How ‘American Idol’ Nick Fradiani became Neil Diamond in ‘A Beautiful Noise’
For the past few years, Nick Fradiani has been living a double life as singer-songwriter Neil Diamond in the musical “A Beautiful Noise,” first on Broadway and now on the show’s national tour.
Not a lot can shake him at this point, Fradiani says. Except when Neil Diamond himself showed up in the audience for the matinee performance at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood on Saturday, July 12.
“It was the first time he’s seen me do the role,” says Fradiani, who won “American Idol” in 2015, on a recent phone call. “He’d seen it on our Broadway opening, and he saw it once in previews in Boston as well.”
But actor Will Swenson performed those shows; Fradiani, as the understudy, watched from the wings.
“I was really looking forward to it,” he continues. “We always knew there was a chance that in L.A. he was going to come. [Diamond has a home in Malibu.]
“When it finally happened, it was pretty, pretty crazy.”
So there were some nerves before the curtain lifted?
“Truly, yes,” Fradiani says, laughing. “The night before was probably the most I was nervous, and then I woke up and I was a little calmer.
“I was like, ‘All right, you’ve done this many times. You’ve just got to kind of tell yourself it’s another show and try to put it behind you while you’re out there,” he says.
Still, it’s hard to totally ignore the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer in the room when you run into him backstage at intermission, Fradiani says.
“At intermission, he was actually in the dressing room next to me, so I saw him and talked to him a bit. That was kind of wild. But it was great. The whole day was very special. I think the whole cast and crew will remember that one.”
“A Beautiful Noise” closes at the Pantages on Sunday, July 27, after which it moves to Segerstrom Hall in Costa Mesa, where it plays Tuesday, July 29 through Aug. 10.
Diamond retired from live performance in 2018 after a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease. The musical is a jukebox musical, packed with such Diamond songs as “I’m A Believer,” “Cracklin’ Rosie,” “Song Sung Blues,” and “Forever In Blue Jeans.”
Its unique structure has an older Neil Diamond, played by Robert Westenberg, talking with his therapist about the stories behind his songs, with a younger Diamond, played by Fradiani, recreating those moments in Diamond’s life.
In an interview edited for length and clarity, Fradiani talks about becoming Diamond, why he didn’t want to play “Sweet Caroline” as a Connecticut bar singer, the impact “American Idol” on his career, and more.
Q: So what did Neil say to you at intermission or after the show?
A: He had really kind things to say. We’ve spoken to each other quite a bit on the phone over the last two years. He was funny. He was like, “I can’t believe you have to do this again,” because it was the matinee, so we were doing it again that night. But yeah, very encouraging words. He’s just a really sweet guy.”
Q: I’m envious that the audience got to sing “Sweet Caroline” with Neil, you and the cast at the end of the show.
A: That was kind of a game-time decision. They discussed it prior to the show and told me, basically, after our final song, before bows, they would give me the OK or just go about bows normally. And I got the ‘he’s-gonna-sing-it’ OK.
So I got to introduce Neil Diamond. I think the crowd never knew he was there. He was literally in the audience. I said, “Ladies and gentlemen, Neil Diamond!” and there was a bit of confusion, I think. It was funny to see a wave of people figuring out what was actually happening.
Q: So let’s talk about how you got in the audition room for this part.
A: It was a Broadway World article on Facebook that I saw. I can still remember seeing it. I was new in theater, and I just messaged my agent and was like, “You’ve got to get me in for this; I think I would be a perfect fit.” He’s like, “I’m pretty sure they already have somebody.” Because they were actually planning on opening this show prior to the pandemic.
Long story short, I kind of just said, I guess that’s not going to happen. Then he sent me an email, probably six months later. He’s like, “I don’t know if you want to do this, but they are looking for an understudy.” I told him I wanted to at least go in for it, and I went in and got it. I was the alternate for about a year, and then took over on Broadway in October of ’23.
Q: Being the alternate sure paid off.
A: Yeah, the plan worked. [He laughs]
Q: Tell me a little bit about your earliest awareness of Neil Diamond. Did your parents play his music? How’d you first hear it?
A: My dad was a Neil fan. It sounds kind of made up, but my first concert was Neil Diamond. My dad took me when I was like four. I don’t remember it, but that was apparently my first-ever live performance.
That was my dad’s job growing up. He’d been a professional musician all his life, so I was always around it and watching him play. I got into sports heavily, but then I started a band, and I started playing bars and stuff when I was 19 or 20 in resorts and stuff like that around Connecticut.
Q: Did you ever play any Neil Diamond songs in your bands or solo back then?
A: I think maybe I did some Neil. I must have played it because I played hundreds of covers and four-hour sets at, like, bars where nobody was listening to me in the background. At one point, I probably did “Sweet Caroline.”
