Beautiful - Cultural Arts Playhouse Syosset | 9.21.25

The Cultural Arts Playhouse in Syosset is currently producing the Broadway hit “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical” from September 20th to October 19th - and this is no ordinary jukebox musical! It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of most jukebox musicals because I do love the fluff…but this musical is so much more than that. “Beautiful” gives us a special look into Carole King’s life through the music she wrote with her partner Gerry Goffin (partner professionally and personally) and depicts their relationship and career in a beautiful way.

Pun, intended.

So let’s get into it!

For those who don’t know, Carole King has written some of the most recognizable songs - many of which you may not know she was behind. Her songwriting credits are attached to hits from The Shirelles, to The Drifters, and to The Righteous Brothers and they are all front and center in this musical. The story begins with Carole (played in this performance by Samantha Eagle) telling her mother Genie (Carmela Newman) that she is going to the city to try and sell one of her songs to music publisher Don Kirschner (Mike Newman) and sings “It Might As Well Rain Until September” for him - which he takes with the hope that there is more to come. Eagle’s talent is on full display early on, especially after opening the show with “So Far Away”; she makes it abundantly clear why she secured this role in the first place. 

A wonderful start to the show - setting the bar high!

Shortly after Don takes her song, she meets Gerry Goffin (played in this performance by Jesse Pimpinella) and they decide to team up. Their song “Some Kind of Wonderful” is given to The Drifters and their success story begins. One of the things that is so fun to watch in this musical is that you get to see many of these songs done in two different ways; we see Carole and Gerry singing the song how they originally wrote it and then The Drifters (portrayed by Shiloh Bennett, Mark Weekes, Justin Johnson, and Pat Marcelin) step out and perform their version of the song. Super fun!

Samantha Eagle, Jesse Pimpinella.

Photo Credit: Diane P. Marmann

Once things are moving with Carole and Gerry, they fall into a friendly competition with fellow songwriters Cynthia Weil (played by Sydnee LaBuda) and Barry Mann (Domenick Napoli) and this was a pleasure to watch develop. LaBuda and Napoli had exceptional chemistry together and paired quite nicely on numbers like “He’s Sure the Boy I Love” and “Walking in the Rain.” I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the friendship between Carole and Cynthia as well. While they were competing songwriters, they had really nice moments together as women that were quite endearing - all to the credit of Eagle and LaBuda. Additionally, I was completely blown away by Napoli’s vocals on Act 2’s “We Gotta Get Out of This Place”! The only way to describe his voice is sick. I truly can’t think of a more appropriate adjective. Just spot on, absolutely incredible. Equally impressive is LaBuda’s “Happy Days Are Here Again”! She is a force to be reckoned with and you cannot help but get excited anytime she walks on stage. She commands it and you cannot keep your eyes off her!

Sydnee LaBuda.

Photo Credit: Diane P. Marmann

I don’t want to dive into too many additional plot points because I don’t want to remove the value of seeing this for yourself, but I’m happy to say that strong vocals didn’t end there! 

Thankfully, since music of this quality really calls for nothing less.

The Drifters were amazing and I especially loved “On Broadway” and “Up on the Roof” with Pimpinella. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing Pimpinella perform for years and this was one of my favorite roles I’ve seen him in. The Shirelles (portrayed by Steffy Jolin, Reg Brickhouse, Ayana Franck, Kassandra Thompson) were equally strong and Jolin led the popular song “One Fine Day” amazingly. Another favorite performance from a performer I’ve seen for years! This was my first experience with “Beautiful” so I’m not sure if this was the director’s choice or if this is how the show is always done, but I enjoyed the fact that with each number The Drifters or The Shirelles sang, a different member of the group sang lead. It was refreshing to see everyone get a shot and nobody dropped the ball. We even got a glimpse at The Righteous Brothers (portrayed by Patrick Silk and Andrew J. Koehler) singing alongside Barry (Napoli) in Act 1 that was quite a treat.

On the creative end of things, Director Bruce Grossman clearly understood the assignment. Having been in a number of BG productions in the past I can confidently say this had his style all over it - the transitions were clean and smooth which I *always* appreciate and his casting was perfect. We had couches and set pieces flying on and off stage rapidly and at no point did scene changes drag things out. Thanks to Danielle Coutieri, the choreography was clean and in sync and Rich Giordano’s Music Direction was perfect for this production; the band sounded great and the vocals were strong with clear harmony.

Which again, super necessary with high quality music from a writer like Carole King.

All in all, CAP Syosset’s production of “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical” was a delight and there’s something here for everyone - a charming story, comedic moments, and great music! They will be running on the mainstage until October 19th and tickets can be purchased at the box office or via their website at cap.booktix.com.

Jesse Pimpinella, Domenick Napoli, Samantha Eagle.

Photo Credit: Diane P. Marmann

Cast:

CAROLE - SAMANTHA EAGLE, HANNAH PIPA

GERRY - JESSE PIMPINELLA, SEAN RYAN

CYNTHIA - JENNA HALVORSEN, SYDNEE LABUDA

BARRY - DOMENICK NAPOLI, RICH GIORDANO (U/S)

DON KIRSCHNER - STEVE BRUSTEIN, MIKE NEWMAN

GENIE - DIANE P. MARMANN, CARMELA NEWMAN

THE SHIRELLES

• JANELLE - DEZ HAMILTON, STEFFY JOLIN

• SHIRLEY - REG BRICKHOUSE

• DORIS - AYANA FRANCK, SHERISE THOMAS

• BEVERLY - NICOLE CLAUSSELL, KASSANDRA THOMPSON

RIGHTEOUS BROTHERS - ANDREW J. KOEHLER, PATRICK SILK, JOHN DELGENIO (U/S)

THE DRIFTERS - SHILOH BENNETT, JERMAINE CARROLL, JUSTIN JOHNSON, PAT MARCELIN, MARK WEEKS

BETTY / MARILYN / ENSEMBLE - RACHAEL NADELL, CARLY SPADAFORA

LUCILLE / ENSEMBLE - SHARYN GLOWATZ

STAGE MANAGER / ENSEMBLE - MELANIE JOLLEY

Creative Team:

DirecTOR - BRUCE GROSSMAN

Choreographer - DANIELLE COUTIERI

Music Director - RICH GIORDANO

Stage Manager - DIANE P. MARMANN

Band:

DIRECTOR/Keyboard - ADAM SLAWITSKY

BASS - ETHAN MASCARENAS

GUITAR - JOEY SHEEHAN

TROMBONE - ALBERT SAINTILUS

TRUMPET - JUSTIN WHEELER

DRUMS - KEVIN BONILLA

REEDS - OSCAR MUNGUIA