Natalie Weiss is a singing teacher on YouTube who now performs as Carole King

The musical tells the story of King’s rise from unknown to successful songwriter and ultimately to unstoppable star. As Weiss notes, King didn’t necessarily want to be famous.

“She didn’t want to be a singer, she just wanted to write music,” Weiss said recently during a Zoom conversation. “Ultimately, she took a different path. I guess you can compare it to my career, which came about by chance and by design.”

Weiss goes on to explain the unique path that led her to land her biggest role yet at age 39, amassing more than half a million followers on TikTok and nearly 250,000 on YouTube in the process.

Best known for her series “Breaking Down the Riffs,” Weiss is primarily a voice coach — privately (in sessions that cost over $200 per 30 minutes) and to hordes of up-and-coming talent on social media. But her love of teaching began in high school.

“People would ask, ‘Is that wrong?’ and I’d say, ‘Should I tell you?'” she says. “They trusted my opinion. We’d sit in my parents’ living room and sing through the notes, and I’d sit at the piano, very ‘You’ve Got a Friend’ style.”

Shortly after graduating from Penn State with a degree in musical theater, Weiss joined a national tour of Les Misérables as a swing performer celebrating its 25th anniversary, filling in for absent ensemble members and spending many hours “bored backstage.” During this time off, she created her “Breaking Down the Riffs.” YouTube series that received millions of views by analyzing the vocal technique of pop stars’ most demanding riffs.

“I eventually tested this method on my costume designer, who had no musical talent,” says Weiss. “She could do it, so I knew it was a viable method of practicing pop singing for beginners.”

Since Les Mis, she has spent more time teaching than on stage and has recently averaged only about one engagement every year and a half.

“I’m a brooder, I’m nervous. So when I played a piece, read the music and helped (a student), for 45 minutes I felt like, ‘Oh my God, I wasn’t thinking about myself, I was helping someone else,'” she says. “Those sessions just invigorated me, but when I go to an audition, I get rejected, stare at a spot on the wall and my 16 bars get cut.”

Last year, she was cast in the role of the witch just before the start of a production of “Into the Woods” at Chicago’s Paramount Theater after the original actress left the theater to pursue a chance on Broadway. The quick transition triggered her fears, which she first spoke about in videos on the Internet.

“I was really hesitant,” she says. “But when I posted that, so many people said, ‘I had no idea you were anxious or nervous.’ … It was crazy to see how many people could relate and that we’re not alone.”

She released “Breaking Down the Riffs” in 2017, although most of her videos today still straddle the line between accessible and educational. Her most popular are clips from her coaching sessions, sometimes with stars like a young Reneé Rapp, or the sparkling moments when students surprise each other with a previously uncharted riff or high note.

“Beautiful” director Amy Anders Corcoran, also a Penn State graduate, says she watches Weiss’ videos with her nine-year-old daughter.

“One of the things I discovered about Carole King during this process is her joy in music and in performing, even when it wasn’t her own,” says Corcoran. “And if you watch Natalie’s videos, you see that Natalie has just that. Carole and Natalie both have this amazing quality as artists that they are not jealous. They are so supportive of other artists, singers and other performers.”

When casting, Corcoran wanted to find a versatile lead actress – a pianist, singer, dancer and actress. And as a newcomer to the role, Corcoran says Weiss will bring “joy and lightness” when “we all desperately need it.”

Corcoran often asks during rehearsals, “What would Carole do?” Weiss says. “When our world falls apart, (Carole) is full of hope. I have to channel that sometimes.”

Beautiful: The Carole King Musical

Olney Theater Center, 2001 Olney Sandy Spring Rd., Olney, Maryland. olneytheatre.org.

Events: July 3 to August 25.