You may be shocked to learn that a jukebox musical, the telling of a stage production’s story through pre-existing songs from popular artists, is not an invention of modern Broadway — a supposed crutch for lazy producers grasping at straws.
No, sir. While “Mamma Mia!” might have kicked off Broadway’s jukebox craze in the early aughts, such musicals have technically been around since the 17th century — ironically around the time Broadway became a main thoroughfare through New York City when under Dutch rule. (No evidence Andrew Lloyd Webber productions existed in 1647, by the way.)
So, the discovery that some people just wanna sing or mouth along to the lyrics during musical numbers happened long before the songs of ABBA or the Four Seasons served as show tunes for colossal, Tony-winning Broadway musicals. Of course, one could easily point to some productions that didn’t hit home runs when applying this formula. But according to Joe Caskey, a Keller native who performed as Neil Diamond on opening night as “A Beautiful Noise” begins a five-day residency at Bass Hall this week, this salute to Diamond is worthy of your attention.
“There’s so much amazing material in ‘A Beautiful Noise,’” Caskey says. “At the end of the day, it’s a two-person play with a rock concert kind of combined. So, the scene work is really rich and amazing; it feels like a great screenplay [for a film]. It’s so well crafted.”
And he’s right. “A Beautiful Noise,” which is based on the life of the multi-platinum-selling, Grammy-winning singer-songwriter, casts two separate Neil Diamonds — Neil (Then) and Neil (Now) — to represent different stages in his life, tackles some heavy subject matter when flying through its string of Top 40 hits. Using an intense therapy session as the musical’s framing device, Neil (Now) revisits defining and traumatizing moments in his life — songwriting for The Monkees, marriages, divorces, and writing “Sweet Caroline” with a proverbial gun to his head — all acted out by Neil (Then) with the contemporary Neil watching from the side.
I don’t want to give too much away, but once the show reaches its emotional climax — the meeting of the Neils — the device is very effective.
It might be tough to imagine a Keller native who grew up in a hunting family immersing himself in the role of an artist whose identity is so entrenched in his hometown of New York City. But Caskey hits the role out of the park. Though cast as a standby, traveling with the troupe to take the reins of the lead performance when called upon, Caskey’s been with the musical for over six months and has performed the part of Diamond on 34 occasions, including last night. In other words, he’s got the role down to a science and manages to deliver nuanced performance that never approaches the realm of parody — a common trap when performing as someone as famous as Neil Diamond.
We caught up with Caskey over the phone before his visit to Fort Worth and chatted about his initial reasons for taking choir as an elective, finding Neil’s voice, and what it was like to meet the man in-person.
“A Beautiful Noise” is showing at Bass Performance Hall through Nov. 2. To purchase tickets, click here.
FW: So, what’s it going to be like coming back and playing for the home crowd on opening night?
Joe Caskey: Oh, it’s just insane. I’ve already got tickets for so many people, and my mom has done so much legwork on getting people to come to the show. I mean, I might have 80 people at the stage door for me. It’s going to be insane.
Just a dream come true. And to be performing at Bass Hall, too. It’s just one of the most gorgeous theaters I’ve ever seen, and I love that it’s going to all cultivate there.
FW: So, you grew up in Keller in a hunting family and ended up going the theater route, which a lot of people would say is a little dichotomous. So, what got you interested in theater?
Caskey: It’s a little bit of a funny story. I started taking choir in middle school when we had to pick an elective. My brother, who’s four years older than me, he said choir was really fun, and it was a pretty easy grade that I could just write off a little bit. And I was like, “Alright, sure.” And then the language of music, how to read a scale and actual theory, just made sense to me; it came almost like a second language. So, my seventh-grade year, my choir director convinced me to audition for the musical at the time, which was the “King and I.” I didn’t know what I was doing. I was shaking like a leaf with the sheet music in front of me, not knowing how to put two things together. But they ended up casting me as the King.
I just fell in love with the work of perfecting a score, perfecting a script, and the characterization that comes with that. Acting kind of came secondary to all the music stuff. And I still consider myself a musician, an instrumentalist first, but then I’ve fallen in love with the acting more so than anything else. I feel like it’s just the most intriguing thing to watch, and it’s clearly the most important thing that keeps audiences coming back to whatever we’re doing on stage.
