From the moment the clock chimed midnight this morning, darlings, Broadway has been holding its collective breath, today! After an almost two month preview period, Jessie Mueller opens tonight, at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre, in "Beautiful--The Carole King Musical," playing the titular role of King in a musical performance with the kind of magnitude not seen since almost 50 years ago, when BARBRA first opened at the Winter Garden, in "Funny Girl,"
By tomorrow, Jessie's praises had better get sung, finally, and she should be hailed as the BARBRA of today!!!!!!!! Will the Sondheim Theatre still have a roof?????? I am surprised it does, but Jessie blows the roof off, every night!
Those of us who know, expected nothing less from Jessie, who knows how to deliver! What I love is watching people who have no idea who this girl is when they walk in, take their seats, only to leap to their feet at the end, with shouts of praise pouring from their mouths!!!!! Jessie has the tools, the technique, and the warmth to connect with audiences. She deserves all the accolades she can get!
I know I will be seeing Jessie in "Beautiful" again soon! Maybe after she gets that--ahem!!!!!!!!--TONY nomination??????????????? I am getting all teary, just writing this blog post!
Here--take a look, for yourselves!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I loved Jessie in this. As for the show? Well, what's wrong with a show that is subtitled "The Carole King Musical" where the two biggest show stoppers are "on Broadway" and "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling"? Jessie was certainly very very good, but I'm a Carole King fan from way back. I still buy her new albums, I have over 20. For a die hard King fan, this was a bit of a disappointment.
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ReplyDeleteJessie gives the kind of performance not seen on the musical stage since someone named BARBRA portrayed Fanny Brice. I actually liked the show better than "Jersery Boys."
I hope Jessie gets the TONY. This show would not work without her!
Absolutely. She is certainly the reason the show actually works! The main problem here was the terrible book, ie:"Come on Little Eva, THINK!" Oy.
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ReplyDeleteDespite all that I said I like the show, I can tell you this--had Jessie not been cast, I don't think I would have seen it. So happy for her success! It is about time!