Beautiful: The Carole King Musical returned to Manchester this week and The Manc were kindly invited along to the press night. We of course accepted because we’re cultured like that.
Scores of excitable theatre heads were shuffling in the cold autumn queues for the packed-out show at the historic Palace Theatre on opening night on Tuesday, 12 October.
Charting the life and career of legendary singer-songwriter Carole King, the show takes you through her early days as a four-year-old piano prodigy, selling her first single at the age of 16 and marrying her creative partner Gerry Goffin to headlining Carnegie Hall and becoming a global music sensation.
Credit: The Manc
Known for solo hits like ‘You’ve Got a Friend’, ‘So Far Away’, ‘It’s Too Late’ and dozens more, the production was part musical part history lesson, taking a whirlwind tour through the music industry in the 1960s and 70s.
While we came into the show thinking we knew a fair few tracks in her lengthy discography – ‘Take Good Care of My Baby’, ‘The Loco-Motion’, ‘Natural Woman’ and so on – we were surprised to learn just how much she has written over her illustrious career. This legend even wrote for The Beatles.
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Seeing her personal and professional life play out on her way to eventually writing and singing songs for herself not only felt like an emotional trip back in time but almost fly on the wall documentary at times, only with big dramatic set-pieces fitting of the Palace’s equally beautiful room.
Previous cast pictured above
King herself is passionately portrayed by Molly Grace-Cutler, a 2020 Olivier award-winner who proves to be perfect casting as the Brooklyn-raised songstress.
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Aside from her soaring vocals throughout its 2-hour run-time (excluding interval), her performance felt full of raw pain and joy in equal spades whilst still sprinkling plenty of comic relief, as did the rest of the ensemble.
Beyond the likes of Goffin (Tom Milner) and fellow 60s songstress Cynthia Weil (Seren Sandham-Davies) – who both enjoyed several stunning solos and big story beats as key players in King’s eventful life – we were particularly impressed with Jos Slovick, who starred as songwriting rival Barry Mann.
Molly Grace-Cutler and Tom MilnerSeren Sandham-Davies and Jos SlovickCredit: Supplied
One of several main characters in the Brill Building and Dimension Records-era of her story, Slovick played the rosy-cheeked, allergy-ridden hit-maker and did so to perfection, regularly leaving the audience in stitches as well as taken aback by his soft vocals.
The performance was met with a well-deserved standing ovation and an encore that got the crowd moving for one last song. We couldn’t think of a better way to go out than with a boogie.
Even for theatre newbies, we dare say this smash hit Broadway and West End show could convert you and even if doesn’t end up as a gateway musical, it’s nigh on impossible for any music-lover not to get engrossed in this true story.
You can buy tickets for the remaining dates of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical via ATG HERE. The show finishes its five-day run on Saturday, 15 October, so get them while you can!
Blue Planet III live in concert is coming to Manchester next year
Daisy Jackson
The spectacular Blue Planet III will come to Manchester live in concert next year, bringing the hit BBC nature documentary to life with a live orchestra.
The new arena tour will pull together the most breathtaking footage beneath the waves from across the series, curated for a giant Ultra HD LED screen.
Blue Planet III will hit screens later this year, narrated once again by the legendary Sir David Attenborough.
Filmed across four years, it will take audiences everywhere from tropical coral reefs to the darkest depths of the ocean.
When the Blue Planet III Live In Concert show arrives in Manchester, it will be hosted by series executive producer Elizabeth White, who’ll share incredible stories and behind-the-scenes insights from the making of the series.
The score once again comes from Academy Award-winner Hans Zimmer, with Thom Lukas and Laurentia Editha for Bleeding Fingers Music, performed live by the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.
The companion live concert is preparing to take audiences even deeper into the underwater world on an epic audio-visual scale.
Specially curated footage from Blue Planet III will be shown on a state-of-the-art 200 sq metre Ultra HD LED screen – one of the largest of its kind used for an orchestral touring screen show and approximately the size of a tennis court.
