An audience singalong on “Sweet Caroline” was enough to overcome a glitchy opening and a wanting script for the Broadway tour of “A Beautiful Noise,” the Neil Diamond bio musical that kicked off Tuesday in Minneapolis.
With Nick Fradiani’s uncanny channeling of Diamond’s gravel-and-velvet voice, the show determinedly evokes the rock star magic of a songwriting great behind such hits as “Red, Red Wine,” the Monkees’ “I’m a Believer,” Barbra Streisand’s “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers,” and “Sweet Caroline,” the standard of virtually all sports arenas.
Diamond looks to be doing inner work as “Noise” opens. Old and still broody (the elder Diamond is played by Robert Westenberg), he muses on his life with therapist (Lisa Reneé Pitts), who is armed with his songbook.
The therapy revelations are not unsurprising. As his fame grew, so did his ego. He used people along the way, going through three wives. And he survives scrapes — including a record contract with mob-connected figures.
But “Noise” would have been better served with a different framing device from playwright Anthony McCarten. If we see a therapist, we expect a rush of breakthroughs. What we get instead in the show is underwhelming piffle — confessional hagiography dressed up as serious introspection. Diamond should have been telling all to Oprah or Barbara Walters.
The production, by director Michael Mayer and choreographer Steven Hoggett, is a flashy nostalgia trip with concert vibes. Much of the action takes place against a backdrop of strings that look like the upright innards of a piano.
And the cast is gifted, with theater kids popping out as Diamond’s memories come to life. Hannah Jewel Kohn stands out as Marcia Murphey, Diamond’s second wife. She is spunky and resilient, and her “Forever in Blue Jeans” is a highlight.
But it is Fradiani who carries the show as Diamond in his youth and prime. He is extraordinary, both as an actor and a singer. With seemingly little effort, he distills Diamond’s cadence, spirit and soul in a range of musical styles.
The guitar-strumming actor also captures Diamond’s religion-tinged yearning on numbers such as “Brother Love’s Traveling Salvation Show” and “Thank the Lord for the Night Time.”
These songs, marked by hand-waving and joy, give “Noise” the feeling of a megachurch service and capture the desire for something bigger and more ethereal than what we have on offer in this realm.
