Posted: 12/11/22 at 6:24am
I just watched those clips today, & I was captivated & enthralled by the ensemble. Even after I unmuted the videos. I couldn't take my eyes off how tight the pants are on the male chorus members.
Posted: 12/11/22 at 6:47pm
johnnybravo said: "uncageg said: "fashionguru_23 said: "I went straight to Google to find out who cheorographed this show. Even the "Cracklin Rosie" number in the afteroon on GMA3 wasn't greatly done either. The ensemble seemed like they were told they couldn't dance outside of an imaginary box on the floor. So weird."
Come on, they are obviously performing on a much smaller stage than The Broadhurst. I saw the show and the Cracklin' Rose number was more spread out. Of course they had to scale the numbers down for TV.
The night I saw it, the crowd ate it up. Not everything is for everybody and I am sure they know who their audience is going to be. I am not the biggest fan of all of his music but I heard it growing up and had a good time at the show and came out humming a few of the songs.
As far as the other inventive new shows mentioned, maybe their publicists/PR teams aren't targeting the right demographic or doing it in the right way. On opening night of this show, there were three people that I counted, probably one or two more downstairs, filming the audience from every angle from the aisles at curtain call. And they got that out and all over in less than 24 hours.
"
Smaller stage? Crowd ate it up? These are pretty sad defenses. The show is laughable and when they've run through the Neil Diamond fans in the tri-state area, it will close. And the world will be a better place."
Whatever.
Posted: 12/11/22 at 6:52pm
Say what you want, this show was sold out all week. Just a matter of how long it lasts. Curious if they've been selling SRO tickets now?
Posted: 12/11/22 at 6:56pm
ACL2006 said: "Say what you want, this show was sold out all week. Just a matter of how long it lasts. Curious if they've been selling SRO tickets now?"
Because this is the show all the old white Diamond fans want to see.
Posted: 12/11/22 at 7:23pm
ACL2006 said: "Say what you want, this show was sold out all week. Just a matter of how long it lasts. Curious if they've been selling SRO tickets now?"
Don't know about any other night but heard they were selling them on Friday from a friend who saw it.
Posted: 12/12/22 at 9:31am
Well, my friend won the lotto for tomorrow night. $50/each and the seats are front row, side orchestra. Guess I'm seeing this sooner than later.
Posted: 12/12/22 at 11:45am
My mom and I saw this yesterday and to my great surprise, we loved it. Nick Fradiani was on for Will Swenson (who seems to have been out all weekend) and Fradiani was fantastic, he had the voice completely down. Robyn Hurder was also a standout and and deserves her own show one of these days.
This musical knows its audience really well. Anyone who loves/loved Neil Diamond will have a blast, and anyone who is indifferent to Neil Diamond, or doesn't like him, or just wants to see a Broadway show, will be bored silly and hate the whole scene. The story doesn't move particularly quickly and it isn't overly dramatic, but it was exactly the right pace for my mom, it gave her time to contemplate the role these songs played in her life. Plus I think she (and many of her friends) are looking back on their own lives and questioning a lot of their own decisions -- so they can relate to the framing. Also it's a jukebox musical that just gives in to the fact that people are going to sing -- by giving the audience plenty of singalong moments, and by blasting other the numbers so you can't hear the audience members singing around you (LOL) I was only conscious of people around me singing a few times, during quieter moments.
Posted: 12/12/22 at 12:48pm
The company will perform on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon tonight.
Posted: 12/12/22 at 1:46pm
EDSOSLO858 said: "The company will perform on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon tonight."
I'd assume Will is doing it? Doing all those promos on Thursday plus a performance that evening must have got him under the weather. Curious if I'll get Will or Nick tomorrow?
Posted: 12/12/22 at 3:48pm
Music director Sonny Paladino just posted pictures from Jimmy’s set and I think Will is back in action.
Posted: 12/12/22 at 3:51pm
EDSOSLO858 said: "Music director Sonny Paladino just posted pictures from Jimmy’s set and I think Will is back in action."
There's no way the show would ever do Fallon with the understudy.
Posted: 12/12/22 at 4:07pm
The show was featured on ABC's NIGHTLINE the other night and I thought it all came off the best of their TV appearances so far. They had the entire second half of the show, interviews with Will and the producer, and some good footage of the show and a very excited audience.
Posted: 12/12/22 at 5:35pm
alexidarling15 said: "This musical knows its audience really well. Anyone who loves/loved Neil Diamond will have a blast, "
I love Neil Diamond. I hated this show
Posted: 12/13/22 at 9:06am
Will Swenson and the company performing “America” on The Tonight Show last night:
Posted: 12/13/22 at 6:09pm
Is there standing room for this? I've lost the lottery so many times, I'm desperate. LOL.
Posted: 12/13/22 at 6:31pm
BCfitasafiddle said: "Is there standing room for this? I've lost the lottery so many times, I'm desperate. LOL."
I checked at the box office today and it's only when the show is close to selling out. Tonight there was still a good chunk of seats available in the mezz, so I doubt they sold them for tonight. Probably better luck on the weekends.
Posted: 12/13/22 at 10:29pm
So, all I've seen of this show is the tv performances, and seriously, by just looking at the costumes, it looks like Will Swenson is starting as Liza Minnelli in the Neil Diamond musical.
