'Beautiful: The Carole King Musical' Playing At Kimmel Cultural Campus' Academy Of Music Until Feb. 27
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Live theater continues to return to stages across the Philadelphia region. The latest big show expected to thrill audiences in Philly is "Beautiful: The Carole King Musical."
The curtain rises Tuesday night at the Academy of Music at The Kimmel Cultural Campus.
The story is based on King's life story, from her early days as a Brooklyn teenager struggling to enter the record business to her rise to stardom in the music industry.
Sara Sheperd is the star of the show.
"It's really special because I have been part of the show for so long," Sheperd said. "I was in the original Broadway company and I was a swing, and an understudy and a dance captain, so I got to step into her shoes a lot in New York. So to be able to do it now eight times a week is really special and very cool and I just feel incredibly honored that I get to play her every day, it's wild."
The production showcases 26 hit songs often written with her songwriting partner and husband Gerry Goffin, who is played by James D. Gish.
"We are actually following Carole's life so you understand the meaning behind these songs, the significance in her life and Gerry's life and all the characters' lives and where they were in life," Gish said. "And so, there's this deeper meaning when you're being introduced to this song because most often you're hearing the song when they are playing it for the first time or performing for the first time."
Songs that were often performed and popularized by many other artists of the time like The Shirelles are featured in the story.
"Early on she wrote all of these songs for other people that you didn't even realize she wrote," Sheperd said. "So it's just like hit after hit after hit and you're like, 'Oh my gosh she wrote that? They wrote that?' So it's constant all these songs you knew but you didn't realize she was behind it."
And audiences can't seem to get enough of them.
"There has been this sort of energy with audiences," Gish said. "That you can just tell they are happy to be back and to be seeing shows again."
"Beautiful, The Carole King Musical" will be playing at The Kimmel Cultural Campus' Academy of Music from Tuesday night through Sunday.
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