Rialto Chatter: Will the Neil Diamond Musical Hit Broadway in 2021?

According to the New York Post the previously announced Neil Diamond musical is inching its way closer to Broadway!

A private run-through of the new biographical musical telling the incredible life story of legendary singer-songwriter was held in New York this week with Tony nominee Will Swenson portraying Diamond.

Sources say that the musical is aiming for a 2021 Broadway bow following an out of town tryout.

The score is said to feature many Diamond classics including, "Sweet Caroline," "I Am . . . I Said," "Forever in Blue Jeans," "Song Sung Blue," "America" and more. According to the report the story of the show will chronicle Diamond's success in the music industry as well as issues in his personal life.

The show will feature a book by Academy Award-nominated dramatist Anthony McCarten (Bohemian Rhapsody, Darkest Hour, The Theory of Everything, The Two Popes), the musical will be directed by Tony Award winner Michael Mayer. Ken Davenport and Bob Gaudio of The Four Seasons will produce.

About this new project, Mr. Diamond said, "I've always loved Broadway. The inspiration for many of my early songs came from shows like West Side Story, My Fair Lady and Fiddler on the Roof, so it seems only fitting to bring my songs to The Great White Way. I'm honored and excited to be working with this great team."

In a statement, Mr. McCarten said, "On the mantle-piece in my childhood home in New Zealand, there were always two pictures: one was of the Pope, the other of Neil Diamond. The epic musical catalogue of this Rock and Roll Hall of Famer flowed endlessly off our family record player. As a child you took it into yourself, and to this day I can recite the lyrics of his hits deep into their second or third verses. Imagine my excitement, then, when the opportunity arose to work with Neil on a musical based on his life and music. A very, very easy and so sweet 'Yes!'"

Mr. Gaudio added, "Having been intimately associated with one very special biographical musical, I am clearly a fan of the form. And as a fellow member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, I remain in awe of Neil Diamond's contribution to American popular culture, music, and of his incredible life story."

With his first break into songwriting in the 1960's and his meteoric rise in the 1970's, and plenty of crushing disappointments and heart stopping triumphs along the way, Neil Diamond has maintained an almost unthinkable level of superstardom for five straight decades. How did a poor, Jewish kid from Brooklyn become one of the most universally adored showmen of all time? There's only one way to tell it: a musical set to his era- and genre-defining smash hits that entranced the world.

Additional details will be announced shortly.