Q: I mean, you’d have to do “Sweet Caroline,” if you had a quorum of Red Sox fans in the bar, right?
A: [He laughs] Right, of course. Yeah, I’m a Yankee fan, so that’s probably why I didn’t play it.
Q: I want to ask about the Neil voice you developed for the musical. That’s not your normal register or timbre, but I watched some videos of you singing Neil, and it’s really close to his sound.
A: It was a lot of trial and error. You know, I actually heard some versions of me back when they did B-roll at one point, and I was unhappy with how I was doing it. This is going back a year and a half, two years. I thought I was trying too hard to do it and putting too much emphasis on things that he does. I didn’t like it, so I kind of backed off doing some things and tried to put a little bit more in my voice.
I can’t really give an example of what I did to prepare besides just really listening to a lot of him. I would obsess over one song, and I’d get that. But I didn’t want to copy every line of every song. It’s like once you get how he says words, you could kind of use it in all of his music. Plus, his voice changed a lot over time. I’m playing him from the time he was in his 20s to the time he’s in his 50s, so his voice obviously had many different variations.
Q: As the alternate, what did you learn from watching Will Swenson play Neil every night?
A: The biggest thing I learned from Will was his professionalism and his work ethic. I had done a musical before this, “A Bronx Tale,” and so I knew how difficult it is to do a show eight times a week. But to watch it from the beginning through him creating the role, that was my biggest thing.
I got to watch his process, and I learned a lot from him about acting. Just to pick his brain more in the scene work. The music stuff, he was kind of coming to me about guitar stuff because he wasn’t a guitar player. So we would kind of help each other with those type of things.
Will was a great guy. I just texted him when Neil came and thanked him. I said thanks for creating such a great role, and that I got to do it in front of [Neil] today. He was really happy to get that message. He’s a great dude.
Q: It feels like almost everyone knows at least a few Neil Diamond songs. I’m curious about how much you know about his life as it’s portrayed in the musical?
A: I didn’t know a lot, and a lot of people didn’t know a lot because he was a really private guy. He’s always been a little bit private. You know, there’s no book, there’s no movie. This was the way he wanted his story to be told.
The professional stuff I knew. His songwriting and starting in the Brill Building and working with Ellie Greenwich. Writing “I’m A Believer” and those things. But I didn’t know he was married and had children. And married Marcia [Murphey who is a main character in the musical.] And then meeting and being married to Katie for so long now.
The show is based on a therapy session, which was true to life. Neil did go to therapy later in life, especially when dealing with his Parkinson’s diagnosis. I learned a lot after getting the script and reading it, and now knowing the man personally. It’s amazing to learn about him and what an amazing life he’s had.
Q: Do you have favorites of his songs you sing in the musical, either just for the song or the moment it represents in the story?
A: For the moment in the storytelling, it’s a cool version we do of “Solitary Man.” It’s when Neil’s making his artist debut, after he’d already written “I’m A Believer,” “Red, Red Wine,” and now Ellie’s pushing him to think he could be a performer. It’s this moment where he performs at the Bitter End in New York, which is still there, and I’ve performed there many times when I was in the city.
I was telling you about my days working at the bars, and when he tells that part of the show, he goes, ‘You know, there might have only been 10 people there, but I’ve never been more nervous in my life.’ And he goes into this beautiful acoustic version of the song.
That’s grown to be the moment I always look forward to doing in the show. And I also love “Holly Holy,” which is a really powerful moment in the show. I’d say those two are what I look forward to most every day.
Q: Let me take you back a decade to 2015 when you won “American Idol.” What was it like to go through the show and come out the winner?
A: The process of the show was quite exciting and fun, and a thing I’ll never forget. I have nothing but really good feelings about the show and how I was treated. Even if I didn’t win, I would have said the same thing.
The months and years after were challenging. I knew who I was as an artist, but I really didn’t know who I was as much as I thought I did without my band [Beach Avenue, which competed on “America’s Got Talent” in 2014]. I had a single, “Beautiful Life,” which did pretty well, so I went on a months-long radio station tour. And then to the “American Idol” tour, where we performed in like 35 cities.
Then you’ve got to make an album, so going to L.A. and Nashville. They had me with 90 different songwriters, kind of trying to figure out what they wanted me to be. I’m like, well, we’re like this, but then the record label wants you to be this. It was a confusing time for me. Anyways, I put that album out, and since then, I’ve been able to put out more of the kind of music that I was a little more comfortable with making, and a little bit more my style and me.
Q: Do you see yourself continuing on both tracks as musician and actor?
A: I do. I’ve really worked so hard, especially on the acting side, and I’ve grown to love it and find so much passion for it. I think musical theater will always be a thing. And, of course, continue my music and who knows what else? That’s one thing I’ve learned.
I have no idea what’s going to happen in this world of music, so I just try to keep myself open and keep working hard and keep ready. Because you never know.