Anna Marie Abbate will sit down at a piano on the McGrath Performing Arts Center stage Friday, July 17, and play her way through one of Broadway's most celebrated biographical musicals. She'll do it nine more times before the run ends Sunday, July 26.

Abbate stars as Carole King in the Highland Park Players' production of "Beautiful: The Carole King Musical," running 10 performances at the 550-seat Leemputte Family Theater inside the McGrath center on Loyola Academy's Wilmette campus, 3461 Illinois Road.

The role requires Abbate to accompany herself on piano throughout the show, something she called "a definite extra challenge." She prepared by reading King's memoir "A Natural Woman" and seeing the production at larger Chicago theaters before pursuing the part.

"I fell in love with the story," Abbate said in an interview with the Chicago Tribune. "I didn't know how much she had written prior to seeing the show."

The musical, with a book by Douglas McGrath, traces King's life from age 16 through her landmark 1971 Carnegie Hall debut at 28. Along the way, audiences hear hits King wrote for other artists — "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" for the Shirelles, "The Locomotion," "One Fine Day" — alongside her own recordings from the "Tapestry" album, including "I Feel the Earth Move," "You've Got a Friend," and "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman."

On Broadway, the show ran 2,418 performances at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre between January 2014 and October 2019, winning two Tony Awards and a Grammy. Jessie Mueller won the Tony for Best Actress in a Musical for originating the role Abbate now takes on in Wilmette.

Director Catherine Davis said the material drew her in on multiple levels. She grew up listening to King's music and was struck by how many artists recorded King's songs. As a director, Davis said, she was drawn to the real people behind the story and spent extensive time researching their lives online.

The Highland Park Players, a nonprofit founded in 1988 by Susan Haimes, Lois Israel, and Donna Lubow, has produced community theater on the North Shore for more than 38 years. Recent productions include "Rent" in July 2025, "The Prom" in August 2024, and "Ragtime" in April 2024. The company is headquartered in Highland Park but performs at the McGrath center, where it is a named community partner.

Music Director Anna Wegener and Choreographer Annie Snow round out the creative team, with producers Bradley A. Rose, Scott A. Schwartz, and Rick Doppelt.

Performance schedule and tickets

Evening performances at 7:30 p.m.: Friday, July 17; Saturday, July 18; Wednesday, July 23; Thursday, July 24; Friday, July 25.

Matinee performances at 2 p.m.: Sunday, July 19; Saturday, July 25; Sunday, July 26.

Saturday, July 25, is a two-show day with performances at both 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., according to the company's website.

Tickets are $45 for orchestra and mezzanine seating, $30 for balcony, plus a $3 per-ticket fee. Purchase at highlandparkplayers.org.