FW: When I think of “The Kind and I,” I think of Yul Brynner [in the 1951 film]. No easy shoes to fill and, for that matter, neither is the role of Neil Diamond.
Caskey: Oh, for sure. Before I joined the tour, I was doing a production of “Heartbreak Hotel,” which is the Elvis Presley bio-musical that’s going around right now. So, it’s really interesting going from bio-musical to bio-musical and kind of creating my interpretation of these very real people.
FW: So, what is that process like? How do you make these larger-than-life figures seem more flesh and blood?
Caskey: When I got cast and during the audition process the biggest thing that I was trying to work toward, and I’m still working on right now, is making sure I’m not doing an impersonation. I think that’s a really important distinction between a Vegas show, where these guys are really trying to movement for movement, word for word, sound for sound, be like the original recordings or the videos that are out there. But when we’re doing these musicals, it’s important that we have opinions as actors and that we bring our own thoughts and feelings to the material in addition to kind of trying to be in the skin of Neil.
Now, when I say I’m not doing an impression, obviously I’m going to sound like Neil Diamond as much as I can. And Nick Fradiani, who’s going to play him for the rest of the week in Fort Worth, also sounds very much like him. And obviously there are certain mannerisms that we keep in. I only refer to the impersonation stuff as I feel like there’s a lack soul and humanity that comes with some of those performances.
FW: They can be a little hokey sometimes.
Caskey: Yeah, exactly. It’s fun to watch for a song or two, but I don’t know if it would be the best interpretation of a whole two-hour or two-and-a-half hour musical.
FW: You said you played Elvis and now you’re doing Neil Diamond, those are very different voices. How do you train your voice for such a thing like that?
Caskey: The voice is the biggest part of it. My background was opera and classical musical theater at Oklahoma City University. So, I tend to have a very clean and polished sound. That can work a little bit for Elvis, but it definitely doesn’t work for Neil. He’s got that blue-collar roughness that is so magnetic to listen to and for people to sing along with. So that’s been the biggest thing that I’ve been working on throughout. I want people to close their eyes in the very first moments that they hear me and be like, ‘Oh, I’m transported back to when I saw [Neil Diamond] live, or when I listened to his LP for the first time.’ That’s a really important part with the show. And, in that moment, you can either get the audience on your side or make them defensive the whole night. A lot of it has been finding the rasp in my voice and focusing on the music and the words themselves. He was a poet. His words mean everything to him. So you have to deliver them well.
FW: And that is kind of a scary proposition, so to speak, where Neil Diamond has such a distinct voice. And, like you said, you go out there and the audience can get defensive if it doesn’t sound like him.
Caskey: And then for the rest of the show, they’re thinking, ‘Oh, is this guy really good enough to play this whole thing?’ The voice is something I work on every day. Even still, after being with the show for six months, it’s every day because it’s such a unique sound and so important for this show.
FW: I feel like I have to ask this question: Do you have a favorite Neil Diamond song or one that you most enjoy performing in the musical?
Caskey: There’s definitely one that I enjoy performing above all else, and that’s “Solitary Man.” It’s a different take than the original recording or any live performance he did. It’s much more slowed down, and it occurs during his first live performance at the Bitter Coffee Shop and Bar in New York City. It’s [Diamond’s] very first live performance in front of this tiny crowd. And what’s really special about it for me is I just get to sit down with a guitar and a live, practical microphone and play and sing the full song. One-hundred percent of the song, from the opening riff to the last chord that I play, is all me up there with the instrument and my voice, and it’s just so, so special. It’s something that I love doing in New York when I’m not in a show. I love gigging, and it’s just, you don’t ever get to do that [in a Broadway Musical].
FW: So, have you ever met Neil Diamond?
Caskey: Yes, I got the amazing opportunity to meet him in LA. He actually came out to the [Hollywood Pantages Theatre] and met all the cast and crew. He watched the show out there with [his current wife] Katie, and at the end when we do an encore of “Sweet Caroline” he was out there with a spotlight on him, and he sang it with a mic in his hand.
And [after the show], he sat on the center of the stage and took a bunch of pictures with everybody, and he made sure he met everyone who wanted to shake his hand and say something. It was just incredible. He’s 84 years old, he’s got Parkinson’s, and it’s just incredible to see his energy. He has such a strong will, and he loves this so much. It was a really special moment that I’ll be thinking about that for the rest of my life.