iTunes Exclusive Episode Beautiful The Carole King Musical

Greetings, Empire member and or members.
If you are hearing the sound of my voice, it means the following conditions have been
met.
That at least once in your life, you have listened to the Clubhouse podcast live every Sunday
night.
You are one-stop shop for all things pop culture, but it also means you subscribe
on iTunes because it's time for another R.I.Tunes exclusive.
The 200 and 12-one of these things.
We welcome you.
My name is Rob.
I am the executive producer of the Clubhouse podcast and what we are going to talk about
in this particular episode, kids I am very excited about.
But I am not alone for this particular one because I usually rarely am.
During me across the desk, he tends to do is a man whose life is a tapestry woven of his
own experiences.
He is chat, and I share your excitement and enthusiasm for this one.
Also joining us is the official fact checker of this show and a man who if you have ever
seen him at a buffet show, you would wonder if he feels like a natural woman because he
dresses like a mermaid.
You may know him as fun, don't go, but his mom and even don't want to call him
Don Ford.
And after that last show, it's officially retired and not just a mermaid, but I think
that's awesome.
The symbolism behind it, next year I am going to be a lost shaker of salt.
Actually, I think it is awesome to know you are retiring.
I am not here to judge him outwardly.
Nor am I.
Whenever we do one of these things, it is to review something in this particular episode
is no different.
Right now, we are going to review for you a musical that as we record this is playing
at the Winsphere Opera House in downtown Dallas.
It is the Tony Award winning beautiful, the Carol King musical.
Before we start this whole thing, you're as one person we have to thank.
Good old city Evans.
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
ATT pack and also the Winsphere for Biden's to this thing.
Thank you so much.
We cannot thank them enough for everything they do for us.
You've probably heard about it, so we're going to talk about it.
This is the musical based on a good chunk of the life of the great singer songwriter
Carol King starts about when she's 16 and runs up through about 72 right in that era.
So you're looking at a, you mean 1972?
1972.
1972.
Well, you said you started at the age of 16 through, at her age of 16, yes, through the year,
and not to the age of 70.
I see where the confusion can come into flight.
Let's just dive right into deep end because I was so excited to see his music on my huge
fan.
Tapestry is one of the great albums of our lifetime.
It got remastered in the late 90s.
It's the first album that's ever been covered every song in one time.
I mean, not the same recording, but you know, in the same order, it's called Tapestry
Revisited.
It was done in 1994.
And a lot of people know that, know her from that album, but they don't realize all
of the songs that she's written.
Yeah, how other art she goes.
Yeah, you know, dinner cohorts too.
Oh, absolutely.
I mean, she was, she skipped two grades and started college at the age of 16.
And, you know, living in New York sells her first song and then off she goes.
It also deals with her marriage to Jerry Goffin, very, I would say very frankly, very
honestly.
Yeah, doesn't really flinch when dealing with that relationship.
Like it's real in depth.
And let me just say this right now.
So far away is one of my favorite songs in the history of ever.
That is the very first song they play in this musical.
So you already have my attention.
Have the bargots set pretty quickly.
And then hearing songs as she wrote for people like the drifters, the charales, little
eva, the righteous brothers.
Actually, the shuffin.
He didn't write for the righteous brothers.
Oh, that was that.
Yeah, that was a random wheel.
Yeah, that was the wheel.
I'm very man.
I apologize.
But they were, they were featured.
Yeah, they were cohorts.
And a lot of this, and a lot of the plot deals with their relationship with the other
two.
Yeah, it's almost as much their stories.
It is hers in some respects.
Let's just, when we come into the end of the year, we always do our best of and worst
of lists.
Right now, as of the recording of this particular podcast on June the 9th, 2016, for
the year of our Lord, 2016, this is your silver metal placement right now for me this
year.
It's that good.
I think I'd have to agree with you probably.
Silver at least bronze, but probably.
I mean, if I've got to have any criticism of this film, because this may be a real
short episode, because there's just not much in the film.
I'm sorry.
Man, I'm, I'm, I'm just so excited I get flustered.
And if I've got one criticism I can say about this, it is there was one part where
I might cut out for like a second and a half.
