Yeadon Town Hall, Leeds – until 15 June 2019
Reviewed by Debra Shaw
4****
Prepare to be thoroughly entertained as you watch a celebration of the world famous, Grammy award winning American songstress Carole King. This brand new production takes you on the musical journey through her life.
From the newly formed Yeadon Town Hall Productions comes a musical revue that will delight Carole King fans and surely make new ones as it takes The Carole King Songbook on its UK tour at the end of June. Carole King’s hit music career spans decades, the show spotlights her work not only as a solo artist but her many songs, made hits by the likes of Neil Sedaka, the Drifters, Aretha Franklin, and the Beatles to name but a few.
The songs are performed by 4 talented artists, whose vocals showcase Carole’s amazing work wonderfully. Eve Rhianna Kitchingham, Kara Mottram, Thomas Lillywhite and Danny Dixon work in harmony together to entertain the mixed audience of young and old. They perform hits such as: Da Doo Ron Ron, Stairway to Heaven, Some Kind of Wonderful, (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman, Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow, You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling and You’ve Got a Friend and many more. With stunning visuals provided by the LED wall as their backdrop, impressive lighting and accompanying musicians The Carole King Songbook is not be missed. The unplanned encore was testament to this with the audience shouting for more until they got it! Although during the first half of the show it would have been good to see pictures of Carole King on the LED wall to accompany the narrative elements.
Having been a previous visitor to Yeadon Town Hall, I was impressed with the recent and still ongoing refurbishment, and what the Yeadon Town Hall CIC is aiming to do for the local area is admirable.