Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Welcome back to the Bright lights of Broadway. This is the Cosmic Curtain, the official podcast of the Cosmic Circus Broadway. I'm Brian Kitson, head writer at the Cosmic Circus. And joining me, as always, is my co host and Fellow Boxy Babe, R.J. miller. Zelinko. How are you doing today, sir?
[00:00:17] Speaker B: You know, New Year's Day, we're making it. We're making it through.
[00:00:22] Speaker A: Yeah. Happy New Year. Happy New Year. This is very exciting.
So obviously before we get started and jump into A Beautiful Noise, I'd like to take a moment to thank everybody who has been on this journey with us through 2024. This is the year that we really launched Boxy Babes and Cosmic Circus Broadway. So to all of our followers, our readers and our listeners, both for Boxy Babes or the Cosmic Curtain or. And Cosmic Circus Broadway, we're beyond grateful to have you here with us. So cheers to 2024 and we're looking forward to continuing this in 2025.
And also thank you, sir.
It's been. It's been a team effort.
[00:00:58] Speaker B: Can't believe it.
[00:01:00] Speaker A: It's gonna be a better year, I think. Hopefully we had a strong first year, but, like, let's make this something special.
So obviously, spoiler warning. We are going to be talking about A Beautiful Noise today, which is currently running at the Fisher Theater as a part of the Broadway in Detroit 2024, 2025 season. So if you haven't seen it yet at the Fisher Theater or if you haven't seen it while it's been on tour, you don't want spoilers. Except I don't have much spoilers you can have for a show that is about a person's life.
Move on, keep scrolling. But if you are here to talk about or to listen to A Beautiful Noise, welcome, and we're gonna get started. So right off the bat, we gotta talk about how this show began.
[00:01:50] Speaker B: We.
[00:01:51] Speaker A: It is a frame story, obviously told through the lens of Neil Diamonds sitting in therapy as an old man.
And he's kind of looking back at his life. And so for me, this was really awesome because as a therapist, I'm very excited to have a story where it's like, yes, like, you get to see the effects of therapy. You get to see that, like, stars go to therapy. You get to see that people. This is how people explore their life in therapy. But how did you like that setup for A Beautiful Noise?
[00:02:24] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, obviously different, but in. In reading about the creation of the show, it does make complete sense because as he stated, he has been Going to therapy for a long time. So of course, to build it into the show and make it important, because it was important to him. It's just. Yeah, it's fitting.
[00:02:59] Speaker A: So this was something that he, like Neil diamond himself, wanted to be a part of the show.
[00:03:06] Speaker B: Yes. Yeah. So he wrote the show.
He was kind of pushed by a couple of friends to think about writing the musical about his life.
And from my understanding, a couple of his friends were also the creators or helped create Jersey Boys. And so.
[00:03:27] Speaker A: Oh, okay.
[00:03:29] Speaker B: That kind of prompted this.
And he was a big advocate and lifelong kind of liver of psychotherapy and had a lifelong.
Whatever you want to consider lifelong. I'm not sure the exact dates. Therapist, which of course, is what this initial dynamic is. Is based off of.
[00:03:57] Speaker A: What is interesting about that to me is this, is that he's so resistant to therapy at the beginning. So I wonder, like, you know, where this fell into his journey, how he developed that. Because Neil, I think they called Neil then and Neil now. But Neil now is very much not wanting to be in therapy. His wife is kind of forcing him to be there, and he's not exactly happy about it. So it's interesting that that's how it started when he is a big proponent of therapy.
[00:04:22] Speaker B: Yeah, I think maybe.
I mean, maybe that's how it started, because I think the way that we're supposed to see it is that this is the start of his therapy. Right. And so maybe that is how his initial reaction to therapy was.
[00:04:43] Speaker A: Sure.
[00:04:43] Speaker B: But you also then. And I don't know exactly the age around when all this happened, but then you deal with. And we did see snippets of it throughout the Parkinson's.
And does that play a role in regards to him being unsure of how long he's been in therapy at that point? Because we're not really given an age and. Or his reluctance or the push pull of even wanting to be there at all.
