Carole King- Beautiful, the musical, a tapestry to treasure.

Carole King- Beautiful, the musical, a tapestry to treasure.

It's true you know. There's no business like showbusiness, like no business I know. Oh for the roar of the grease paint and the glories of a West End musical. Can there be anything more delightfully satisfying or rapturously brilliant then a foot tapping, thigh slapping, rocking and rolling West End showpiece, a masterclass of theatre. the good old days, nostalgia and flawless perfection? I'm almost sure there isn't.

Carole King's wonderfully unforgettable Beautiful musical at the Aldwych Theatre in the heart of London's glittering, glistening West End. ticked all of the right boxes. You almost feel that  the whole concept of the West End musical should be bottled for posterity and never ever lost. Because if it did I, for one, would be deeply upset and privately very disappointed. There is something very special and  unique about the atmosphere that just envelops a West End musical. I think it should always be carefully protected and preserved in case it sustains any kind of long term damage.

And so for the show. When Carole King fell in love with Neil Sedaka at high school during the 1950s the whole of America would fall in love with Carole King. It may have been the briefest of crushes but the relationship between Sedaka and King would turn into much more than a slow burning infatuation with the  wider America public. America just embraced Carole King and immediately took her to their hearts.

But in the ornate. chandelier winking splendour of the Aldwych Theatre the story of Carole King made you feel good all over. It was life affirming, heart warming, feel good, pulsatingly entertaining, funny, intelligently observed and lyrically nostalgic. It was quite the most outstanding West End production that I've seen this year and those production values were almost too good to be true.

From the moment the curtain opened to show a purple spotlight over a solitary piano, Beautiful took us on a captivating journey through King's furiously productive if turbulent career. There were the inevitable highs and lows, the peaks and troughs that invariably follow those vastly talented singer song writers.

Of course Carole King knew heartache and tragedy but the private life of one of America's most consistent of songwriters has sadly haunted most of King's contemporaries. Throughout Beautiful there was an almost continuous thread of triumph and success with a generous helping of argument, confrontation and then a sad parting of ways when things didn't work out.

When Carole King met her husband Gerry Goffin at a very young age, the two seemed to develop the most passionate of all relationships. There was an almost instant chemistry between the two and King just fell into the arms of Goffin as if they were kindred spirits. But as the years progressed the simple lust of their teenage years would explode into something that became almost dangerously combustible.

But Beautiful provided us with a wonderful behind the scenes backdrop of the late 1950s and 60s. King, as became patently obvious, was hugely influenced by the heady, dizzy years of American rock and roll. Then she just immersed herself in the sounds and sights of that life changing period of popular music. Shortly she would swallow up that culture, gleefully incorporating her kind of music into the new and rapidly evolving styles of popular music. King would develop her own very clear identity and a most intoxicating blend of easy listening music blossomed overnight.

Soon the transformation would be complete. Soon King would find herself drawn into the whole 1950s zeitgeist. It was a world of wild rock and roll, jumping and jiving juke boxes and coffee bars that played nothing but Eddie Cochran, Buddy Holly, Duane Eddy, Bill Hayley and the Comets and of course the remarkable Elvis Presley. But Carole King seemed hell bent on something that was  altogether more sedate and relaxed. She was, and still is, a very individual and independent woman and singer song writer seeming to prefer songs that she must have felt were more tuneful, easier on the ear and elegantly evocative of the great American song book.

And so we were given the Drifters, the Sharelles 'Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow'. 'Natural Woman, a bold statement of powerful femininity as pioneered by the superb Aretha Franklin and then fleeting references to the great and good of America's songbirds. Carole King became an overnight convert and the most perfect exponent of the smoothly crafted song.

But it was the early 1970s that would prove to be the decisive turning point of King's career. When she released what would become one of her most successful albums 'Tapestry' America knew they'd discovered a talent that had to be nurtured. 'Tapestry' would become a phenomenal million dollar, best selling, album that everybody knew the lyrics to every track on the album.

Now the hit singles would almost flow organically. Apart from and including 'Tapestry', there was 'It's Too Late' a poignant heartbreaking reference to her doomed relationship with Goffin, 'You've Got A Friend', an instantly catchy song that James Taylor would also popularise and then Little Eva's Do the Locomotion' marvellously played out to an infectious beat on stage. The Aldwych were now tapping their fingers, knees and hands as if transfixed by what they'd just seen.

And so my wife and I left the Aldwych with that incredible sense of well being and euphoria that only a West End musical can translate into real life. If you haven't seen Beautiful then you've got to rush down to the box office, grab a bite to eat before the performance and then abandon yourself to a an afternoon or evening of complete enjoyment. You will remember why you just couldn't resist the spellbinding temptations of the West End musical. Personally I think its essential entertainment and the kind of show you'll always remember and never forget. Carole King's tapestry was far by the best I'd ever seen. It's a show stopper of the highest class. My wife and I would give it ten out of ten. A feast for the eyes.