FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Press Contact: Paul Marte pmarte@bushnell.org (w) 860-987-6068 (c) 860-539-2054

BEAUTIFUL – THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL OPENS AT THE BUSHNELL JANUARY 17

The Tony & Grammy Award-winning Broadway hit BEAUTIFUL – THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL about the early life and career of the legendary and groundbreaking singer/songwriter, will make its Hartford premiere at The Bushnell’s Mortensen Hall January 17 as part of the 2016-2017 Bushnell Broadway Series, sponsored by Farmington Bank and Travelers. The production runs in Hartford through January 22.

Performances are Tuesday through Thursday at 7:30 p.m.; Friday at 8:00 p.m.; Saturday at 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.; and Sunday at 1:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Ticket prices start at $36.50. Tickets are available online at www.bushnell.org, by phone at 860-987-5900, or at The Bushnell box office, 166 Capitol Avenue, Hartford. Press night for BEAUTIFUL is Tuesday, January 17 at 7:30 p.m.

Long before she was Carole King, chart-topping music legend, she was Carol Klein, Brooklyn girl with passion and chutzpah. She fought her way into the record business as a teenager and, by the time she reached her twenties, had the husband of her dreams and a flourishing career writing hits for the biggest acts in rock ‘n’ roll. But it wasn’t until her personal life began to crack that she finally managed to find her true voice. BEAUTIFUL tells the inspiring true story of King’s remarkable rise to stardom, from being part of a hit songwriting team with her husband Gerry Goffin, to her relationship with fellow writers and best friends Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann, to becoming one of the most successful solo acts in popular music history. Along the way, she made more than beautiful music, she wrote the soundtrack to a generation.

With a book by Tony and Academy Award-nominee Douglas McGrath, direction by Marc Bruni and choreography by Josh Prince, Beautiful features a stunning array of beloved songs written by Gerry Goffin/Carole King and Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil.

The creative team of BEAUTIFUL also includes Derek McLane (Set Design), Alejo Vietti (Costume Design), Peter Kaczorowski (Lighting Design), Brian Ronan (Sound Design), Charles G. LaPointe (Wig and Hair

Design), Steve Sidwell (Orchestrations and Music Arrangements), Jason Howland (Music Supervision) and John Miller (Music Coordination).

CAST BIOGRAPHIES

JULIA KNITEL (Carole King) is overjoyed to be joining the cast of Beautiful after having spent the last year in the Broadway Company. Broadway: Beautiful, Bye Bye Birdie. Select New York/Regional: Nora in Brighton Beach Memoirs (Portland Stage Co.), Ingrid in Volleygirls (NYMF Best of Fest), Terry Randall in Kaufman & Ferber's Stage Door. Film: Miles. Julia is Featured on the World Premier Recording of POLKADOTS: The Cool Kid's Musical. Endless gratitude to the Beautiful team, Bill & Julia at Lava, her incredible family, & always, PJ.

LIAM TOBIN (Gerry Goffin) Toronto: Alfred Packer in Trey Parker’s Cannibal the Musical, The Sound of Music. Tony in the Intl’ Tour of West Side Story. Selected Regional: Lord Farquaad in Shrek, Buddy in Elf (The Grand), Lancelot in Spamalot, Joe Hardy in Damn Yankees, Lt. Cable in South Pacific (Drayton), Gabe in Next to Normal (Manitoba Theatre Centre), Link in Hairspray (Charlottetown), Joseph in Joseph…(Stage west). Liam is from Newfoundland, Canada. All my love to T House, Mom and Dad, and of course, Danielle!

ERIKA OLSON (Cynthia Weil) is delighted to be joining BEAUTIFUL. A recent graduate of Carnegie Mellon with a BFA in Musical Theater/Acting, Erika just made her NYMF debut in Forest Boy. Other credits include Eurydice in Eurydice, Georgie in The Full Monty and Yelena in Uncle Vanya. She has also studied at the National Institute of Dramatic Arts in Sydney, Australia. Erika is incredibly grateful for her friends and family for their love and support! @ErikaOlson_

BEN FANKHAUSER (Barry Mann) Broadway: Davey in Newsies (Original Cast). Off Broadway: Gene in Saturday Night (York Theatre). National Tour: Ernst in Spring Awakening (First National Tour). Regional: Huck in Big River (Sacramento Music Circus), Henry in Next To Normal (North Carolina Theatre). Ben is a frequent guest singer at 54 Below, Birdland, and other cabaret venues in New York. He can be heard on the OBC album of Newsies, as well as on numerous albums of new works and popular songwriters, all available on iTunes. Special thanks to the creative team and to Nicolosi + Co. BFA: Ithaca College.

The ensemble of BEAUTIFUL includes Brianna-Marie Bell, Sarah Bockel, Andrew Brewer, Rebecca E. Covington, Josh A. Dawson, John Michael Dias, Sidney DuPont, Matt Faucher, Rosharra Francis, James Michael Lambert, Traci Elaine Lee, Jay McKenzie, Alaina Mills, Paris Nix, Noah J. Ricketts, Ximone Rose, Salisha Thomas and Delaney Westfall.

BEAUTIFUL – THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL opened on Broadway at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre on January 12, 2014, where it continues its record-breaking run. The production won two 2014 Tony Awards as well as the 2014 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. A London production opened February 25, 2015 at London’s Aldwych Theater, where it continues its run, and has won two Olivier Awards.

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