The story of the legendary Neil Diamond comes to life on stage in a gripping and uplifting new musical featuring a score of his most beloved songs. With his first break into songwriting in the 1960s and his meteoric rise in the 1970s, 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-defining smash hits that entranced the world.
Some of the songs are nicely presented, like “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers” as a duet between Diamond and his second wife, and a gospel-tinged “Holly Holy,” but others are not: “Forever in Blue Jeans,” is a mess, oversung by Wife No. 2 (Robyn Hurder) and choreographed with random dancers scurrying across the stage doing their own thing, as if in a busy train station. An awkward duet between Diamond’s first and second wives is best forgotten, too.
I know many people worked hard to put “A Beautiful Noise” — not least a large beautiful ensemble. I’m not immune to the tunefulness of many of the songs. I’ll admit that after the show ended, I could not stop humming one of the melodies in my head. But the show also sparked a memory that I had forgotten. Immediately after the COVID-19 lockdown began, there was a rash of coronavirus parody videos, with amateur musicians performing famous pop songs with newly created pandemic related lyrics. Neil Diamond was the only famous professional musicians I know of, who did a video spoofing his own song. This was the Neil Diamond, a witty, low-key, generous old man, whom I would have loved to see more of on stage – and whom I glimpsed in Mark Jacoby’s sequin-less performance, the highlight of “A Beautiful Noise” for me, if nobody else.
Digital Lottery:
Price: $55
Where: The digital lottery for A Beautiful Noise can be found at rush.telecharge.com.
When: Entries for the digital lottery, will start at 12 AM ET, one day before the performance, and winners are drawn the same day at 9 AM ET and 3 PM ET.
Limit: Two per customer
Information: Seats may be located in any section of the theater. While every effort will be made to seat pairs together with a full view, there is a chance that pairs may be split up and that your seat may have a partial view of the stage.
2022 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
2024 | US Tour |
North American Tour US Tour |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2023 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Featured Performance in a Musical | Robyn Hurder |
2023 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Featured Performance in a Musical | Mark Jacoby |
2023 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Wig and Hair | Luc Verschueren |
2023 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Will Swenson |
2023 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Production of a Musical | A Beautiful Noise |
2023 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding New Broadway Musical | A Beautiful Noise |
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