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.
Given the advances in technology, you can imagine a future in which coders will be able to re-create the Neil Diamond concert experience in hologram form. (The star, now 81, retired from touring four years ago due to a battle with Parkinson’s.) For now, though, Swenson & Co. offer a reasonable facsimile of Diamond in the flesh for fans to soak up. Or, to paraphrase that quintessential Diamond hit “Sweet Caroline,” they try so hard, so hard, so hard.
It all comes down to storytelling: the story Neil tells himself; the one A Beautiful Noise re-tells us. Musicals (most of them) need a resonant, gluey book the way an oak needs root structure; successful books are rhizomatic—invisible and everywhere. It’s a more urgent criterion for the love-it-or-hate-it jukebox subgenre, which decays into meta-silliness so easily. Sure, audiences flock to a beloved icon’s catalog, but if fame were enough, past flops cobbled around The Beach Boys, Elvis, and Johnny Cash would still be running, not near-forgotten (Good Vibrations, All Shook Up, and Ring of Fire for those who don’t hoard Playbills). Beautiful—The Carole King Musical and Jersey Boys caught that pop lightning in the bottle through a combination of humor and ruthless fictive devices. “Rockstar in analysis” is an idea with potential; the couch is a charged locus for rage, tears, and revelation. Or a nice nap.
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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