A BEAUTIFUL NOISE To Play The Broadhurst Theatre This Fall — Page 2

Thinking this has strong potential. He's got a large following (40+ years old). I definitely plan to see it.

The musical is capitalized for up to $20 million, according to Michael Paulson, but Davenport and Gaudio are hoping to keep their budget to $19 million.

A $20million musical going into the Broadhurst!? I’d hate to be the one to put that recoupment schedule together…

Anyone know the budget for Tuck Everlasting? Played the same space and I thought it was a pretty big show.

TaffyDavenport said: "I think "middle class" is accurate, but "white trash" is not. Yes, Neil Diamond has a connection to the Boston Red Sox because of "Sweet Caroline," but that didn't start until 1997, and he had fans for decades before that. I absolutely loved The Jazz Singer soundtrack when I was 10, and my parents were big fans who saw him in concert several times while I was growing up. I'm guessing they're going for theBeautifulcrowd as their target audience, and, as is the case with most productions, the success of the show will depend on its quality, as well as the lead performance."



Agreed. To say that his fans are all trash is not accurate. I grew up listening to him as did a lot of the middle class black families in my neighborhood. And the white people in my town were not trash. He has quite the following. And I agree they fall into the crowd that made "Beautiful" a success. He definitely has enough music and hits. With that said, I wasn't a hardcore fan but I know the words to his hit songs and played that "Jazz Singer" soundtrack to death. Love on the Rocks baby!

Pre-sale started this morning!

I still cannot get over they're trying to get the capitalization lower....when the "lower" price tag in question is STILL $19M. When you put that number in perspective next to the $28M that Moulin Rouge cost with the exact same out of town approach, it's really staggering.

I am Nuyorican, was raised in a Puerto Rican household in an ethnically diverse neighborhood in the South Bronx and we all knew who Neil Diamond was and we knew his music. My cousin Tony used to drive me up-the-wall listening to "Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show" on a loop.

The narrow-mindedness from some on this thread boggles the mind.

There is an audience for this. Trust.

OhHiii said: "ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "I just don't see Neil Diamond having the audience of MJ or Jersey Boys or Tina –– and Ken Davenport also doesn't have a savvy, experienced GM firm working with him on this.Willing to eat my hat, of course. The key art and the artists involved give me hope that this could be artful & good (Michael Mayer, Steven Hoggett, Neil Diamond, Robyn Hurder). But I just don't have high expectations.

Ken's lead producing partner on this is Bob Gaudio. Maybe Bob is putting up a good chunk of his half of the money himself?"

Key art has zero to do with a production's quality. And, unfortunately, as we've seen with really seasoned artists working on these jukeboxes like the prolific playwrights who tackled books for TINA and MJ, there's only so much that can be done. Michael Mayer's latest that hit this season isn't exactly being lauded for it's artistic vision...

If I were an investor, I would very much not trust Davenport to usher a show this expensive to profitability. He has a rather poor track record. And a lot can be chalked up to his insistence on shirking meaningful traditional advertising for the sake of doing things different. Have any of his Broadway ventures been profitable? I don't think so..."

I wouldn't even trust Davenport to usher -- period! His track record as a lead producer is abysmal. He's fond of claiming to be the "producer" of shows like Kinky Boots, when in reality he was no more than an investor. He's 2 parts P.T. Barnum and 1 part Max Bialystock.

TaffyDavenport said: "Just noticed on Telecharge that Nick Fradiani will be the official alternate, stepping in for Will Swenson on Wednesday nights."

That was announced when the full cast was released for the Broadway run.