A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical
Shubert Theatre
New Haven
Dec. 2, 2025; through Dec. 7
When the curtain rose amidst a swell of music introducing the legendary Neil Diamond at the Shubert, the audience was greeted with a stage bare except for two chairs occupied by Diamond (played by Robert Westenberg) and his doctor (played by Lisa Renne Pitts). Over the next two hours, that therapy session becomes a trip through Diamond’s massive songbook and thus, his life and loves.
Tuesday was the opening night for the show, which premiered in 2022 in Boston, had a popular two-year Broadway run, and has been on tour throughout North America since 2024. The theater was packed with fans waiting to hear a wealth of Diamond’s Top 40 hits, abuzz with conversations about their favorite song and what they hoped might be included in the show.
There was another reason the audience was abuzz: the show starred Nick Fradiani as Neil -Then (as in, the Neil of the Neil -Now’s memories). Fradiani started in the show during its Broadway run and is well known not only for his American Idol win but also as a musician who got his start locally, born and raised in Guilford.
The crowd roared with applause and cheers when he first appeared on stage singing the Diamond classic “America” decked out in a black sequin jacket. He continued to make his way through a wealth of the singer/songwriter’s material as he also made his way through his trials, tribulations, successes, and soul searching.
The show highlights pieces of Diamond’s childhood, his marriages, and, of course, his experience as a world-renowned performer who toured nearly nonstop and sold over 120 million albums. But it begins with simpler times, including his quest to stand out amongst the many folk singer/songwriters of the sixties as a young man in Brooklyn. He begins by writing popular songs for others, the best-known being The Monkees hit “I’m a Believer.” When he finally does get his chance to sing his own songs, he is told by producer Ellie Greenwich (played by Heidi Kettenring) that his voice sounds like “gravel wrapped in velvet.” He finds a place at The Bitter End on Bleecker Street, the famed coffeehouse that showcased a wealth of singer songwriters from that time. That is where he meets his soon-to-be second wife Marcia (played by the vivacious Hannah Jewel Kohn), who works hard to get him to break out of his isolated and serious demeanor.
“There’s a spotlight on you for a reason,” she tells him. “Shine, just let yourself shine.”
And shine he does as his career, through both ecstatic and troubled times, finds him becoming more and more the entertainer that the world would come to embrace and love. The show volleys back and forth with aplomb between Neil -Now and the doctor working through his songs as a way to work through his troubling memories, and the performances of those songs that give the audience insight into what made them so great, and also so personal.
A huge part of that can be credited to not just the songs, but to the performances. Fradiani plays Neil with charisma, charm, vigor, and a voice that hits every single note just right. Often when playing someone so well known, a performer can lean into it a little too hard, but that is so not the case here. Fradiani is deft and delightful throughout the show, whether he is the Neil new to the music scene and fighting the clouds that chase him or the Neil that is covered nearly head to toe in sequins selling out stages across the world. He took the crowd right along with him each and every time as they sang along to hits such as “Cracklin’ Rosie,” “Cherry Cherry,” and, of course, “Sweet Caroline.”
That song, made even more part of the American songbook since its adoption by the Boston Red Sox as an eighth inning tradition, got a reprieve during the curtain call. Fradiani came forward to not only thank everyone for coming to opening night and to encourage them to donate to Broadway Cares, but to call up on stage his father, musician Nick Fradiani, Sr., to sing that song with him and the rest of the cast. He noted that when he was performing here in Connecticut in his younger years, he would ask his father to come meet him and sing with him at local gigs. It was a touching, New Haven moment that the crowd loved, standing and swaying and singing along.
If you are a Neil Diamond fan it is hard not to love this show. Diamond himself was involved in the production from the beginning. The playbill includes a letter from him that explains what he did and why, mentioning how “coming to terms with my life and accepting it has somehow come full circle.” In an age where many artists no longer have a say in how and where their art is used (and misused) it was refreshing to see a production handled with such love, care, and respect for the artist and both his personal and professional journey.
As for a personal reflection by a longtime fan, this reporter will mention that she did get to see him live at the Hartford Civic Center back in 2008 along with one of his biggest fans, my husband, who also came along for the show last night. It was one of only a handful of times in a lifetime of attending thousands of performances where I saw some someone silence a venue with their songs. Neil has always had it. It shines through in this show like (sorry, had to do it) a diamond.
