Broadway Rose Theatre Company is betting big on “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.” The company usually mounts two summer shows in the 600-seat auditorium at Tigard High School. This season, for the first time, it’s gambling on a 5-week run of a single production: the hit-packed, musical memoir recounting singer/songwriter King’s rollercoaster rise from starry-eyed teen tune-smith to rock ‘n’ roll icon.
So if this show tanks, and Broadway Rose suddenly wants to add another, it’s too late baby, now it’s too late. Portlander Merideth Kaye Clark plays King. The versatile performer comes into the show with a colorful tapestry of influences.
She’s tackled gravity-defying Broadway ballads, (150 performances as ); Americana/folk (in the duo Siren Songs, with Jenn Grinels); bluegrass (the musical “Bright Star”); and the musical canons of Joni Mitchell, Barbra Streisand and Judy Garland. She sang the King track “Home Again” in “Winter Song,” a holiday show that ran for two seasons at Portland Center Stage. Is Clark feeling the pressure? Nope.
“I feel like I’m a channel for the material,” she said in an interview before last Friday’s opening night. While she hopes folks who know her work will scoop up tickets, she said, “I don’t think that’s the reason that people come to Broadway Rose or come to see the musical ‘Beautiful.’ I think they do because these songs are part of their history and their lives.
” She added: “I want to make (Broadway Rose) proud.” For a “Wicked”-alumna who logged a lot of time on a hydraulic lift 40 feet in the air, Clark had no trouble finding King’s grounded, self-effacing qualities during the show’s debut. Hers is a beautifully crafted portrayal anchoring this solid gold summer triumph.
Following the template of “Jersey Boys,” this by-the-(song)book musical-bio isn’t new or particularly surprising. What’s compelling is watching the growth of King’s professional confidence as she tiptoes from the behind-the-scenes composer who crafted jewels like “One Fine Day” and “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” for other artists to the singular talent who wove together her smash solo album “Tapestry.” Broadway Rose added a revolving stage to keep up with the pace of the quick-clipped scenes and hopping musical numbers.
So, yes, the earth really moves under the cast’s feet. “I have dreamed of playing this role since before it was a musical, honestly,” said Clark, a lifelong King fan who considers the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee a role model. “When the (call for the) first national tour went out, I had an 8-week-old baby and I flew to New York to audition for it, the first time I took her out of the state,” said Clark.
Though she didn’t get the gig, she was “obsessed with the idea of doing it.” After Broadway Rose called her to lead this first locally produced production, Clark recalled, “I don’t think I thought for even a second before I said ‘Yes. Absolutely! I want to do that!’ So I have been, this whole year, just waiting for this project to start.
” For research, Clark cracked open King’s autobiography, “A Natural Woman: A Memoir,” then discovered the audiobook — read by King herself. Listening to the recorded version helped Clark frame her take on King’s speaking voice and accent. Clark also jumped down a YouTube rabbit hole of live performances from the 1960s and ‘70s.
While in New York for that tour audition, she caught “Beautiful” on Broadway, starring Jessie Mueller. What struck Clark about Mueller’s Tony Award-winning performance was her ability to evoke King “but also have it come from her, and not do any sort of imitation,” she said. “Carole King has such a singular sound, almost this kind of raspy-rock sound that’s hard to imitate, nor do I want to.
But I want to be true to her style and have moments where you’re reminded of some of the ways she stylizes her music.” As much as this is a story about Carole King, it’s also the story of an artistic partnership and rock ‘n’ roll romance with lyricist Gerry Goffin (played by Benjamin Tissell), whom she meets and marries early on. On opening night, Broadway Rose’s “Beautiful” lead couple had clearly found their groove in scenes and songs together.
Jennifer Lynn Teel and Norman Wilson play the married songwriting team of Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann, offering an engaging contrast in musical styles and personalities. Darion Elie, Richaun Stewart, Myles Sturns-Thomas and Bryce Williams crank out all the right moves as doo-wop kings, The Drifters. Bree Boswell, Chloe Evans, Lydia Fleming and Kurleen George are terrific as the trailblazing girl group, The Shirelles.
Choreographer Rosharra Francis recreated the phenomenal formations for both groups, and her high-speed rendition of the 1960s dance “The Locomotion” never stopped gathering steam. : King and Goffin need a hit. They’re broke and living with their newborn at King’s mother’s house.
As Goffin sleeps, King finds his notebook with the lyrics for “Will You Love Me Tomorrow,” and begins tentatively, yet lovingly performing the now classic, adding her melody and relishing every heartbreaking word. — Lee Williams, for The Oregonian/OregonLive Continues 7:30 p.m.
Thursday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Saturday-Sunday through Aug.
18. Deb Fennell Auditorium at Tigard High School, 9000 S.W.
Durham Road. $35-$70; , 503-620-5262..
