Sarah Bockel as Carole King. Photo by Matthew Murphy.
Chicago-based actor Sarah Bockel (above, photo by Matthew Murphy) has moved up in the company.
Bockel was an ensemble player in the national tour of "Beautiful: The Carole King Musical," which played Minneapolis' Orpheum Theatre in November 2015. Now, she's headlining the show, playing the legendary singer-songwriter herself in the return engagement that opened Monday at the Orpheum.
The actor flies over a trap that can snare others who star in shows about well-known characters.
In her moving performance, Bockel doesn't do an impression of King, a Brooklyn reared songwriter with a honkytonk soul. She does an interpretation, and a splendid one at that.
The actor channels the heartbreak and longing that characterizes so much of King's work.
True, if she wanted to, Bockel and her capable castmates could coast. King wrote 118 songs that charted on the Billboard 100, including "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman," "You've Got a Friend" and "Will You Love Me Tomorrow." Her influence is deep in the DNA of the culture.
And the songs, under the spirited baton of conductor Susan Draus, tug memories for folks of a certain age.
