FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ON FRIDAY, MARCH 4, PLEASE
Photo by Emilio Madrid. Courtesy of “A Beautiful Noise.”
“GOOD TIMES NEVER SEEMED SO GOOD”
TONY AWARD® NOMINEE
WILL SWENSON
TO LEAD THE CAST OF THE WORLD PREMIERE OF
“A BEAUTIFUL NOISE,
THE NEIL DIAMOND MUSICAL”
TICKETS GO ON SALE TODAY FOR THE BROADWAY-BOUND NEW MUSICAL
THAT WILL PLAY BOSTON’S EMERSON COLONIAL THEATRE
FOR A STRICTLY LIMITED SIX-WEEK ENGAGEMENT THIS SUMMER
New York, NY (March 4, 2022) – Producers Ken Davenport and Bob Gaudio, principals of A Beautiful Noise, The Neil Diamond Musical, announced today that Tony Award® nominee Will Swenson will play the iconic singer/songwriter in the Broadway-bound musical as tickets go on sale today to the general public for the world premiere engagement at Boston’s Emerson Colonial Theatre. Tickets are For additional exclusive A
Swenson is one of theater’s most sought after leading men. He most recently starred in CSC’s acclaimed revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins, earned Tony Award, Drama Desk, and Drama League nominations for his portrayal of Berger in Diane Paulus’ production of Hair, and received an Obie Award for his devilish performance in Jerry Springer: The Opera. His other Broadway credits include Waitress opposite Sara Bareilles, creating the role of Javert in the 2014 revival of Les Misérables, and starring in Priscilla: Queen of the Desert, and 110 in the Shade.
A Beautiful Noise tells the incredible life story of the legendary singer/songwriter, with performances for this strictly limited six-week engagement starting Tuesday, June 21 and playing through Sunday, July 31.
Including a score of Diamond’s most beloved songs, A Beautiful Noise features a book by four-time Academy Award®-nominee Anthony McCarten (Bohemian Rhapsody, Darkest Hour, The Theory of Everything), direction by Tony Award® winner Michael Mayer (Funny Girl, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Spring Awakening), and choreography by Olivier Award® winner and four-time Tony Award nominee Steven Hoggett (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Once, Black Watch).
With his first break into songwriting in the 1960s and his meteoric rise in the 1970s, and plenty of crushing disappointments and heart-stopping triumphs along the way, Neil Diamond has maintained an almost unthinkable level of superstardom for five straight decades. How did a poor Jewish kid from Brooklyn become one of the most universally adored showmen of all time? There’s only one way to tell it: a musical set to his era-defining smash hits that entranced the world.
Long loved by Boston, Diamond first played Revere, MA, in 1967 and he has subsequently played Boston and surrounding areas almost 40 times, visiting the city in each decade of his 50+ years of performing.
His iconic song “Sweet Caroline” has become an anthem to Red Sox fans where at every home game an eighth-inning singalong takes place at Fenway Park. The song’s connection to Boston was seared into the hearts of millions when, in the immediate aftermath of the 2013 Marathon Bombing, teams around the Major Leagues played the song to show solidarity with the city. While at Fenway, Diamond himself took to the field to sing an emotional rendition of 1969 classic.
Throughout his phenomenal and wide-ranging career, Neil Diamond has performed at sold-out stadiums and arenas around the world, dominated the charts for more than five decades, sold over 130 million albums worldwide and achieved record sales.
A Grammy Award®-winning artist, Diamond is a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He has been presented with the Johnny Mercer Award, the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award, three of the highest honors bestowed on songwriters and artists. He has also been the recipient of the NARAS Music Cares Person of The Year Award and the prestigious Kennedy Center Award for his contributions to American culture.
But above it all, the rockstar is a doting grandfather, loving father, and adoring husband. His music has earned him a multi-generational fanbase and he is a believer of the healing power of music. Through his charitable foundation, he has supported many causes close to his heart.
In its storied history, the Emerson Colonial Theatre has debuted such seminal Broadway shows as Anything Goes, Porgy and Bess, Oklahoma!, Born Yesterday, Follies, A Little Night Music, Grand Hotel, and La Cage aux Folles, among others.
