"Beautiful: The Carole King Musical” should probably be titled “Brooklyn Girl.” This renaming would allow theatergoers to know exactly what to expect of the friendly, formulaic bio-musical."
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"Perhaps such material can’t be well directed, but we will never know. What I can say is that Marc Bruni certainly hasn’t improved it. The show is full of clunky transitions, dead space, scenes that peter out until someone mercifully snaps off the lights."
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"King made magic with her catalogue and it is an unqualified treat to hear her best-known hits performed live...Too bad a great musical isn’t only about the music. The book is crucial, too — and this show’s connect-the-dots story line is so simplistic that the extravagantly talented King’s life emerges as a mundane version of the long-suffering little woman."
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"The early life and career of legendary singer-songwriter Carole King surely deserves more imaginative treatment than the corny chronological storytelling and old-fashioned musical format of “Beautiful.” But all is forgiven, whenever Jessie Mueller, in the modest person of Carole King, sits down at the piano and pours heart and soul into familiar favorites from the composer’s songbook."
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"McGrath, director Marc Bruni and the appealing performers don’t exactly break that mold by going for complexity. But while keeping things light and breezy, they have populated Beautiful with well-defined characters with relatable human foibles."
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"Watching Beautiful, the new jukebox musical celebrating the remarkable life and work of Carole King, you may not feel the earth move under your feet. But the new Broadway show emerges as a slick and joyous celebration of female empowerment."
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"Director Marc Bruni has taken the gift of a smart and economical script and run with it. Amid lightning-quick transitions, this show only decelerates when it wants to. Split-second costume changes (designer Alejo Vietti must be a witch) add to the magic and fun of the evening."
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"Though Beautiful is ultra-slick and impeccably executed for what it is, electrifying it is not."
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