Carole: the Music of Carole King at The Playhouse, Weston

If the packed auditorium was anything to go by, there certainly are one hell of a lot of Carole King fans in North Somerset and each one of them was treated to a shedload of superb music at this performance.

The format was not quite what I was expecting, as it didn’t really focus on Carole’s personal life, but concentrated instead on the amazing outpouring of songs over a 60 year career … 118 in total!

The cast of Carole are all very talented singers and dancers, with great musical and comic timing, and I would struggle to acknowledge any one of them as the outstanding artiste of the show. They took us on a musical journey from the Tin Pan Alley days in partnership with Jerry Goffin right through to the Songbook tour of 2005, and I sang along every step of the way, much to the consternation of many people around me, as usual.

Many of the songs featured in the show came as a real surprise, as I had no idea that Carole King had written songs for the likes of Herman’s Hermits (I’m into Something Good) The Beatles (Chains) or Little Eva (The Loco-motion), and it was this very bouncy tune, written for her then babysitter, that really caused your ageing reviewer to show herself up.

I was so hemmed into my seat that leaping up to bop about didn’t seem a practical option, so all accompanying hip and hand moments to that tune had to be done seated, and my apologies are due to the gentleman to my left whose ice cream was nearly bounced out of his hand as a result!

I am definitely getting old, as I seemed to know every word to every song and all the familiar songs from the Tapestry album took me back to first love and a wonderful time in my life … deep sigh here, folks.

This show is a joyous celebration of a song writing legend and everybody was still singing along as we left the theatre, so a great time was obviously had by all.

Yet another triumphant entry into The Playhouse’s impressive repertoire of entertainment … let’s hope this show will be back soon!

See what else is on at The Playhouse, Weston