The cast of Waitress, the Broadway musical, got a special visit over the weekend!
Carole King made way her way backstage at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre to surprise Sara Bareilles and her co-star Gavin Creel after their Waitress performance on Sunday (January 13) in New York City.
Also in attendance to show their support for the cast and crew was singer Lucie Jones, who competed in series 6 of The X Factor UK in 2009, where she finished eighth.
Carole was in town to celebrate 5 years of her hit Broadway show, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.
Melissa Benoist poses with the real Carole King backstage after a performance of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical on Friday night (July 27) at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre in New York City.
The 29-year-old Supergirl actress is playing Carole in the Broadway musical through August 4.
“I’ve been in Idaho hanging out and I kept hearing how great Melissa was and I said, ‘I better come and see her.’ Amazing, just amazing,” Carole said on stage after the performance.
Carole also told the crowd how she was amazed that Melissa‘s foot tapping during the song “It’s Too Late” mimicked her own foot tapping.
The 29-year-old Supergirl actress took the stage as the title character in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical during opening night on Tuesday (June 12) at The Stephen Sondheim Theatre in New York City.
The 53-year-old actress, as well as Carole King, stepped out at the annual award ceremony on Monday (June 19) at the Plaza Hotel in New York City.
The event, hosted by the Women’s Forum, honors outstanding women leaders and benefits their Education Fund.
The Women’s Forum Education Fund helps women over age 35, whose lives have been disrupted by extreme adversity, complete their college degrees.
During the ceremony, Mariska was given a special award for her work in entertainment and as an advocate and founder of The Joyful Heart Foundation.
The Joyful Heart Foundation has become a leading national organization working to transform society’s response sexual assault, domestic violence, and child abuse as well as support survivor’s healing.
Carole King has just released a song called “One Small Voice” that she wrote in 1982, but is first making public 35 years later.
The legendary singer-songwriter explained in a HuffPo op-ed piece that she was inspired to release the song after the Women’s March.
“I wrote the words and music for the song ‘One Small Voice’ in 1982. More than two decades later I re-recorded it because I wanted a version without synthesizers. I had forgotten about the second recording until January 20, 2017,” Carole wrote. “On January 21, 2017 men, women, and children of all ages with a variety of political views marched peacefully in ‘Women’s Marches’ on seven continents around the world. I marched in a snowstorm in Stanley, Idaho (pop. 63) with 29 other people comprising half the town. I carried a handmade sign that said ‘One Small Voice’ because I’ve never stopped believing that one small voice plus millions of other small voices is exactly how we change the world.”
“I’m making the updated recording of ‘One Small Voice’ available to everyone because it will take the strength and persistence of many small voices to overcome the lies of the loudest voice with our message of truth, dignity, and decency,” she added.
The legendary singer-songwriter performed her song “You’ve Got a Friend” and incorporated Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and her former opponent Bernie Sanders into the lyrics!
Carole has been a friend of Hillary‘s since 1992 and she opened up to CNN about the politician.
“What they don’t see is how she puts one foot in front of the other and keeps going to achieve what she’s trying to achieve,” Carole said. “Not for herself, but for the people she’s trying to achieve it for.”
Watch Carole King perform ‘You’ve Got A Friend’ at the 2016 Democratic National Convention
Sara Bareilles looks lovely while walking the red carpet at the 2016 Tony Awards held at the Beacon Theatre on Sunday (June 12) in New York City.
The 36-year-old singer was joined at the event by Jessie Mueller, the star of her Broadway musical Waitress, and Keri Russell, who starred in the film version.
Also in attendance was the show’s other star Christopher Fitzgerald with his wife Jessica Stone.
Sara is nominated tonight for Best Original Score for writing the music and lyrics while Jessie and Christopher are both nominated for their acting work. Keri will be presenting during the show.
Carole King, who Jessie played in the Broadway musical Beautiful and who Sara sang with at a recent Tony Awards, also hit the red carpet!
FYI: Sara is wearing a Gomez-Gracia gown. Keri is wearing a Monique Lhuillier dress, Giuseppe Zanotti shoes, an Emm Kuo bag, and Jacob & Co. jewelry. Christopher is wearing a Doyle & Mueser bespoke suit. Jessica is wearing a Self-Portrait dress.