"Beautiful" offers more than "One Fine Day" at Chanhassen Dinner Theatres.
Both the Broadway and national tour versions of the Carole King musical were well oiled, smooth machines, with Swiss clock-style automation used to fluidly move furniture, props and even performers onstage and off.
But at Chanhassen, which is putting on one of the first regional productions of this jukebox musical that sketches the life of an insecure Brooklynite who became a pop icon, the scenery is changed by the actors.
As staged by the father-daughter duo of Michael Brindisi and Cat Brindisi-Darrow and headlined by the stellar Monet Sabel, the production is human-powered in other ways.
The directors have crafted many fine and moving dramatic moments that go deeper into the mental state of King herself but especially of her husband, Gerry Goffin. And the beautifully rendered music is transporting.
Here are 10 things that make this production worth the trip:
10. The Brindisis bring a jeweler's eye to the show, with a directorial vision that alternates pathos- and heart-evoking drama with surprising comedy before all the emotions are released in song. When we're hearing the teenybopper hit "Oh Carol" on the radio, for example, Sam Stoll's Neil Sedaka comes to life out of nowhere. Michael Gruber's Don Kirshner, the legendary music industry executive, similarly pops up to push the action forward while eliciting laughs. And Kim Kivens, as Carole's mother, maximizes the humor of her character's few lines.
9. While Barbara Potinga's period costumes and the wigs track a stylistic evolution from the square, buttoned up '50s to the bell-bottom '70s, the design team has stripped away much of the set that could get in the way of telling the story of a simple Brooklyn teen who dreams of a career in songwriting, gets pregnant at 16, marries her baby father-cum-songwriting partner Goffin.
At Chanhassen, Nayna Ramey's set design dispenses with the Carnegie Hall grand piano where King usually sits at the opening of the show. But that doesn't mean there isn't flash and pizazz. Tamara Kangas-Erickson uses her choreography to push the action throughout, but her style is especially alluring for "On Broadway," with dancers Maureen Sherman-Mendez and Andrea Mislan executing classic Broadway moves.
8. At the back of center stage, orchestra leader Andy Kust forms a complementary duo with Sabel, who, while facing the audience, fingers the keys that he plays. It's a beautiful kind of partnership that echoes some of the psychic dualities of the music and the story. Kust also leads the tempo changes. For instance, "Up on the Roof" moves from something that's dark with a hint of potentially fatal depression to something that's bouncy and light.
7. Talent abounds throughout a 27-member ensemble. Katemarie Andrews is spellbinding as Little Eva, the babysitter-turned-singing star of "The Locomotion." Tony Vierling and Adam Moen find all the low notes and soulfulness of "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'."
6. Daysha Ramsey, Quinn Lorez, Rue Norm and Anya Naylor are stylish as the Shirelles ("Will You Love Me Tomorrow") with Ramsey effectively channeling Chiffons lead singer Janelle Woods' magnetism and obliviousness in the face of a love triangle.
5. John Jamison II, who played Jesus in "Godspell" at Artistry last summer, brings verve, power and redemptive soul to the Drifters. He makes the songs about now and the feelings real.
4. One of the Drifters, Mitchell Douglas, shows his range by doubling as understated hipster guitarist Nick. King has said that Nick is a composite of her second husband, Charles Larkey, and James Taylor, and Douglas' Nick coolly flirts with King.
3. The quartet of principals is well cast. Shinah Hey shows her poise, vocal power and charisma as songwriter Cynthia Weil. Hey is every bit a star in the show and is well matched with Alan Bach, the "Jersey Boys" heartthrob who has smoothly transitioned into the role of Barry Mann. Bach is unflappable as Barry.
2. Shad Hanley delivers a Hamlet-like Gerry, full of brooding and mood swings. It could look like he's in his own drama but it works as he plumbs his character's psychic shadows.
1. Finally, there's Sabel. She's named for the great French artist and the artistry she paints at Chanhassen is superb. True, her teenager stretches credulity but on her musical numbers, she suggests King enough to make us recognize her. Sabel injects her own phrasing and style into the numbers so that what we're watching is not a revue or an echo, but a living thing. And, oh, it's a beauty to experience.
'Beautiful: The Carole King Musical'
When: 8 p.m. Tue., 1 & 8 p.m. Wed., 8 p.m. Thu.-Fri., 1 & 8 p.m. Sat., 6:30 p.m. Sun. Through Sept. 28.
Where: Chanhassen Dinner Theatres, 501 W. 78th St., Chanhassen.
Tickets: $75-$105, 952-934-1525 or chanhassendt.com.
