Carole King is one of the most successful solo acts in the history of popular music. Beautiful tells the story of her early life and her unprecedented rise to fame and fortune.

Opening and closing with King performing at New York’s Carnegie Hall in 1971 - a performance that followed on from the release of her debut album, Tapestry, which sold 25 million copies - the show offers a nostalgic insight into the lives and musical impact of the legendary singer-songwriter and her 1950s & ’60s contemporaries.

At the beginning of the story, King (Molly-Grace Cutler) is part of a very successful songwriting team with her husband, Gerry Goffin (Chris Coxton).

Running alongside their relationship is the partnership of Cynthia Weil (Seren Sandham-Davies) and Barry Mann (Jos Slovick). The couples are in competition musically at New York’s Alcon Record Making Company.

When King’s marriage to Goffin fails, Weil & Mann offer her the emotional support she needs as she embarks on a new way of living, both personally and musically.

Cutler’s performance is outstanding, her depiction of King absorbing and believable. Her voice keeps the audience well and truly hooked throughout the show.

Milner does a fine job of conveying not only the unpredictable and unstable nature of Goffin’s personality but also his charm and talent. Goffin was a troubled soul with mental-health problems and philandering ways. One Fine Day, sung at the end of the first act by Carole and a woman with whom her husband was having an affair, signals the beginning of the end for the King/Goffin marriage.

Sandham-Davies and Slovick score a hit as Weil & Mann - Slovick mines the humour in Mann’s hypochondria to excellent effect - while the whole supporting cast bring talent aplenty to the party, with every actor, singer and dancer proving to be a masterful  musician too.

The show was more of a trip down memory lane for me than I’d ever imagined it would be. I simply hadn’t realised so many familiar songs from my youth had been written by Carole King! You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling, Will You Love Me Tomorrow, The Locomotion, Pleasant Valley Sunday, (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman are just a handful of the hit numbers she produced during her heyday. One of the highlights of the show is the way in which the development of various songs is tracked. We get to experience them in their basic and primitive form, and then as the blockbuster hits they became in the talented hands of recording artists such as The Shirelles, The Drifters and The Righteous Brothers.

While this is certainly a show for people who grew up with those aforementioned songs as the soundtrack to their lives, it’s also a show for anybody and everybody who appreciates great music. The audience last night were certainly all-in with their appreciation - and quite right too. The standing ovation we gave the performance was thoroughly deserved.

Four stars

Reviewed by Sue Hull at Birmingham Hippodrome on Tuesday 30 September where Beautiful! The Carole King Musical continues to show until Saturday 3 September. Beautiful! The Carole King Musical then shows at Coventry's Belgrade Theatre from Tues 1 to Sat 5 November

Reviewed by Sue Hull on Tuesday 30 August at Birmingham Hippodrome. Beautiful: The Carole King Musical continues to show at Birmingham Hippodrome until Saturday 3 September and returns to the Midlands from 1-5 November where it plays at Coventry's Belgrade Theatre.