Like that's all I can say.
That's all of the bad.
I can say about this production.
Yeah, you really have to, once again, you really have to dig to find something to find
a full of.
I mean, from a technical standpoint, it was outstanding.
From a performance at, uh, pit standpoint, it's outstanding.
From a, I mean, there's just nothing bad about this musical.
No.
And it's excited as I was going in, what did I say to you as we were walking
out there?
Remember what I said to you?
No.
The bar is said.
Yes.
Yeah.
And right now, for me, the only production we've seen this year that it barely comes next
to as far as by itself, my silver medal and not my gold is if then.
And it's not by much.
I mean, this could be one in one eight right now for me, for me.
I think, I think the gold medal is probably still going to go to wicked.
See, I didn't like it as much as you did.
I just thought it.
But it met my silver grade musical.
I'm going to get me wrong.
But, but you also didn't get a chance to see caparet.
And I think that you would almost put it in the same way.
But for my, you're list is going to, you guys, this is going to be a little bit
different than my course.
This was so amazing.
I was, I didn't know what to expect on this thing.
Was it?
Yeah, you weren't, you weren't a lot of, maybe, was it just like a concert or was it?
Yeah, you weren't real familiar with a lot of hurt catalogs or you weren't aware of that.
You were aware of, I'm like, you know, in their, in their, I was to say the group, you know,
the four people that really ever emphasized wheel and all them, like the righteous brothers
and all these other songs.
I'm like, and we can just, we can segue right into that.
The two guys that played the righteous brothers, Andrew Brewer, John Michael Diaz.
If you go to my written review at www.cubhouse.com
That's our website.
I said, that gave me chills.
That would, when they did, you asked that love and feeling and destroyed destroyed it.
They destroyed that room.
I was almost ready to do the Mamma Mia.
I was about ready to sing.
I was like, I was waiting for you to walk up to a girl, a lot of top gun in a little.
It was, that, I mean, and those guys, the music started and that place was already on fire.
Oh, yeah.
They belted it.
Yes, they did.
I love it.
This is one of the more unique opportunities to attend a musical, kind of similar to
Motown the musical last year, where the first couple of notes hit him.
You instantly hear people go, oh, yeah, and let's just get the big elephant out of the room,
Mueller.
Saving Mueller.
Oh, oh.
Playing.
Yeah.
And the Dallas Fort Worth area did awards for their, their musicals that have come through
town, which would be a virtual impossibility, because you'd have to get everybody back
in town or whatever.
She's on the list right now, best leading actress.
I'm saying it.
What impressed the, not out of me, is that she inherited this role from her sister?
Yes, she did.
Her sister originated the role on Broadway, I don't know if you read that one.
No, I didn't.
And it's written at his written review, which is a WWE WW dot the clubhouse podcast.
Which is our website.
Um, and I'm like, if she's this good, if Abby was this good, I would love to see
her sister's portrayal of it, because I, I kept having to remind myself,
I wasn't at a Carol King concert, or you weren't just watching a documentary.
Her characterization of Carol King is so flawless, I don't, I couldn't think of a,
a more fitting word for them and flawless.
And if you have to pick one number, because I already have the answer.
And that's why I'm asking you because I'm baiting it.
If you've got to pick one number that you see from, from a Carol King standpoint, that's
the most outstanding.
What is it?
You make me feel like a natural brother.
That is exactly what I was going to say.
That four part harmony, four people, and it's done in the scene where she's actually
recording the song, four tapestry, which again, one of the great albums of my lifetime.
When she started describing it, I leaned over to your plus one and say, hmm, one of
where we're going with this one.
See, there was that everywhere, there was two different ways it was going.
But when they, when they hit that opening cord, there's only one other person on God's
green earth that does that song as well as Carol King, and her name is a Rita Franklin.
Even though Celine Dion's version on tapestry revisited, not, not Shabby.
But to me, those are the two people that own that song.
And she, like, took it back for Carol King.
It was that good.
Don was anything, any specific numbers that stood out for you besides, you've lost a lot of
it.
Yeah, that's the one it really blew me.
