Okee dokee folks… Tonight, at Theatre By The Sea in Matunuck, was the world premiere of You’ve Still Got a Friend: A Musical Tribute to the Lives and Friendship of Carole King and James Taylor.
You’ve Still Got A Friend is not entirely what you would think it would be — a tribute show to King and Taylor; it is more. The performance is a journey through the lives, influences, and music of the two artists.
Before the show, General Manager Karen Kessler and Theatre owner, Bill Hanney spoke to the crowd. Hanney talked about shows that MAY be part of next year’s line up: Funny Girl, Come From Away and Les Mis. Karen mentioned that even though you may want to sing along to the show, please refrain, out of respect for the performers unless they encourage it! I am sure it was tough for most of the audience, but they complied.
The night started with Hunter Brown, who sings James Taylor, standing at the front of the stage, solo, playing guitar and singing “Carolina In My Mind.” Slowly, one by one, the band members stepped onto the stage and joined in. When that song ended, Allie Seibold, who sings Carole King, launched right into, “I Feel The Earth Move.”
This is where the show veered off from being a straight-ahead tribute show. Hunter and Allie addressed the audience directly and began to trade stories about Carole King and James Taylor. They introduced themselves as Hunter and Allie, not James and Carole, and explained what they would be doing. It was like a conversation, with music, that the audience was part of.
As they told the individual stories they added songs that went along with the topic at hand but had relevance to King and Taylor. This sometimes had them singing songs that seemed out of place, like the snippet from South Pacific. Show tunes were an early influence on them both. Other songs were included because they were written by one of them but covered by another artist or were written by another artist about them. Every song was germane in some way.
Not all of the singing was done by Hunter and Allie. Their band, made up of: drums – Louis Tucci; guitar – Seth Eliser; keys – Sophie Amelkin; bass – Bobby Brennan; and two back up singers – Elizabeth Nestlerode and Charlie Wehde, had all but Brennan and Tucci singing lead on some of the night’s numbers. The best of the bunch, besides the leads, was Sophie Amelkin when she sang the Aretha version of “Natural Woman”.
There was a lot of story telling and a lot of music. Some of the tales were funny, some sad. Thirty two songs were covered, from classic hits to a couple of lesser known songs, during the 2 hour show.
No one in the show tries to look or sound exactly like any of the tributed artists. Hunter and Allie’s voices have the feel and remind you of James and Carole, but they are not mimicking the sound. It doesn’t matter as their performances are wonderful.
The audience gave this one a rousing standing ovation and stayed on their feet for the last couple of numbers. It was an interesting and highly entertaining show. If you are a fan of JT or Carole King you should make time for You’ve Still Got A Friend.
The show runs until September 13 and closes out the 2026 Theatre By The Sea season. For more, “Locomotion” over to theatrebythesa.com
That’s it for now. You can listen to my podcasts at motifri.com/rootsreportpodcast and find my photographs at motifri.com/fuzeksfotos. Thanks for reading and listening. johnfuzek.com