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| kayla rivera with broadway actor nick varrichio |
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| the real carole king |
KAYLA RIVERA is back in town to play the title role in Atlantis’ latest production, “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical”. She left Manila in 2015 to pursue her college degree majoring in Communications and Culture and minor in Economics at the University of Calgary in her native Canada, but she was back briefly last year to star in “Side Show”. She says she was pleasantly surprised when Atlantis’ top honcho, Bobby Garcia, called her up in Canada early this year to inform her that she was the one chosen to play the legendary Carole King.
“I cried tears of joy when I learned about it as it’s beyond my wildest dreams,” she says. “ I’ll forever be thankful to Director Bobby Garcia for giving me the chance to play this dream role. I had to really prepare hard to be sure I’d give justice to the role since Ms. King is a living legend. I watched her interviews, her concerts to immerse myself in her fantastic music. It’s really an honor to be playing her on stage.”
“Beautiful” is a jukebox musical with book by Douglas McGrath. It chronicles the early life and career of Carole King, using songs she herself wrote, often with her husband, Gerry Goffin. It started showing in Broadway in January 2014 and has been a worldwide hit since then, with the Westend production in London starting in February 2015. Among the popular songs included in the musical are “You’ve Got a Friend,” “One Fine Day,” “So Far Away,” “Take Good Care of My Baby,” “Up on the Roof,” “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling,” “Will You Love Me Tomorrow,” and “Natural Woman.”
Also in the cast of “Beautiful” are Broadway actor Nick Varrichio as Gerry, Carole’s husband; Mikkie Bradshaw-Volante as Cynthia Weil, Carole’s friend and rival, George Schulze as Barry Mann; Gab Pangilinan, Marilyn Wald, Jill Peña, Janelle Woods and Teetin Villanueva as members of the Shirelles; Tim Pavino, Arman Ferrer, Jep Go, and Markus Mann as members of the Drifters; Maronne Cruz as Betty, King’s childhood best friend; and Jamie Wilson and Carla Guevara-Laforteza as Don Kirshner and Genie Klein. The show starts running tonight at the Meralco Theatre until July 7. Don’t miss it!!!!