But beyond that, it was just amazing.
I was just an ob, all these songs that they wrote, I had no idea.
That's why I put, you know, in my review, the unsung heroes, these writers are, who knew,
you know, and you probably think nowadays, what were the royalties back then on writing
verses, what they get now?
That was close.
Yeah.
I mean, they're probably making more now than when it came out.
Well, back then it was more you got paid up front, and the royalties weren't what
they are now.
Yeah.
But, yeah.
I mean, but also my non-leading roll shout out goes to Borel who played Don Kirchner,
he's just his character, the way he played it, the roar, the comedy, I like it.
I'm going to apologize you because I'm going to make a reference that Chad's the only
of the first one to do is going to get, you know who he reminded me of, the great comedian
Greg Hahn.
Hey.
Am I lying?
I see it.
Greg, John, just looking up on YouTube later, H-A-H-N, Greg Hahn.
When he first, he has that mannerism because he's always a tall guy, and he's kind
of a little stalky, and I was just waiting for, all right, everybody, Tuesday starts
going to weekend.
You know?
I've only seen one of the person portray him in any other form of media.
You remember whenever Gilda Radner did her one woman stage show, and they filmed it for
movie theaters?
Yes.
Paul Shafer played Don Kirchner.
Oh, really?
Hmm.
Hello, everyone.
So, when I see this guy playing, I was like, boy, you could not be any more unliked
Paul Shafer in YouTube.
I'd be immortal for his not the saying, not the saying, but he did a great job.
He was great.
Yeah.
He added a lot to the plot.
And one thing I liked is so many productions that we've seen in the past, they don't
really care about the plot.
The plot's a little side notice, mostly the singing.
This was a good mix of a good plot that kept me interested, plus a lot of good singing.
I thought the balance was incredible, a great storyline that kept me interested, to learn
about this lady and learn a lot about the music and everything, plus here great music.
It was a perfect mix, I thought.
And I've read other criticisms of this play and people were kind of taking it to the
task because the story wasn't deep enough.
I'm like, did you see the same thing I did?
Because if you go a little bit, I think they were kind of accusing it of not being dark
or serious enough.
I'm like, what are you kidding me?
They address an issue that a lot of people address that have struggled with it for
years.
And especially when ever this guy was dealing with it, it was something that they still didn't
even understand as well as that's understood today, dealing with depression and possibly
bipolar disorder.
They didn't call it what it was, and I think the way they handled it was, you didn't
want to make it about that.
Agreed.
And I think it was good that they addressed it, that they acknowledge it, they don't
ignore it, they don't gloss over it, and they don't necessarily sugarcoded either.
And I think if you're trying to make it any more serious than it was, it would just
be a real downer and you would walk out of their feeling kind of unfulfilled.
And not to be a spoiler, but when they talked about infidelity, I'm going to say it's
infidelity.
They really dove into that.
Yeah, they got dark.
I mean, there were a couple scenes for being a, you know, great musical, or they really
touched that issue and did it well.
And they did it with the issues in front of everybody, and a very, very, as if you can call
it an entertaining way, because it's still painful to look at when you know that, wow,
she really went through this and it sucks to think about it.
But she dealt with it, it made her a stronger person, actually.
And can I tell you, there's one song in this musical that I don't care who does it
as long as it's done well.
And that a lot of people think that there's a certain individual that wrote, I know where
you're going with it.
That she actually wrote the song.
You've got a friend, huh?
Is a song that absolutely destroys me.
Like, if you asked me what you asked me earlier, I thought maybe that's what you were
talking about.
You've got a friend is, you know, a lot of people like James Taylor because his version
is the most popular.
But she wrote it, but they were very, very close friends.
Yeah, he's the voice I hear when someone mentions it.
And that song just, it breaks me down on a molecular level, and the way the framework
that that song's put around in this, it just made, I'm getting a little choked up thinking
about it.
It's heartbreaking.
Yeah.
It's sweet, but it's a gorgeous song, but it's very specific to me to a very specific
time, and the portrayal of it in this production just makes it that much more.
Yeah.
