Nick Fradiani (center) and Cast Photo by Jeremy Daniel

Scenic design by Tony Award winner David Rockwell is spare, fluid, and playful, and costume design by Tony Award nominee Emilio Sosa is similarly playful with clear nods to each decade primarily featured, with '60s, '70s, and even '80s blue jeans. Lighting design by four-time Tony Award winner Kevin Adams, and sound design by Tony Award winner Jessica Paz reflects the rock concert aspect of much of the production. Luc Verschueren's hair and wig design looks a little worse for wear with both wigs for Nick Fradiani as Neil - Then. While featuring the appropriate silhouette, they read very strongly as wigs even from many rows back in the auditorium.

While we may not have hit biographical musical fatigue yet with the new Prince musical, Purple Rain, on deck for Hennepin Arts, and whether you're familiar with Diamond's origin as a Brooklyn kid briefly bankrolled by the mafia, his musical contains all the cliches we expect from a rockstar biographical musical. He cheats on his pregnant first wife the moment he has an inkling of success in performing, his second marriage doesn't go so well either, and the chosen framing device is therapy sessions with a therapist recommended by Diamond's third wife. In these therapy sessions, Neil - Now is played by Tony Award nominee Robert Westenberg, and the Doctor is played by Lisa Renee Pitts. While beautifully acted, their scenes are overly long and serve as a damper on the rest of the performance.

Unlike Jersey Boys, which was successfully adapted into a feature length film, A Beautiful Noise barely has enough story to feel like a real play. Ultimately, it is a meditation on loneliness and how Diamond feels most like himself when he is onstage. With a thin book, the fun is in the production numbers. Unlike Ain't Too Proud, The Temptations musical, A Beautiful Noise takes the time for Neil - Then to actually sing entire songs rather than montages, and Fradiani performs with a fluid chorus dubbed "The Beautiful Noise" who gleefully dance their socks off.

In addition to Fradiani as Neil - Then, Tiffany Tatreau and Hannah Jewel Kohn give standout performances and Neil's first wife, Jaye Posner, and second wife, Marcia Murphey. Tatreau displays an amazing vocal range displayed in her solo song, "Love on the Rocks." Jewel Kohn is difficult to understand during spoken dialogue as her voice tends to drop off the end of every spoken sentence, but her beautiful singing voice and fluid, expressive dancing tell their own story.

Neil Diamond fans will find plenty to enjoy in A Beautiful Noise. It will teach you a little about Diamond's origins while you can bop along to all his familiar songs, and maybe discover some new ones.

A Beautiful Noise runs through October 5, 2025, at the Orpheum Theatre, 910 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis MN. For tickets and information, please visit HennepinArts.org or call 612-339-7007. For information on the tour, visit abeautifulnoisethemusical.com.