Q & A
An Iconic Role
Fair Lawn native Julia Knitel lights up the stage in Beautiful
INTERVIEW BY IAN SPELLING
TAKING THE STAGE BY STORM
Julia Knitel portrayed legendary
singer and songwriter Carole
King in the national tour of
Beautiful: The Carole King Story.
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FALL 2017 MILLBURN & SHORT HILLS MAGAZINE
You finished your
Beautiful tour run.
What was it like
playing the same
show for a new
audience in a new
city week after
week? Absolutely dif-
ferent every time. Such
a wide array of people
love the show. Some of
the best audiences we
had were in Des
Moines. You find these
places where people are
so grateful that we
brought a Broadway-
caliber show to them.
We had a huge stage
door [turnout] and
parties thrown for us.
How whirlwind have
these past two years
been? Honestly, it’s
been a complete life-
changer. Growing up,
I was always in the
ensemble. That was
where I’d feel comfort-
able because I love
being a team player.
That’s one of the things
that was so great about
being at Paper Mill
Playhouse, because in
their conservatory you
had an equal amount of
dancing, singing and
acting training every
day. I got a great foun-
dation in being a team
player and ensemble
member, and serving a
production. The produc-
ers and creatives of
Beautiful saw in me
something they couldn’t
find elsewhere. When
they told me they want-
ed me to play the role,
it changed everything.
Which King song
resonates most with
you? See, that changes,
depending on my mood,
on the audience. One
that started to make
sense to me when I got
out on the road was “So
Far Away,” because I’d
never been so far away
from anything. I grew
up in New Jersey, did
my first Broadway show
>
J
ulia Knitel is living the dream.
The Fair Lawn native joined the
ensemble of Broadway’s
Beautiful: The Carole King
Musical two-plus years ago,
graduated
to under-
studying the
lead role, and actu-
ally played Carole
King a number of
times on the Great
White Way. Now,
here she is, having
just wrapped up a
long run portraying King in Beautiful’s
national tour. During a recent conversa-
tion, the gracious and energetic young
actress discussed Beautiful, her time at
Paper Mill Playhouse, the influence of
her parents and her love of the Thai
food at Green Papaya in River Edge.