It's, yeah, the music was just perfect at the right moments in this production.
One thing I have to go into though, not to go off in a different segue, but the set
in the look in the lighting.
There are three basic locations.
Yes.
Okay, their apartment or home, the studio in their house or whatever, but when they would go
into club, and then they would go to live performances in how they, that backdrop in just
minimal props, but the lighting.
When they went to a live performance, like their own, you know, oh, yeah, that lighting
in the back would just move me away.
My personal favorite is when they would transition between the two odd offices, and all
they'd really do is just rotate the piano and bring it to door.
Like I thought that was really nice.
Times out of 10, the scene was all about where the piano was located, where you knew
you were.
You didn't even need a set behind them.
If you knew that there was on stage right in this corner, then we're at Mom's house.
Or, you know, I may have the stage directions wrong, but you knew exactly where you were
because that's what the piano always was.
How when they're in the office, next thing you know, boom, their group comes out or the
babysitter thing.
Yeah.
Also move around, and they're on stage live, great lighting, just flawless, seamless transition.
And I got to say as far as song performances go, and the context and then how that song
was presented, I never thought one fine day could be portrayed in anything other than
an upbeat tone, and then you see it here what she does with it right before the curtain drops
on act one will rip your throat out.
It's, and again, from a musical standpoint, if I had to have a criticism, I wanted more.
Yeah.
That was my only criticism was that it ended, like I wanted more from tapestry.
Yeah, because you get a little bit of the title track, but it's done in transition by the
orchestra, who, by the way, was also amazing.
You ain't joking.
This, there's nothing about this I didn't absolutely love, like it just, yeah, my bar was
kind of here, and it just, here being, if I might as an audio media, yeah, I mean, I mean,
I mean, my bar was being, my bar was being first base, they hit a grand slam, yeah, this
I mean.
Do you realize what a, what a, what a huge thing this jukebox musical format has come
a chunk has become a juggernaut.
And we are in like, it's, it's prime right now, like it took off in the 90s, probably
with Mamma Mia.
That's when it really kind of started to rise under it.
And in the 2000s, like in the first decade, there was like, when I checked the, I am,
or the Wikipedia page on it, there was like a couple of dozen.
It went from like six to like 20 or 30, and we are like just a little over halfway through
the decade of the 2010s, and we're already on pace to pass the 2000s, as far as jukebox
musicals go.
And it is a winning format, and this is one of the best examples of this format in existence.
And if this is the way we're going to do it, keep it coming.
Yeah, this is the way it is to come in, because this was just absolutely amazing.
I mean, I want to see more examples of this.
I'm dying to see moving out at this point.
I'm dying to see we will rock you at this point.
Yeah.
It's driving me nuts.
I want to see rock of ages now.
Yeah, my plus one there the night, you remember who she is?
Ha ha ha.
No.
She goes, how did they move that stuff?
I go, they got wheels.
You know what I'm saying?
Well, that always freaks me out like whenever she's on stage, like when they transition
from the opening scene to flashback, and she didn't get up, she's still sitting at the
piano.
That thing's moving.
Yeah.
Nobody pushing it.
They're just moving.
And we want to, I really want to give some props to the backstage people, because how
quick did she have to pull a costume change?
Yeah.
And then get from stage left to behind the stage to come through the door as she meet,
we see her and her mother interact for the first time.
Yeah.
And if she wasn't actually playing that piano, she did a darn job of pedaling.
Some people were in some people, I know that they, I know that they want to train
them to Panama.
If they don't know what they're doing.
But I think she was really playing.
But again, she's still playing as the pianos being wheeled off.
And again, still going to make a costume change.
So yeah, that was, that was amazing.
I mean, it's still going.
And you know, she's up from that piano, switching out to her teenage dress.
I'm like, but she pulled me.
Yeah, it's going to be moving.
Absolutely destroyed it.
Yeah.
Like, yeah.
I was, you know, we got the curtain went up.
I'm like, you know, y'all could do this again.
I just took the game, because it was fine.
Did we really have to do a final analysis?
Yes.
Yeah, we did.
We don't even have to bother to say that it no were done here, because they're in,
that ain't going to be a factor.
