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Tapestry Director: Matt Byrne Holden Street Theatres, Sat 12 Feb, Season closed  Three
days later and I still have half a dozen Carole King tunes buzzing
around in my head. Pardon your poor reviewer, but I had no idea that
Carole King was such a prolific and successful songwriter, as I knew
her formerly only for her 1971 hit album 'Tapestry', and her enormous
grin.Before I go on about the show, what ever happened to Carole King? Is she dead? Is she a relic from the past? She is very far from dead. Although her last CD, 'Love Makes The World' was released back in 2001 - 30 years after 'Tapestry' and under her own label, mind you - she did a huge American tour in 2004. Only she took time out to campaign with John Kerry in her adopted state of Idaho and performed at the Democratic National Convention where Kerry was nominated to run against Bush. King and James Taylor appeared with Democratic senators to promote a bill to protect the Rocky Mountains. And she had been on a visit to Cuba with American Congress members. As of March 2002 'Tapestry' had spent an amazing 472 weeks on Billboard's Top Pop Catalog Chart and at the time was #14! Although Carole King had many songwriting partnerships, the musical review called 'Tapestry' - recently presented at the Holden Street Theatres by Matt Byrne Media - focuses on the album and earlier songs written in collaboration with Gerry Goffin. Indeed, all the music in this concert is by Carole King with lyrics by Carole King and Gerry Goffin. You can hardly believe it's true - if you didn't already know - that this partnership produced songs from the '60s, like Chains, Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow (a hit for the Shirelles in 1960), Take Good Care Of My Baby, and Locomotion, and later, Up On The Roof, I Feel The Earth Move, Jazzman, Smackwater Jack ("You can't talk to a man/with a shotgun in his hand"), and You've Got A Friend - made famous by someone once described as the tear ducts of America, James Taylor. You will hear all of these and more when this show is reprised later this year. 'Tapestry' was created by Rowan Joseph, John Kroner and Jeffrey Martin for an off-Broadway season. Being essentially musical- and producer-types, the show was conceived as a straight-out songfest, and my guests and I were left crying out to know more about Carole King, as no biographical material is inherent in the show. What you get, though, is song after song after song that anyone like me, in their late 40s, would associate with a teenage struggle with their hormones. An album that has sold 25 million copies is obviously reaching more than one generation. At various times, many in the audience were tapping toes, waving arms, singing along, and even weeping - triggered by some memory. Director Matthew Byrne put together an incredibly strong cast of singers and a great band. My familiarity with the '70s songs that King recorded compelled me to believe that each of the female vocalists - Robyn Woolvett, Charissa Pitman and Christine Isemonger - sounded remarkably like Carole King. The ladies were superbly complemented by Michael Williams, Nick Brinkworth, and guess who? Matthew Byrne! While the rest of the cast sang with brilliance and verve, and re-created the songs with gusto, Byrne's voice was a little quiet and unsteady in his solos - whereas his tonal qualities contributed magnificently in chorus. Just as the carpet hanging off the wall behind the performers was not really a tapestry, Byrne was singularly outclassed in the vocals. Musical director Mike Pitman set a cracking pace. Liz Charlton played sax up front in Jazzman, and it's a pity there wasn't more opportunity for the musicians to feature. Robyn Woolvett's work as assistant director showed up in the bridge that she built between the band and the singers. Now I know a lot of the material is deep and meaningful, but something that was missing was a few smiles - often the lead singers and back-ups seemed to have such reverence for the material that they resembled a church choir. When the subtext - or sometimes just the text - of the songs was discovered, the brightness in their faces was inspiring. Byrne often appeared to be in another space entirely - so captivated was he by the catalogue of wondrously resonating hits. His generosity on the last night in thanking everybody in the show was sincere and moving. 'Tapestry' is simply a cavalcade of unstoppable hits performed with a lot of love. If you missed the '70s because you weren't here yet, you better catch up. If you were here, you will thoroughly enjoy, relish, and remember this show.  |
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