Carole King Surprises Cast at 'Beautiful' on Broadway, Sings at Curtain Call!

Carole King surprised the cast and the audience at a performance of the musical Beautiful on Thursday evening (April 3) at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre in New York City.

The new show is based on the legendary singer-songwriter’s life and she had not seen the show up until that night. She previously had attended a workshop performance, but left midway into the reading.

“She came to a reading and lasted halfway through,” her daughter Sherry told Playbill. “She said ‘I have to go.’ I said, ‘You’re just going? What do I tell all these people?’ She said, ‘Tell them it’s great. I can tell it’s great. But I can’t watch my life played out before me.’”

At the performance this week, Carole did not let the cast know she was coming and surprised them by walking on stage during the curtain call at the end of the show. She even joined the cast and audience in a performance of her song “You’ve Got a Friend”!