Beautiful - The Carole King Musical

Something of an amalgamation of shows like "A Night with Janis Joplin" and "Motown the Musical," "Beautiful: The Carole King Musical" is a charming and innocuous look at the early career of the celebrated singer/songwriter.

For most of the musical's running time, nothing really bad happens. Carole Klein/King (Sarah Bockel) writes songs and sells them at 16, she meets a gorgeous guy named Gerry Goffin (Dylan S. Wallach) who she partners up with romantically and musically, she sells more and more songs, and eventually, is handed the number of a famous producer who helps her make her first and most award-winning solo album. The worst thing that happens is she must deal with Gerry's need to have an open relationship and the eventual disintegration of their marriage. Sure, that's no fun, but I guess the fascinating here is how blessed King's life was.

What's also fascinating is just how many famous songs King and Goffin wrote, mostly for black singers. Their friendship with popular songwriter's Cynthia Weil (Alison Whitehurst) and Barry Mann (Jacob Heimer) is also explored, which adds a fun element of competition and loyalty. Weil and Mann also have their own love story that is unexpectedly, but satisfyingly explored.

For a show about a famous singer, it was surprising how much the character doesn't sing. She does bits and pieces here and there as she touts her songs, but it isn't until the first act's closing number of "One Fine Day" that Bockel gets to really show her pipes. It's one of the more heart-wrenching moments of the show and the song perfectly encapsulates everything that has happened to her until that point.

Act II allows Bockel to break loose and when King finally succumbs to the pressure of her friends and begins singing songs on her own ("Uptown," "You've Got a Friend," "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman," and "Beautiful"), Bockel brings the house down. But even more so, Bockel easily glides from age 16 to mid-30s with a funny and heartfelt performance even sans music.

Written by Douglas McGrath, "Beautiful: the Carole King Musical" is a very simple story with a script doesn't have a tremendous amount of depth. Aside from the adultery aspect, the scenes and dialogue exist to get from point A to B with unpretentious dialogue and a lot of surface emotions.

That's not to say that the show isn't consistently entertaining. And for those of us who grew up as King skyrocketed as a singer, it was captivating to see her life before the fame. In short, "Beautiful" is, actually, beautiful.

"Beautiful: the Carole King Musical" runs through September 30th at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre, 6233 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles. For information and tickets visit www.hollywoodpantages.com.