Neil Diamond Comes Alive in ‘A Beautiful Noise’
An enthusiastic and joyful tribute to the legendary performer lights up to The Fox.
Sitting through a performance of “A Beautiful Noise,” the Broadway musical about Neil Diamond at The Fox Theater, was almost like being swept back 40 years. It was then that the Brooklyn-born singer who had grown up in Flatbush had the world in the palm of his hand.
As the familiar melodies shook the rafters of the old movie palace and the bright lights pulsed over a steadily energized and swaying audience, one could imagine that the great performer had suddenly sprung back to the concert stage.
There are 29 of Diamond’s biggest hits in the show, everything from “Sweet Caroline,” a perennial favorite at some of the largest sporting arenas in the world to “I’m A Believer,” “I Am…I Said,” and “Solitary Man.” The Neil Diamond songbook that largely makes up this musical is one of the most popular collections ever. Over the years, these songs and so many others that he has written have sold more than 130 million recordings. In many ways, the performer, who has been called “the Jewish Elvis” has few equals.
By the time the nearly two-and-a-half-hour show comes to a tuneful and joyous close, the audience was on its feet, singing along with every word, and fully connected to the performers on stage.
It’s an experience that moves the cast as well. Hannah Jewel Cohn, the 29-year-old singer and dancer who co-stars as Diamond’s second wife, Marcia Murphey, said she, too, finds herself swept away. By the end of every show, she’s caught up by the strong pull of Diamond’s irresistible music.
“Seeing and feeling the energy of the audience is something that’s indescribable,” Kohn says. It really electric, magnetic, and spectacular. You can feel it in your body. And in the audience, everyone is singing along, clapping their hands. and standing up, waving the flashlights on their cell phones. It is so thrilling. And it happens every night.”
In the story that ties together all these great songs, she plays the woman who inspires Diamond to develop the self-confidence and charisma to charm a worldwide audience of adoring fans. During “A Beautiful Noise,” there are two Neil Diamonds on stage. The younger, ambitious, performer singing his heart out and the older, mature, reflective soul who questions the ups and downs, the personal twists and turns that bedevil him over the decades of his success.
Kohn, in her effective, dramatic portrayal as Diamond’s spouse, works hard to try to reconcile the two conflicting sides to his personality. But despite having two children and 25 years of married life, she is ultimately defeated. As is Diamond, who admits in the show, that was not until he achieved the wisdom that comes with advancing age and 10 years of psychotherapy that he was better able to understand the life he has lived.
In reality, the story is even more complicated. Seven years ago, Diamond, performing in Australia, suddenly cut short a world tour and returned home. In 2018, at the age of 77, despite his considerable gifts as a performer, he was forced to end his career on stage. A diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease had finally caught up with him.
In a program note, Diamond candidly admitted that the ideas for a musical about his life only began to take shape after what he described as the premature end of his life as a touring singer. He wrote that, “I say ‘prematurely’ because my heart and soul would tour until the day I die, if only my body would cooperate.”
He expanded on that idea two years ago, when he appeared on “Sunday Morning” on CBS. He told interviewer Anthony Mason that it was only recently in his life that his restlessness and the striving for self-acceptance has finally abated.
“I think this has just been in the last few weeks, really, but somehow a calm has moved in, in the hurricane of my life, and things have gotten very quiet, and I like it. I find that I like myself better. I’m easier on people. I’m easier on myself, and the beat goes on, and it will go on long after I’m gone.”
And the beat does go on, night after night, city after city, as the touring company of “A Beautiful Noise” carries the music and the powerful legacy of Neil Diamond across America.
Kohn knowns how that feels on stage.
“I think it’s really special to be in this show and to know that these songs bring so much joy and that they are so touching and relatable. To me, it’s really inspiring and moving.”
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