Reviving a great theatrical tradition, Ambassador Theatre Group’s newly restored Emerson Colonial Theatre officially re-opened its doors in July 2018 and has hosted the pre-Broadway world premieres of Moulin Rouge! The Musical, David Byrne’s American Utopia, and Plaza Suite starring Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker.
Emerson Colonial Theatre, which opened in 1900 with a production of Ben-Hur, is the oldest continuously operated theater in Boston; as well as being amongst the most magnificent, having retained most of its original period details.
Additional casting and creative team members for A Beautiful Noise in Boston will be announced shortly.
BIOGRAPHIES
Will Swenson (Neil Diamond). Known as one of Broadway’s most versatile leading men, Swenson has been seen on Broadway in roles across a wide character spectrum. He received critical acclaim for his performance as the subversive hippie Berger in the 2009 revival of Hair for which he received Tony, Drama Desk, and Drama League nominations. He went on to perform the role in London’s West End as well. He starred as Inspector Javert in the 2014 revival of Les Misérables and played the conflicted drag queen Tick in Priscilla: Queen of the Desert (Drama League nomination). In Waitress, Swenson performed opposite the show’s creator Sara Bareilles. Other Broadway credits include Disaster!, Lestat, Brooklyn: The Musical, and his sentimental favorite 110 in the Shade, the production where he met his wife, actress Audra McDonald. Off-Broadway favorites include the recent revival of Assassins, Nantucket Sleighride, and Jerry Springer: The Opera for which he won an Obie Award. He originated the role of Tom in Murder Ballad and also created the role of Stacey Jaxx in the original Off-Broadway production of Rock of Ages. Other favorites include Little Miss Sunshine, Adrift in Macao, Two Gentlemen of Verona, and Pericles. Tours and other theater credits include Miss Saigon, We Will Rock You, Camelot with the New York Philharmonic, Pirates of Penzance, Moon for the Misbegotten, The Royal Family of Broadway. In film and on television, he played Philo Barnum in the movie musical The Greatest Showman and can be seen in the feature films This is Where I Leave You, The Kitchen, and The Switch. Swenson spent a season on the Netflix series “The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” as the evil Professor Carcosa, he played opposite his wife in the Covid/Zombie thriller series “The Bite,” and guest starred on “Law & Order (SVU & CSI),” “The Good Wife,” “No Tomorrow,” and “The Code.” He played Henry Donnenfeld on the Netflix crime drama series “Hit and Run,” and later this year will be seen as the father of the vampire clan The Fairmont’s in the new Netflix drama “First Kill.” Some of Will’s earliest memories involve listening to his dad’s eight-track copy of Hot August Night. He can’t remember not having most of Neil Diamond’s songs permanently imprinted on his brain. And he’s super happy about that.
Neil Diamond. Throughout an illustrious and wide-ranging musical career, Neil Diamond has sold more than 130 million records worldwide and has charted 39 Top 40 singles and 16 Top 10 albums both in the U.S. and internationally. A Grammy Award-winning artist, Diamond is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Songwriters Hall of Fame and a recipient of the Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award, one of the highest honors bestowed upon songwriters. Diamond’s many other achievements include a Golden Globe Award, 13 Grammy nominations and 2009’s NARAS’s MusiCares Person of the Year award. In 2011, Diamond received the prestigious Kennedy Center Honor for his lifetime of contributions to American culture.
Anthony McCarten (Book). A three-time Academy Award nominated and double BAFTA-winning screenwriter and film producer of The Theory Of Everything (2014) and Darkest Hour (2017), as well as the writer of Bohemian Rhapsody (2018) – winner of four Oscars and the Golden Globe for Best Drama, becoming the most successful straight drama film of all time – New Zealand-born McCarten is also a celebrated novelist and playwright. Beginning his career as a playwright, he received early international success with his play Ladies Night, a global hit which remains New Zealand’s most commercially successful play of all time. His latest play, The Pope, premiered in England in 2019 marking his return to writing for the stage, for the first time in 20 years. In 2015 he was inducted as a Literary Fellow of the New Zealand Society of Authors. He lives in London.
