CLO Opens ‘Beautiful: The Carole King Musical’ at Benedum (Tues., 6/23/26)

June 21, 2026/Mike Vargo

Theatrically speaking, a “jukebox musical” is one that uses existing songs while a “bio-musical” tells the story of a real person or persons, and often a show is not both. Example: Mamma Mia! uses the songs of ABBA but does not tell the story of ABBA, since that much ABBA might be too much ABBA. Ah, but Beautiful: The Carole King Musical is both. It traces the renowned pop artist’s rise from hit songwriter to performer of hits that she wrote, co-wrote, or had written for her. Beautiful features more than two dozen Carole King songs, including “So Far Away,” “I Feel the Earth Move,” “One Fine Day” (which she co-wrote for The Chiffons), and more. The show—by Douglas McGrath, with songs by King, Gerry Goffin, Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, and others—opened on Broadway in 2014 and was nominated for seven Tony Awards, winning two. The CLO has Beautiful at the Benedum Center through June 28. 7:30 p.m. 237 7th St., Cultural District. (M.V.)