Blue Planet III live in concert is coming to Manchester next year. Credit: BBC Studios
The brand-new Blue Planet III Live in Concert will kick off here in Manchester before heading to Birmingham, Glasgow, and London.
Executive Producer Elizabeth White says: “Making Blue Planet III has taken us to places we never imagined we’d film. But there’s something about bringing that footage into a concert arena full of people, with the score performed live all around you, that will be truly special.
“This tour is our chance to share the series on a completely different scale, and I can’t wait to be there live, revealing the extraordinary stories behind what audiences are seeing on screen.”
Hans Zimmer says: “There’s nothing like experiencing this score live with an orchestra, especially when it’s paired with the extraordinary visuals of the life underwater. Thom, Laurentia and I are ecstatic that audiences will be able to enjoy our score in this way.”
Blue Planet III Live in Concert will be at the AO Arena in Manchester on Friday 21 May 2027 – general release tickets start from £40 and go on sale from 11am on Friday 16 October HERE.
Dirty Dancing at Palace Theatre, Manchester – at least one audience member had the time of her life…
Daisy Jackson
For anyone who has watched Dirty Dancing so many times they can practically recite the dialogue, taking on the Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey roles is no small feat – and turning that lakeside romance into a live musical comes with even bigger expectations.
The stage production at the Palace Theatre in Manchester has all the familiar ingredients: the dancing, the music, the forbidden romance and, of course, that lift. But while there are moments when the theatre version captures the exuberance of the original, it doesn’t always manage to recreate its magic.
Charlie Varlet as Baby does a great job of embracing the knock-kneed awkwardness of the teenage star, slowly blossoming into a beautiful dancer who is almost eerily similar to the film’s Jennifer Grey.
And Joel Benjamin plays a striking Johnny, moving lightly for such an enormously muscular actor.
But there are moments where their chemistry fizzles out, too much of the script that focuses on their bickerings and misunderstandings to make you buy into their love story.
At points, it feels almost slapstick, and the result is a restless audience that keeps hooting and hollering at a topless Benjamin when he’s trying to deliver a serious monologue about Johnny’s upbringing. One woman shouts ‘LUCKY YOU’ and cackles as Baby sits in bed with him. It’s not a Magic Mike show, guys.
Where Dirty Dancing the musical shines is when it really makes the most of its full ensemble, with huge dance numbers that see limbs and skirts flying right across the stage.
Ellie Ferguson as Penny in Dirty Dancing. Credit: Danny Kaan
And it’s hard to take your eyes off Penny (Ellie Fergusson), even when she’s lurking in the crowd, so impressive is her stage presence and the execution of her dance routines.
Having a lot of the musicians on the stage is a fantastic touch too – you spot people playing saxophones and clarinets and guitars in a lot of the scenes and it adds a real party atmosphere.
The set design does its best to replicate the iconic moments of the film, but the cast shaking themselves dry under a blue light can’t come close to the magic of the lake scene.
If you’ve watched the film so often you can recite it word for word (guilty), you won’t find a lot of surprises up on the stage – the theatre adaptation sticks pretty tightly to the original plot and script.
Baby (Charlie Varlet) and Johnny (Joel Benjamin)Dirty Dancing is at the Palace Theatre in ManchesterCredit: Danny Kaan
It means that a lot of the moments that would translate best to stage – the underground dance party in the staff quarters, the montage of Baby learning to dance, the Hungry Eyes scene – are condensed into the first half of the musical.
The second half feels a little flat in comparison, just a lot of bickering and storming around the stage… up until that grand finale, when Johnny bursts from the back of the theatre and storms the stage to complete that iconic lift.
It’s worth all the trundle just for that final euphoric moment.
Dirty Dancing is at the Palace Theatre in Manchester until Saturday 3 October, then will return next summer. You can grab tickets HERE.
Danny Jones -
12th October 2022 
