Merideth Kaye Clark recalls listening to Carole King while driving in the family car, never remembering a time when she didn’t know every song from the singer/songwriter’s smash second album “Tapestry.”
What the now-noted actress, singer and musician wasn’t aware of was how many songs King wrote before that album, which would go on to sell an estimated 75 million copies worldwide.
On Friday, July 19, Tigard’s Broadway Rose Theatre Company’s “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical” opens at the Deb Fennell Auditorium, with Clark in the lead role. A preview performance is set for 7:30 p.m. Thursday, July 18, but ticket availability is limited.
'Make good music, be a good person'
A Southeast Portland resident, Clark said she’s “beyond excited” about the musical, which tells the story of King’s life from about age 16 and into her late 20s, including a renowned performance at Carnegie Hall. The entire score features music and lyrics of King as well as those of luminaries such as Gerry Goffin, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil.
Clark said King’s noted writing and performing of her own music was something that occurred in the second half of her career, the first being writing music for other people.
“She was not the featured performer. She was the one in the room writing the songs, and then they would find other artists to sing it and that’s the story that we're telling — her work that she did, really creating work, music for other people. And then we see the other people sing (that).”
Clark also did her homework when preparing for her role as King by reading her autobiography: “A Natural Woman: A Memoir” as well as listening to the Audible version read by the singer herself. Clark's takeaway is that King “really just wanted to make good music, and wanted to be a good person, and always wanted to do the right thing and that has really, really struck me.”
“She’s just honest and says what she means and is frank. I find that really refreshing and delightful, and I think that’s how her music is too,” Clark said.
That onstage music will include a “heaping handful” of fan favorites including “One Fine Day,” “Natural Woman,” “We’ve Got to Get Out of This Place,” “You’ve Got a Friend,” “Take Good Care of My Baby” and more, most written in the 1960s and 1970s.
“It’s a lot of me but it’s a lot of other people too,” said Clark, a Southeast Portland resident, adding that she’s accompanied by a group of “amazing other artists” who will sing those tunes as well.
From science to the arts for Clark
Well-suited to the role of King, Clark has spent her entire career in music and theater, saying her heart and soul are on stage when she performs.
But her road to the theater was not a direct one.
The Missouri-born native studied neuroscience and behavioral biology at Emory University.
However, with music always looming in her background, she moved to New York City to take a musical theater class, receiving the encouragement she needed to make that dream a reality. Clark would go on to get a master’s degree in musical theater at San Diego State University before moving to New York City where she spent about 11 years before moving to Oregon.
Over the years, she has performed in numerous theaters throughout the country.
When not acting, Clark is half of the folk-Americana duo Siren Songs. She’s currently developing a new musical, serving as its producer and also is in the process of reviving the Barbra Streisand/Judy Garland concert “Happy Days are Here Again,” which she does with Susannah Mars and Stephanie Lynne Smith.
“We created that about five years ago, and Clackamas Repertory asked us to bring it back for one night, and so I'll be doing that later this summer too,” Clark said.
Her television credits include “Portlandia” and the Emmy-nominated “Documentary Now!”
Prepare to be wowed
A longtime fan of the Broadway Rose Theatre Company (though this is her first performance with them), Clark said she loves everything there, from its beautiful facilities to the supportive people and amazing talent Oregon’s premier musical theater company possesses.
“I mean, top to bottom, the production value is just top notch and like what you would see it at the highest caliber theaters around, so it's a real treat to work there,” Clark said.
In addition, she is impressed with the set design.
“It’s the biggest set I’ve ever been on,” said Clark. “It is two stories … like a major, major undertaking set that they built, and it’s fantastic.”
Meanwhile, Clark said “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical” director Lyn Cramer is “so fun to work for” and she called costumer Allison Dawe’s creations incredible.
Sharon Maroney, Broadway Rose Theatre Company’s artistic director, said audiences can be expected to be “wowed” by the performance.
“One of the best things about running a theater is that you get to produce shows that you know will transport your audience,” Maroney said in a statement.
Performances of “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical” runs through Aug. 18. Deb Fennell Auditorium is located at 9000 S.W. Durham Road.
Tickets are $35 to $70 depending on the date. Visit broadwayrose.org .
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