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Although Broadway hasn't re-opened just yet, industry folks are already putting the word out on potential lineup additions—and we couldn't be more excited about the latest one. A Beautiful Noise, a musical about the life and work of singer-songwriter Neil Diamond, is reportedly aiming to land on Broadway following its world premiere at Boston's Emerson Colonial Theatre in June of 2022. The limited engagement, whose title nods to the artist's eponymous 1976 album, will run through July 17 and hopes to migrate to New York after.
"I personally hope that this announcement demonstrates to the world that the Broadway factory is starting to come back to life, that there is smoke coming from our chimneys," Ken Davenport, a producer on the show alongside Bob Gaudio, said to the New York Times this week. "We're starting to make stuff again. We may not be able to show it to everyone right now, but we will."
Although specific casting details have yet to be released, the backstage staff has already been tapped. Spring Awakening's Michael Mayer will direct the musical while Oscar-nominated Anthony McCarten will be writing the book. Steven Hoggett—of Once and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child fame—will focus on the choreography.
Although a Broadway run has yet to be confirmed, Diamond's ties to the city clearly render him an ideal subject for the stage (seriously: what took theater gurus so long to think about this?). The now 80-year-old musician was born and raised in Brooklyn, where he joined the Freshman Chorus and Choral Club alongside classmate Barbra Streisand while attending the now-defunct Erasmus Hall High School. Fun fact: Diamond eventually enrolled in New York University as a pre-med major on a fencing scholarship but dropped out his senior year when offered a 16-week job writing songs.
This isn't the first potentially Broadway-bound musical to set up a trial run in Boston. Back in 2018, Jagged Little Pill opened in Cambridge and Moulin Rouge! The Musical took over the Emerson Colonial Theatre, which is now a pending Boston landmark. Both shows were acclaimed by critics and audiences alike before COVID-19 forced them to shut down and they are currently up for a slew of Tony awards. Will A Beautiful Noise be next? We're going to have to wait and see.
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