Michael Mayer (Director). Recently directed the Off-Broadway revival of Little Shop of Horrors. Broadway credits include: Burn This, Head Over Heels, Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Tony Award for Best Musical Revival, also National Tour), Spring Awakening (Tony Award for Best Musical and Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Best Director; also London, National Tour, Vienna, Tokyo, and Seoul productions); American Idiot (also co-author, Drama Desk Award for Best Director; also US, UK and Asia tours); Thoroughly Modern Millie (Tony Award for Best Musical also London and National Tour), Side Man (Tony Award for Best Play also London and Kennedy Center Productions), A View from the Bridge (Tony Award for Best Revival), Michael Moore’s The Terms of My Surrender, Everyday Rapture, You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, and Triumph of Love. Off-Broadway credits include: Love, Love, Love (Roundabout), Brooklynite (also co-author, Vineyard), Whorl Inside A Loop (with Dick Scanlan, Second Stage), 10 Million Miles (Atlantic). National Tour: Angels in America. London: a record-breaking West End run of Funny Girl and UK tour. Tokyo: As You Like It (Toho Theatre). Film: the upcoming Single All the Way from Netflix, The Seagull, A Home at the End of the World, and Flicka, Television: “Smash” (Director and Producer, Season One) and two seasons of “Alpha House” for Amazon. Metropolitan Opera: Rigoletto, La Traviata, and Nico Muhly’s Marnie. He serves on the Board of New York Stage and Film.
Steven Hoggett (Choreographer) Recent credits as movement director/ choreographer include Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Broadway, West End, International); Angels in America (Broadway); The Crucible (Broadway); The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Royal National Theatre, West End, Broadway); The Last Ship (Broadway); Brooklynite (Vineyard Theatre); Let The Right One In (National Theatre Scotland, St. Anne’s Warehouse); Rocky! (Broadway); The Glass Menagerie (A.R.T., Broadway, EIF); Once (A.R.T., Broadway, West End); Peter and the Starcatcher (Broadway); American Idiot (Broadway); Ocean at The End of the Lane and The Light Princess (National Theatre); St. Joan (Public); and as associate director / movement, Black Watch (National Theatre Scotland, St Anne’s Warehouse). As director, his recent credits include Social! Distance Dance Club (Park Ave Armory) and Close to You: Bacharach Reimagined (New York Theatre Workshop, West End). Hoggett was a director and founding member of Frantic Assembly Theatre Company, and with Scott Graham co-wrote The Frantic Assembly Book of Devising Theatre (Routledge).
Ken Davenport (Producer) is a two-time Tony Award-winning Broadway producer whose credits include Once On This Island (Tony Award), Gettin’ the Band Back Together, The Play that Goes Wrong, Groundhog Day (Tony nomination), Deaf West Theatre’s Spring Awakening (Tony nomination), It’s Only a Play, Macbeth starring Alan Cumming, Godspell, Kinky Boots (Tony Award), The Visit (Tony nomination), and many more. Davenport’s productions have been produced internationally in over 25 countries around the world. He was the Executive Producer for North America for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Group and is the Theatrical Consultant for Primary Wave Music Publishing. His blog, The Producers Perspective, has been featured in every major publication around the world, from the New York Times to Forbes. He is the creator of the best-selling board game, Be A Broadway Star, and he is an avid golfer who dreams of playing Augusta National someday. He is a Massachusetts native, raised in Sturbridge, MA, who first fell in love with the theater going to shows at the Colonial. That’s where he decided this is what he was going to do with his life. www.kendavenport.com
Bob Gaudio (Producer) wrote his first hit, “Who Wears Short Shorts,” at 15, for the Royal Teens, and then went on to become a founding member of the Four Seasons and the band’s principal songwriter. He also produced the hit “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers” for Neil Diamond and Barbra Streisand (Grammy nomination, Record of the Year) as well as six albums for Diamond, including The Jazz Singer. Other producing credits include albums for Frank Sinatra, Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, and the soundtrack for the film of Little Shop of Horrors. Several songs co-written with Bob Crewe have been cover hits for such artists as the Tremeloes (“Silence Is Golden”), the Walker Brothers (“The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore”), and Lauryn Hill (“Can’t Take My Eyes Off You”). With his wife, Judy Parker, Gaudio produced and co-wrote the Who Loves You album for the Four Seasons and one of Billboard’s longest-charted singles (54 weeks), “Oh, What a Night.” A high point in his career came in 1990 when, as a member of the original Four Seasons, Gaudio was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 1995, he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, which hailed him as “a quintessential music-maker.” To this day, Bob Gaudio and Frankie Valli still maintain their partnership… on a handshake.
