Ali Harper will transform Toitoi – Hawke’s Bay Arts & Events Centre’s Opera House into her living room on Thursday night as she pays tribute to Carole King’s music.
To celebrate 50 years since the release of King’s bestselling album Tapestry, Harper has created A Natural Woman, a performance that not only showcases King’s well-loved songs but introduces the woman behind the music.
King is widely regarded as a significant and influential musician. She was the most successful female songwriter of the latter half of the 20th century in the United States, having written or co-written 118 pop hits on the Billboard Hot 100, and won four Grammy Awards.
Hailed as a “national treasure” by Theatreview, Christchurch-based Harper is a performer who knows how to host an audience and leave each person feeling embraced like long-lost friends, as she flirts with and offers fascinating titbits of King’s life to the crowd, in between epic vocal tributes.
Harper said on the radio her pull to perform King’s music is due to its timeless themes and familiar comfort.
