'Beautiful' Is About Much More Than Carole King
DENVER (CBS4)- "Beautiful: The Carole King Musical" is a show with four stories-- not just centering on the singer-songwriter but how the music of the time was created.
It's the story of the Brill Building in New York which was the center of the American sound in the 50s and 60s.
The Brill Building was located at 1619 Broadway on 49th Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, just north of Times Square.
It's a story of arpeggio songwriters willing to toss their best friend off the train for their next hit.
It's also the story of Carole King with and without her songwriter partner then husband Gerry Goffin, finding her way in the music industry.
And it's the story of Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann, top songwriters themselves who were best friends with Carole and Gerry, despite the competition for the next big hit.
"We're still friends to this day so you can see how deep it really was," said Mann.
"It's been a long haul and now that we look back on it, I think we love each other more because we realize how long it's been and what we've all gone through together," said Weil.
"It's really family, we're like family," said Mann.
But the competition was often just that, hot, heated and out for blood.
"We actually took vacations together and not only because we were friends but because we wanted to be sure they weren't writing when we were on vacation," said Weil.
The focus is on these four songwriters, the music of the time and the creative atmosphere of the Brill Building.
Beautiful: The Carole King Musical opens at the Buell Theatre on July 19.