A superb cast and innovative staging do everything they can to liven up a mid-20th century musical with still-resonant themes, but dated dialogue and showtunes. By Natasha.

You know it’s an amazing piece of musical theatre when you immediately book to go again as you leave!  With a straightforward yet nuanced narrative, a profusion of exceptional songs and supremely talented performers, the current UK tour production Beautiful - The Carole King Musical is not to be missed. 

It’s not giving anything away to say that Beautiful tells the life of singer/songwriter Carole King’s journey from schoolgirl composer to Carnegie Hall performer. As well as its inevitable focus on King, however, the production also fleshes out a biography into a USA pop history spectacle, packed to the rafters with musical hits.

The music speaks for itself - sublime pop songs from the 1960s that are simultaneously fresh and familiar, with elegant composition and sweeping melodies. Cleverly juxtaposing the composer/lyricist partnership of King and Gerry Goffin with that of Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil is a fantastic dramatic device that also ensures that the tunes never stop. We hurtle through Take Good Care of My Baby, Who Put the Bomp?, Will You Love Me Tomorrow?, The Locomotion, You’ve Lost that Lovin’ Feelin’ and many more. 

The music is wonderfully combined with the drama, each seamlessly intertwining with the other, whether in the Hit Parade numbers being brought to life during their composition, or using a cacophony of instrumentation to echo a character’s personal difficulties. Although the music is not designed to illustrate or progress the plot, the songs are often well-placed, such as You've Got a Friend which is used to tremendous effect. This ensures that the show is emotive in all the right places. A tearjerker at times, but ultimately feel good. 

The live music with its lush harmonics may well be the heart of the show, but the actors and musicians who bring it to life are truly the stars. All the cast are fantastic, although Seren Sandham-Davies’ luminous Cynthia Weil and Amena El-Kindy’s touring debut as Little Eva stand out. My favourite portrayal, however, is Cutler’s magnificent interpretation of Carole King. She is so good that she seems to effortlessly slip into the role and simply become another person, as easily as stepping into a pair of the comfy, blue jeans the character sometimes wears. It is almost unbelievable how well she inhabits the role, giving a consummate dramatic and musical masterclass, with a sensational voice that conveys, by turns, lilting country, throaty rock, perfect pop, and constant soul. Her well-honed interactions with Tom Milner (another accomplished performer) as Gerry Goffin ensure that the audience engages with their characters, wanting to know what happens next rather than merely being entertained by a jukebox of hits.

A piece of theatre that has always inspired me due to its exceptional and impossible writing is Michael Frayn's Noises Off; the way Frayn created a setting where we see the action go from on to off stage, set over the same timeframe in the form of the first act of a show, is how I imagine Henry Shields took inspiration from when writing Good Luck, Studio. There are subtle hints that we can compare between the two, and both excel in ramping up tension and emotion as stakes are raised, with the genre of farce explored in its purest form. 

Since Peaky Blinders first aired on BBC Two in 2013 it has become a worldwide phenomenon with fans from around the world making their way to London to take part in the immersive experience, The Rise. After opening in the Summer of this year, it received a mixed bag of reviews and I for one was extremely intrigued and excited to see what all the fuss was about.

Written by Katie Lyons and directed by Tom Maller, Peaky Blinders The Rise is a loud, intense, captivating and truly immersive experience which has captured the aspects of the TV show brilliantly. From the stunning set and costume design by Rebecca Brower to the incredible lighting package created and designed by Terry Cook, this whole production has been a team effort, one that has complemented each department fantastically. 

Peaky Blinders: The Rise's storyline itself is quite loose which allows visitors to shape their own experience, something which I wasn’t too keen on. As groups of people were pulled away by different performers, I often questioned what I was missing out on and how that affects the storyline. I was left with a little bit of a sour taste in my mouth as although I was invited along to experience this, tickets are not cheap, and you really need to come multiple times to truly experience the full production. This did not take away from the extremely talented group of performers who live and breathe the characters for 2 hours!