‘A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical’ is a therapy session sing-along

There are two Neil Diamonds on stage at once at the Forrest Theatre for much of A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical.

First, we meet old Neil, or as he’s listed in the cast, Neil Now, played by Robert Westenberg, on stage with a therapist, played by Lisa Reneé Pitts.

The songwriter behind such moody hits as “Solitary Man” and “Song Sung Blue” remains depressed despite a 50-year career filling arenas around the globe, and is in therapy under orders from his third wife.

He’s tight-lipped, so the doctor has an idea: Let’s talk about all those songs you wrote, and see what they tell us about the lonely boy from Flatbush whose closest buddy was an imaginary friend named Shilo.

So Neil Now starts to open up, and who springs to life but Neil Then, his younger self played by pompadoured, guitar-strumming American Idol winner Nick Fradiani.

A Beautiful Noise introduces Diamond as a struggling songwriter with a wife and two kids, who breaks in among Brill Building songwriters, thanks to “Be My Baby” songsmith Ellie Greenwich (Kate A. Mulligan).

Scoring with the Monkees’ “I’m a Believer,” he’s off, getting his first taste of performing at the Bitter End in New York City’s Greenwich Village, where he meets soon-to-be-second wife Marcia Murphey (Hannah Jewel Kohn).

The show works partly because Fradiani is believable enough as Diamond goes from wracked-with-doubt — he thinks “Neil Diamond” is a lousy stage name — to being bedazzled with sequins as he earns his “Jewish Elvis” nickname in the 1970s.

But the best reason for Diamond fans to see A Beautiful Noise is Fradiani’s booming voice, whether on the schmaltzy “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers,” the rousing immigrant anthem “Coming to America,” or “Sweet Caroline.”

He sounds uncannily like Diamond, whose vocals Murphey describes as “gravel wrapped in velvet.” Note to theatergoers: Fradiani is in the show only until Dec. 15. Then, Alec Michael Ryan takes over through Dec. 22.

The show, which was briefly halted — and then quickly restarted — the night I saw it due to a set malfunction, bears resemblance to Beautiful, the Carole King musical that recently played at the Walnut.

That show also had scenes in the Brill Building and Bitter End, and domestic drama involving King’s cheating husband Gerry Goffin. Here, the cheater is Diamond himself, and Neil Now and his doctor try to figure out why Neil Then acted like a jerk.

Neil Diamond retired in 2018 after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. In the playbill, he thanks his late therapist for inspiring the story and endorses writer Anthony McCarten’s idea to use his years in psychoanalysis as a framing device.

That decision gives A Beautiful Noise surprising heft for a jukebox musical, as it puts its protagonist on the couch and invites the audience to a therapeutic singalong.

(Community/Arts) The best reason for Diamond fans to see A Beautiful Noise is Nick Fradiani’s booming voice which makes him sound uncannily like Diamond. Running time: 2 hours 15 mins with one interval.

⌚️ Through Dec. 22 at Forrest Theatre, 📍1114 Walnut St, Phila.; 🌐 forrest-theatre.com/a-beautiful-noise.html

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