
02. [9:m PM] _Walking in the Rain_ - Barry and Cynthia
03. [9:m PM] _Pleasant Valley Sunday_ - Marilyn Wald, Gerry, Carole and Ensemble
04. [10:m PM] _We Gotta Get Out of This Place_ - Barry
05. [10:m PM] _Will You Love Me Tomorrow_ reprise - Carole
06. [10:m PM] _Uptown_ - Ensemble
07. [10:m PM] _It's Too Late_ - Carole
08. [10:m PM] _You've Got a Friend_ - Carole, Barry, Cynthia and Don
09. [10:m PM] _(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman_ - Carole and Ensemble
10. [10:m PM] _Beautiful_ - Carole
11. [10:m PM] _I Feel the Earth Move_ - Carole King and Ensemble - not listed in program!?  
[show ends 11:m PM; bows and curtain calls, followed by an extended outro from the band as the crowd files out of the theater]


## Performers

### Principals

* Ben Fankhauser: Barry Mann;
* [Becky Gulsvig](http://beckygulsvig.com/): Cynthia Weil;
* [Abby Mueller](http://www.abbymueller.com/): Carole King;
* <del>Liam Tobin</del> Andrew Brewer: Gerry Goffin;

### Supporting Cast

* [Curt Bouril](https://www.facebook.com/curt.bouril): Donnie Kirshner
* <del>[Suzanne Grodner](http://suzannegrodner.com/)</del> Alaina Mills: Genie Klein (Carole's mother)

* Sarah Bockel: Betty, Ensemble
* Britney Coleman: "Uptown" singer, Ensemble
* Rebecca E. Covington: Janelle Woods, Ensemble
* John Michael Dias: Neil Sedaka, Bobby Hatfield, Lou Adler, Ensemble
* <del>Andrew Brewer</del> Matt Faucher: Bill Medley, Nick, Ensemble
* <del>Ashley Blanchet</del> Rosharra Francis: Little Eva, Ensemble
* Salisha Thomas: Lucilla, Ensemble
* Delaney Westfall: Marilyn Wald, Ensemble

* Josh A. Dawson: Ensemble
* Sidney Dupont: Swing
* Ryan Farnsworth: Ensemble
* Jay Mckenzie: Ensemble
* Paris Nix: Ensemble
* Noah J. Ricketts: Ensemble
* Ximone Rose: Swing

### Musicians

* Susan Draus: conductor, keyboards;
* Nick Williams: associate conductor, keyboards;
* Dwight Okamura: keyboards;
* Eric Stockton: guitar;
* Dave MacNab: guitar;
* Sasha Jacobsen: bass;
* Shannon Ford: drums;
* Arthur Storch: percussion;
* Steve Parker: woodwinds;
* Tim Devine: woodwinds;
* Chris Barnes: trumpet, ?flugelhorn;
* Kevin Porter: trombone, ?bass trombone, ?contractor!?;

### Creative Staff

* Marc Bruni: director;
* Joe Dulude II: makeup designer;
* Ross Evans: associate director;
* Gerry Goffin: words & music;
* Peter Hanson: production stage manager;
* Jason Howland: music director;
* Hiro Iida: electronic music designer;
* Peter Kaczorowski: lighting designer;
* Carole King: words & music;
* Sherry Kondor: executive producer;
* Stephen Kopel: casting;
* Jon Krause: stage manager;
* Charles Lapointe: hair & wig designer;
* Barry Mann: words & music;
* Derek McLane: scene designer;
* Douglas McGrath: book;
* John Miller: music coordinator;
* Josh Prince: choreographer;
* Brian Ronan: sound design;
* Christine Russell: executive producer;
* Steve Sidwell: orchestrator, vocal and incidental music arranger;
* Alison Solomon: associate choreographer;
* Billy Jay Stein: electronic music designer;
* Alejo Vietti: costume designer;
* Cynthia Weil: words & music;
* Stacey Zaloga: assistant stage manager.

## Notes

See [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beautiful:_The_Carole_King_Musical) for a synopsis and other helpful info about this musical.

At the conclusion of the first act, my primary thought was, "meh, too much white bread," for indeed, the  construction recipe of choice morsels of teeny bopper pop is bland and tasteless. Like cotton candy puffs, it might taste heavenly at first, but too much will induce gastric distress before satisfying any serious hunger.

Thankfully, the second set introduced more substantial tunes, as the lyric pieces were stitched together in order to relate the story of Carole King's metamorphosis from caterpillar to butterfly. Nothing stunning there either (after all it's what we expect when we see a caterpillar), but hugely more satisfying than the succession of _Shoo Be Doo Wop_-pop tunes that filled the first set.

Would i recommend the show? I'd say it depends on how you feel about the stronger material of the second half: if you like it, then sure, take a chance and see the play. You'll learn a bit about these pain and sorrow that stimulated creation of Carole King's masterpiece, _Tapestry_.

And somehow I seem to have misplaced my program with timing info, so there's only placeholders listed above. I'll probably find it someday when I'm sifting through the piles of crap around here, but until then, you get absolutely nothing!

{{tag>music broadway  Orpheum_Theatre Ben_Fankhauser Becky_Gulsvig Abby_Mueller Curt_Bouril Sarah_Bockel Andrew_Brewer Britney_Coleman Rebecca_E._Covington Josh_A._Dawson John_Michael Sidney_Dupont Ryan_Farnsworth Matt_Faucher Rosharra_Francis Jay_Mckenzie Alaina_Mills Paris_Nix Noah_J._Ricketts Ximone_Rose Salisha_Thomas Delaney_Westfall Marc_Bruni Joe_Dulude_II Ross_Evans Gerry_Goffin Peter_Hanson Jason_Howland Peter_Kaczorowski Carole_King Sherry_Kondor Stephen_Kopel Jon_Krause Charles_Lapointe Barry_Mann Derek_McLane Douglas_McGrath John_Miller Josh_Prince Brian_Ronan Christine_Russell Steve_Sidwell Alison_Solomon Alejo_Vietti Cynthia_Weil Stacey_Zaloga}}

[[2016-08-21|Back to the previous event!]] &#9784; [[:#section2016|Up to the 2016 yearbox!]] &#9784; [[:2016#August_events|Up to the 2016 event list!]] &#9784; [[2016-08-24|On to the next event!]]