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Feel the earth move as sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Little Theatre brings 鈥淏eautiful: The Carole King Musical,鈥� to its stage.

The production features some of King鈥檚 most beloved songs, including 鈥淪o Far Away,鈥� 鈥淲ill You Love Me Tomorrow,鈥� 鈥淣atural Woman鈥� and 鈥淵ou鈥檝e Got a Friend,鈥� while tracing the singer鈥檚 evolution from a shy 16-year-old songwriter to a Grammy-winning solo artist.

鈥淏eautiful鈥� also follows King鈥檚 rocky relationship with her musical collaborator and first husband, Gerry Goffin, as well as her many collaborations with Black artists during the Civil Rights era.

Director Celena Cox said she took a 鈥渉istory nerd鈥� approach to the script, doing extensive research to ensure that her production would 鈥渉onor the music鈥� and portray the real-life musicians as accurately as possible.

鈥淲hat was important to me was honoring all of the stories that are being told. Because it isn鈥檛 just Carole鈥檚 story. She鈥檚 the story we鈥檙e focusing on, but there鈥檚 also Gerry鈥檚 story. He struggles with mental illness and substance abuse throughout the show,鈥� Cox said. 鈥淎nd then there鈥檚 the stories of The Drifters and The Shirelles and Little Eva. The Shirelles aren鈥檛 as well known as The Supremes, and The Drifters aren鈥檛 as well known as The Temptations, who became very popular in the later 鈥�60s and early-鈥�70s. But these are the acts that set the groundwork for those groups.鈥�

One of the things that surprised Cox most in her research was learning 鈥渏ust how shy of a person Carole really is at heart.鈥�

鈥淪he didn鈥檛 want to be a solo act. She just wanted to raise her kids in the suburbs and write her music. She鈥檚 such an icon of rock now that it鈥檚 hard to square that, but what she really wanted, more than anything, was a quiet, sedate life,鈥� Cox said. 鈥淭he actress Anna Wilson has been doing a really beautiful job exploring that side of Carole, and that side of herself, as well.鈥�

In addition to directing, Cox is an experienced intimacy coordinator, which she said helped in this production.

鈥淚 did chemistry building between her (Wilson) and Jason Roman, who鈥檚 my Gerry Goffin, and they both really leaned into it. They have not held themselves back at all,鈥� she said.

Although the relationship between King and Goffin was often 鈥渞eally difficult,鈥� Cox said she didn鈥檛 want Goffin to come off as a one-dimensional villain in the story of King鈥檚 life.

鈥淛ason鈥檚 sensitivity and the thoroughness that he鈥檚 approaching Gerry Goffin鈥檚 mental illness in the show is really beautiful,鈥� Cox said.

The set of 鈥淏eautiful鈥� is a two-level structure that鈥檚 meant to evoke New York City鈥檚 Brill Building, which was considered the center of the American music industry in the 1960s. For Cox, the set becomes a character in its own right.

鈥淚t takes up the entire stage,鈥� Cox said. 鈥淲e wanted that sense of everything being close and chaotic and full, to create this sense that you鈥檙e in Manhattan with these artists.鈥�

Cox has directed many musicals and operas over the years, and she has developed some effective techniques for helping singers connect emotionally with the music.

鈥淢y voice teacher in grad school made us monologue all of our songs before we could perform them as singers,鈥� Cox said. 鈥淭hat really forces a singer to connect with the text, and to connect with the emotional journey of the text 鈥� to put the music aside for a minute and just focus on lyrics. That鈥檚 something that I talked about with my actors, and that we worked on.鈥�

鈥淭hat鈥檚 the first step. The second step is really thinking about the music that鈥檚 being played. Sometimes it can feel like, oh, we鈥檙e just repeating the same phrase over and over just because they needed to fill time. But, no, there鈥檚 always a reason to repeat a phrase. There鈥檚 always a reason for an embellishment,鈥� Cox said. 鈥淔inding those reasons in the context of the music, and in the context of the emotional journey of the song, is really important.鈥�

ALT brings singer-songwriter Carole King to life with 'Beautiful'