Every now and again, you get to see a play that blows you out of the water. When my mom heard that BEAUTIFUL – THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL was coming to Sacramento, she was thrilled to see it with me. She grew up on Carole King and loves her album Tapestry. On the other hand, I wasn’t sure who Carole King was or if I had ever heard her song. If you also think you don’t know Carole King, chances are you do!

BEAUTIFUL – THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL tells the true story of Carole King’s rise to fame. Carole became part of a hit songwriting team creating music with her husband Gerry Goffin. They often had a friendly competition with their best friends Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann, another dynamic songwriting team. Throughout the play, we see changes in Carole and Gerry’s relationship and see Carole take a beautiful journey that ends with her creating the bestselling album Tapestry.

The musical integrates songs that she helped create as well as songs she performed on her album such as “It’s Too Late,” “Some Kind of Wonderful,” and “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman.” Once these songs came on, I instantly recognized them and had to stop myself from dancing in my seat (and I wasn’t the only one). Not only are the songs catchy, but they are performed in a unique way. It always starts as a pitch of the song with Carole and Gerry singing and eventually transfers over to the bands like The Drifters, The Righteous Brothers, and The Shirelles performing the numbers on television. It gives the songs two different voices and perspectives and makes them more dynamic.

The cast did a phenomenal job, and Kaitlyn Davis shined as Carole King. Her voice is rich and earthy and perfectly captures Carole’s signature folk sound. She embodied all the songs and made me feel the emotions she was going through each time she sang. As her journey progressed, I felt excitement for King as she went through excruciating experiences to ultimately rediscover herself and her own voice in songwriting.

BEAUTIFUL – THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL is a remarkable feel-good story that demonstrates love in different lights. There is the joy of finding new love, the pain of losing love, the love we find in our friendships, and the love we find in ourselves. This can’t-miss performance is playing now through June 18 at the UC Davis Health Pavilion. Learn more here.