Posted: 12/14/22 at 7:42am
Here's my brief review after seeing the show last. In general, the audience loved it and everyone I talked to after the show said they would definitely see it again. Lots of strong word-of-mouth when leaving the theater. The true star of the show is Mark Jacoby as Neil - Now. His performance in the final ten minutes is worth a Tony nom. Will is amazing, but this was also his first show back after being out all weekend and I wasn't sure if he was feeling 100% yet.
The issue this show will face later on once his audience is done seeing the show(sometimes repeatedly) is that Diamond's life story just isn't that compelling. Three marriages and he was basically a workaholic that was a lonely child. I wanted more out of Hurder. She's given a dance break in "Forever in Blue Jeans" and the choreo is greatly lacking. The ensemble is working their butts off. Hopefully that energy doesn't fade down the road. I'll say this show likely runs a solid year. With no discounts out currently and a solid advance it'll be interesting to see how well it does come the Spring & Summer. Overall I enjoyed it and would see it again via the lottery or a cheap ticket.
FYI, both acts run about the same at just over an hour. Show started around 7:07 and Act 1 was done by 8:11. Act 2 began at 8:27 and the show was done by 9:29.
Updated On: 12/14/22 at 07:42 AM
Posted: 12/27/22 at 2:07am
I had read this thread a while ago, and based on it, I was prepared to skip this show. On a whim, I decided to see it tonight... and I loved it!
Interestingly, there seems to be a pretty sharp divide in perceptions about the show. Perhaps its the age group, perhaps familiarity with the material... I have no way to know. But I thought the cast was uniformly very good, the choreography worked well for the material, and the writing, staging, and direction were all top-notch. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
IMO, the phrasing of the NYT headline for its review ("‘A Beautiful Noise’ Spotlights a Morose Neil Diamond" ) was unfortunate. Because of the way this jukebox musical was structured, the headline was, in fact, a perfectly valid characterization of the show. But I thought it made it sound as if the review was going to be negative, when I would characterize the review as mostly positive.
I was really glad to have seen the show.
Updated On: 12/27/22 at 02:07 AM
Posted: 1/7/23 at 1:51pm
HaroldInNY said: "I had read this thread a while ago, and based on it, I was prepared to skip this show. On a whim, I decided to see it tonight... and I loved it!
Interestingly, there seems to be a pretty sharp divide in perceptions about the show. Perhaps its the age group, perhaps familiarity with the material... I have no way to know. But I thought the cast was uniformly very good, the choreography worked well for the material, and the writing, staging, and direction were all top-notch. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
IMO, the phrasing of the NYT headline for its review ("‘A Beautiful Noise’ Spotlights a Morose Neil Diamond" ) was unfortunate. Because of the way this jukebox musical was structured, the headline was, in fact, a perfectly valid characterization of the show. But I thought it made it sound as if the review was going to be negative, when I would characterize the review as mostly positive.
I was really glad to have seen the show."
Thanks for this post.
I won the lottery for tomorrow afternoon and was considering whether to go or not and your message pushed me over the edge to check it out ... I have an emotional connection to the man and music as he was a favorite of my dad's (and he's long gone) so I'm sure it'll tug at my heartstrings.
Posted: 1/9/23 at 9:21am
rachelfran said:
"Thanks for this post.
I won the lottery for tomorrow afternoon and was considering whether to go or not and your message pushed me over the edge to check it out ... I have an emotional connection to the man and music as he was a favorite of my dad's (and he's long gone) so I'm sure it'll tug at my heartstrings."
I saw yesterday's matinee and while I'm not sorry I saw it -- i wouldn't openly recommend it to anyone but the biggest ND fans .. It's so schmaltzy .I guess that's how ND is IRL -- I've never seen him perform live. I grew up with his music, my long gone dad was a fan and I've been to Fenway to sing Sweet Caroline. That said, I remember when we didn't have to add the bom bom boms into that chorus so was annoyed that even the first playing of that song included them. Minor gripe compared to the rest. OH and I'm jewish and the jewish jokes were cringy.
I was most impressed with the diverse chorus who kept it all moving and interesting. Mark Jacoby was terrific and Will Swenson did everything he needed to do in this role.
The place was packed. My lottery seat was far left aisle in row P. I was going to see if there was a better seat available but when I checked telecharge earlier in the day there were exactly two seats left in the theater so I didn't bother asking.
Updated On: 1/9/23 at 09:21 AM
Posted: 1/19/23 at 9:38am
I’m surprised by so many of the negative reviews saying this show is only enjoyable for Neil Diamond fans. I couldn’t have named one song other than Sweet Caroline and I ADORED this show. It was so fun, the dancing was incredible - I had a smile on my face the whole time. I only went because I won the lottery, but now I’m playing every day so I can see it again. I wouldn’t sleep on this show - it was such a delightful surprise!
Posted: 1/22/23 at 5:54pm
Dobson has officially left the show this week and has been replaced by Deandre Sevon.
Say what you want, this show is selling pretty well, even in the dead of winter now. $1 million+ a week now is solid grosses.
Anyone do SRO? Likely only offered on weekends when the show is sold-out. Just curious about the price.
Posted: 2/9/23 at 12:33pm
Saw this show on a whim yesterday…40 dollar rush ticket an hour before the matinee. I think it’s golden. TBH…I honestly enjoyed this more than any of the recent bio-musicals (with the exception of MJ which I have not seen yet). Such a fresh // unique take on how to structure one of these. Really had a great time. Swenson, Hurder & Jacoby turn in amazing performances. The choreo didn’t bother me as I thought it served the narrative of the piece. It didn’t feel overstuffed.
Posted: 2/21/23 at 7:05pm
Does the cast stage door at all?
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