Ogunquit Playhouse adds musical to its 90th Anniversary season

OGUNQUIT, Maine — Ogunquit Playhouse, the crown jewel of the Maine Southern Seacoast, has announced the regional premiere of Beautiful – The Carole King Musical, which will join the 2022 season, playing Sept. 15 to Oct. 30.

With a book by Douglas McGrath, Beautiful features music and lyrics by Gerry Goffin and Carole King and Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. The production will open Sept. 24. Additional creative team and casting will be announced later.

Beautiful tells the inspiring true story of King’s remarkable rise to stardom, from being part of a hit songwriting team with her husband Gerry Goffin, to her relationship with fellow writers and best friends Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann, to becoming one of the most successful solo acts in popular music history. Along the way, she made more than beautiful music; she wrote the soundtrack to a generation. Featuring a stunning array of beloved songs, including “I Feel the Earth Move,” “One Fine Day,” “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” “You’ve Got a Friend” and the title song, “Beautiful.”

Clue, previously scheduled to close out Ogunquit Playhouse’s 2022 season, will now be part of the 2023 season. Carson Kressley (Ogunquit’s Damn Yankees, Drowsy Chaperone) and Sally Struthers (Ogunquit’s Young Frankenstein, 42nd Street) are expected to star in the hilarious stage adaptation of everyone’s favorite board-game-turned-comedy-classic.

Ogunquit’s 90th Anniversary season kicked off with the regional theater premiere of The Cher Show (through June 25), the Tony Award-winning bio musical straight from Broadway, followed by The Nutty Professor (July 1 to Aug. 6), the musical adaptation of Jerry Lewis’ beloved film comedy featuring Marvin Hamlisch’s final score, with book and lyrics by Rupert Holmes. Just before Beautiful takes the stage, Ogunquit will showcase the world premiere of BD Wong and Wayne Barker’s Mr. Holland’s Opus (Aug. 12 to Sept. 10). Meanwhile, the Playhouse Arts Academy is offering up three new-to-Ogunquit productions of Disney’s Moana Jr (July 16 to 17), Disney’s Descendants: The Musical (July 30 to 31), and Roald Dahl’s James and the Giant Peach (Aug. 27 to 28).

Mainstage performances run Wednesdays and Thursdays (2 p.m., 8 p.m.), Fridays (8 p.m.), Saturdays (2 p.m., 8 p.m.), Sundays (2 p.m.), with occasional Tuesday and Sunday evenings. Arts Academy performances run select Saturdays (10 a.m., 1 p.m.) and Sundays (10 a.m.). Visit ogunquitplayhouse.org/2022-season for the full season schedule.

Tickets are available for purchase online at tickets.ogunquitplayhouse.org, by phone Monday through Friday (10 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET) at 207-646-5511, and in-person at the Playhouse Box Office Window (10 Main St., Ogunquit, ME 03907). For more information, visit ogunquitplayhouse.org.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Ogunquit Playhouse adds musical to its 90th Anniversary season