Broadway's Beautiful welcomes Jessica Keenan Wynn

Beautiful - The Carole King Musical welcomes back Jessica Keenan Wynn to the role of Cynthia Weil tonight at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre - a role she already covered for six months in 2015 during Tony nominee Anika Larsen's maternity leave. Larsen's final performance as Weil took place on 24 April 2016.

Jessica Keenan Wynn made her off-Broadway debut in the musical adaptation of the cult-classic film 'Heathers,' starring as Heather Chandler at New World Stages. Previously, she toured the US and Canada in the 25th Anniversary Production of 'Les Misérables.'

The current principal cast of Beautiful - The Carole King Musical includes Chilina Kennedy (Carole King), Scott J. Campbell (Gerry Goffin), Jessica Keenan Wynn (Cynthia Weil), Ben Jacoby (Barry Mann), Paul Anthony Stewart (Don Kirshner), and Liz Larsen (Genie Klein).

Directed by Marc Bruni, Beautiful - The Carole King Musical features music by Carole King, Gerry Goffin, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil with a book by Douglas McGrath.

Beautiful - The Carole King Musical opened at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre on 12 January 2014, following previews from 21 November 2013. It is now taking bookings through to 27 November 2016.

Synopsis: "Beautiful - The Carole King Musical charts the rise of the famous singer-songwriter as she goes from being Carol Klein, a simple girl from Brooklyn to an international recording artist. It shows her fighting her way into the record business as a teenager and, by the time she reached her twenties, had the husband of her dreams and a career writing hits for the biggest acts in rock 'n' roll."

The creative team features choreography by Josh Prince, scenic design by Derek McLane, costume design by Alejo Vietti, lighting design by Peter Kaczorowski, and sound design by Brian Ronan.

The musical opened on Broadway to generally positive reviews, with most critics praising the music and performances whilst finding the book ad staging weak: "Friendly, formulaic bio-musical" (NY Times); "Marc Bruni's production only occasionally resurrects the bubbly verve and energy of those glorious songs"(NY Post); "If you go to "Beautiful" for the songs, you'll probably have a great time. Just don't expect anything more"(Record).

It received two Tony Awards at the 2014 ceremony, including Best Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical for the show's star Jesse Mueller who sang live with Carole King at the awards.

Beautiful - The Carole King Musical is produced on Broadway by Paul Blake and Sony/ATV Music Publishing.

- by Dom O'Hanlon