But there are people that could be listening.
Yeah, yeah, first time.
Do we have to explain to them how this works?
I agree.
Because when we do our final analysis on this show, we're not going to give you
thumbs up thumbs down.
We're not going to give you letter grades, numbers, you know, scales, whatever.
Our audience whom we affectionately refer to as the Empire.
So welcome.
If you're hearing further first time, they want us to dig deeper.
So we're going to do that.
Normally, I would say two questions.
Question number one is, would you see this production again at the answers?
No, we're done here.
Trust me, we ain't done here.
So the answer is, yes, all the way around.
So the question to follow up question is going to be when it comes to stage productions.
We write it a little bit differently, because it's not like you can go get this at a red
box somewhere.
I wouldn't be surprised if you do in the next couple of years.
It's Tom Hanks's production company has, I don't have any more for theatricals.
But the question I'm going to ask these gentlemen is, where do you want to sit?
Because that will dictate how badly they want to see it again based on ticket price.
Don, let's start with you.
Where you want to sit for some definite to the S and sit, center anywhere, just get in.
Okay, chat.
Same as done.
Same as done.
I'd like to be a little bit closer if for no reason to block out the light from the
control booth.
See that didn't bother, because I'm always fascinated by that.
Sit on the roof.
I don't care.
But from the lobby on a screen, I don't care.
You have to see this.
Well, if I didn't, if I were not complaining where we got, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, yeah.
But anywhere, just get in, see this thing.
It's worth no matter what the ticket.
I'm happy to be in the same time zone this thing is playing.
Get a wire harness and hang from the shandlear.
I don't care.
Get in the building.
And again, we got to think Cindy Evans, everybody at ATT back in Winsperephone
Biden.
That's thank you so much, Cindy.
You guys are amazing.
This production absolutely melted my brain.
It is beautiful.
The Carol King musical.
And even if you don't live in the Dallas Fort Worth area, this is a national tour.
If it is coming to your section of the country, and when I posted that we were there on Facebook
the other night, there were people in my feet going, my mom saw it and loved it.
I went and saw it and loved it and my sister's cousins roommates best friend, loved it
and saw it.
12 Brazilian people can't be wrong.
It's all I'm saying.
Yeah.
Do yourself a favor.
If you don't think you're into this type of music, you're wrong.
Trust me, you are.
You just don't know.
And I was so pleasantly surprised.
Was I there.
There were things I knew, but there were still things I didn't know.
And I'm glad that I know them now.
And I may go just listen to my, because I've got to remaster a tapestry in my eye
pod.
That may be happening tonight.
I don't know.
If not tonight, maybe all of them have worked tomorrow.
Let's do the plugs.
Visit our website, www.theclubhousepodcast.com, find out everything you need to know
in some stuff.
You know, make sure you like our Facebook page, our Facebook page and our Instagram or
the same user.
It's the clubhouse podcast, put the word podcast on the end or it's something completely
different.
You can also follow us on Twitter at clubhouse show.
You can follow me on Twitter if you would like.
I'd be pretty cool with that.
Both my Twitter and my Instagram are at yes, that Rob Irvin, that is spelled ERV.
I am at chat in P.G.
Six nine on Twitter.
I might find go and you can email me at dawn at theclubhousepodcast.com.
Email dawn for information on how we can come to a live show for you.
We love doing live shows and hanging out with the empire.
You can email me if you'd like questions, comments, concerns, tell me to go pound
sand.
I am Rob at theclubhousepodcast.com.
I am chat at theclubhousepodcast.com.
Charlotte Parker is on Pinterest because we are morally obligated to say that.
And she actually sent me something she found on Pinterest, which I posted today, which is
going to be the next shirt I'm going to own.
And Jules Womick, I'm assuming she enjoyed this as well as she hangs out in the green room
as absolutely she did.
Our normal show is every Sunday night, 70's turn for Pacific, it is your one stop
shop for albing sports and entertainment or like we call it pop culture.
So until next time, for Chad, for Don, for the empire, I'm Rob, clubhouse is closed,
Brittany Palmer, go go dancer.