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Will Swenson has been in training his whole life to play Neil Diamond, the subject of the jukebox musical, A Beautiful Noise, which makes its Australian debut next year.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was such a staple in my house \u2013 my dad loved him so much \u2013 that I just knew all the songs,\u201d says the 52-year-old who was unveiled as the star of the show at Melbourne\u2019s Princess Theatre on Thursday.<\/p>\n
As a kid, Swenson performed Diamond songs \u201cas a party trick\u201d. \u201cI wanted to impress girls with my guitar playing, and around the campfire I would sing Play Me, which is like the dirtiest song \u2026 this was as an eighth-grader, not really having any idea what I was saying.\u201d<\/p>\n
Years later, he would join his wife, fellow Broadway star Audra McDonald, on stage for a jokey rendition of You Don\u2019t Bring Me Flowers. \u201cWe\u2019d say, \u2018This is our song, it kind of represents our relationship\u2019. And she\u2019d slap me halfway through.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Neil Diamond started out writing songs for other people, but for four decades from the 1970s he was a recording and touring machine.<\/p>\n
When he heard there was a musical in development, Swenson knew he had to go for it. \u201cI mean, I was close to Neil\u2019s stuff, I knew this is a voice I can do, I play the guitar, I look like him a bit. This is a fit for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Luckily, one of the show\u2019s producers had seen his cabaret schtick with his wife, and thought so too. But the person who most needed convincing was the man himself.<\/p>\n
Swenson recalls the day in January 2020 when he performed a bunch of songs for Diamond in the rehearsal room, as the producers hoped and prayed the subject of their budding show would give it his blessing.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd he liked it, and we got the green light. And then a month later, the world shut down.\u201d<\/p>\n
The show \u2013 which is structured around the older Diamond\u2019s sessions with his therapist \u2013 finally did open on Broadway in December 2022. Swenson played the younger Diamond, singing 23 songs a night, eight shows a week. And after a year, he says, \u201cas much as I loved it and was having a blast, I needed to take a break and heal up a bit\u201d.<\/p>\n
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Neil Diamond surprised the opening night audience, and the cast and crew, with a performance of Sweet Caroline at the Broadway premiere in December 2022. <\/p>\n
A year on, voice and body back in top condition, he got the call asking if he fancied revisiting the role in Australia. \u201cAnd I was like, \u2018Yeah, there\u2019s a lot of interest. I\u2019ll jump back into that\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
The investment in this show is personal for veteran promoter and producer Paul Dainty, too. He first toured Diamond in this country in the 1980s, and all up did \u201cseven or eight big arena tours\u201d with him.<\/p>\n
The relationship was good business, but there was a personal dimension too.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t often have the sort of connection with a show like I\u2019ve got with this one,\u201d says Dainty, who was an original investor in the Broadway production. \u201cWe forged a strong friendship over those years. In fact, he was godfather to my son. It\u2019s nice to be bringing his life story to the stage after having had that association.\u201d<\/p>\n
Neil Diamond is one of the music industry\u2019s genuine titans. He has sold more than 130 million records under his own name, as well as writing songs for others (including The Monkees, Elvis Presley and Deep Purple). Sweet Caroline, Kentucky Woman, I\u2019m a Believer, Solitary Man, Shilo, Girl, You\u2019ll be a Woman Soon \u2026 he wrote them all.<\/p>\n
He was one of the biggest concert acts for decades from the 1970s, with his double live LP Hot August Night sitting at No.1 in Australia for 29 weeks in 1973-74. He was the first artist to sell a million concert tickets in this country \u2013 \u201cand there were many more after that\u201d, adds Dainty.<\/p>\n
In 2017, Diamond was forced to retire from performing after being diagnosed with Parkinson\u2019s disease (Dainty, in fact, had tickets on sale for another Australian tour, which had to be cancelled, at the time). But he did appear in the Broadway theatre on opening night, even singing Sweet Caroline from his private box to the delight of the audience.<\/p>\n
The singer joined Dainty and Swenson at the Princess Theatre on Thursday, too, albeit via FaceTime from his home in the United States. What chance he might make it Down Under for opening night next year?<\/p>\n
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Promoter Paul Dainty and performer Will Swenson were joined by Neil Diamond, via FaceTime.Credit: Chris Hopkins<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll see,\u201d says Dainty. \u201cHe loves Australia, he\u2019s spent a lot of time here over the years, so it would be pretty special.\u201d<\/p>\n
Neil Diamond in Melbourne on a hot (or more likely cold) August night for the opening of his own show?<\/p>\n
\u201cIt would be a beautiful noise,\u201d Dainty says. \u201cA beautiful night.\u201d<\/p>\n