[00:05:11] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, that was one of the cool things for me about the therapy aspect is that not only did these two characters never leave the stage, you know, you had the doctor. Like, she doesn't have a name. She's just the doctor. And you have Neil, and they're always there. And it's kind of cool because then you can use that frame story to be like. As they're exploring his life through his music, there is the therapy that is going on of what does that mean? And when you finally get to the point where he finally admits that he can' anymore towards the end, like, he's can't perform. That's not who he. There's. There's not a life that. That is going to work anymore.
Not knowing some of that, I guess about, like the Parkinson's right away and like the. His dynamics. It.
Like, that was like the aha moment. We have those in therapy. Like, the aha moment of like, why are you here? What is that barrier? What is stopping you from connecting to therapy?
And that, to me, was like that big aha moment. And I loved that because he finally kind of like, you saw him kind of crack. And that was when he kind of started embracing therapy. Therapy a little bit more.
[00:06:12] Speaker B: Yeah, agree.
[00:06:14] Speaker A: It kind of reminded me, too, of the. The. The frame story of Water for Elephants, having seen that in New York earlier this year, last year, where you have the older character and then you kind of go back into his life and you explore the dynamics of what happened and getting to use that.
That frame story to. To tell. To tell the story you want to tell.
[00:06:42] Speaker B: Yeah, I had that exact thought as we were watching, maybe also because the actor playing him also seemed very much like the. The actor that played in Water for Elephants. But, yeah, a lot of kind of comparisons could probably be drawn from those two.
[00:07:05] Speaker A: Oh, absolutely. I think I. For a second there, I thought they might have been the same guy because I was like, they look a little too similar here. What's going on? But I don't think that is true.
But then from that point on, so, like, while they're having the therapy aspect, most of the show is your standard, typical jukebox musical. You're exploring the life of one person and his journey.
What did you like about this one? Specific. Because, again, I know you're not a big jukebox musical guy. You're not a big autobiography jukebox musical guy. Specifically.
Is there anything you liked about this one?
[00:07:42] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, thought it is.
It was bringing me back to my. My music.
My music therapy roots in regards to bringing out his songbook and saying, you know, let's analyze your life. Let's go back. Let's look back through your music. Because as we know, music is such a powerful thing, especially when it does come to things like when. When you're getting older, when you're looking past, but also memory and.
And so in this case, also Parkinson's. Right. And so I appreciated kind of the.
The truthfulness or the reality of how the way in which it was portrayed is very, very real for a lot of people.
And of course, the music in general. I mean, I'm obviously not from the Neil diamond era. So I didn't know a ton of his music, which ironically. Right, we know the therapist says, I don't know your music except for one. And that's the one that everybody knows. I did know a few more than one, but the audience just clearly. I think if, if you are a Neil diamond fan, if you grew up with this music, you will absolutely adore everything about it because they cram so many classics and so much into it. And if you're not, I think you'll enjoy it because of the fact that it's well done.
I don't know that you'd go and see it multiple times because once you've seen it, that might be it.
But I enjoyed it as a musical.
I would say it is exactly what you think it will be. And entertainment wise, it leans heavily on the musicality and it is concert esque. So if you're not gearing up to go see a Neil diamond concert, I would say this show is probably not for you.
[00:10:07] Speaker A: Along those lines, I mean, there's so much to break down here. But along those lines, this is very much the like, there are some jukebox musicals where the songs are part of the story. And this is very much the like, the Neil diamond went to the bar to sing this song because Neil diamond has to perform. Like his. The story was about him and his music was not the mode in which you're telling the story, the story was the story.
And so you're right. But that way it is very much a concert of like, he's getting on stage and he's performing the song because it's this decade and like, it's this point in his life and this song is popular and like, and it makes sense too, because before I went here, you know, my mom was very much a Neil diamond fan. She didn't go with us this time. We're gonna get her to come sometime. But she was kind of like going over the songs with me because she was like, oh, you have to know a lot of Neil diamond songs. And I did not. I. There was two, maybe three.
But as I was reading the song, she goes, oh, it's interesting that they're like, not only are they going in order, but they're like, they're like not ending on like one of his biggest ones, which obviously on the soundtrack, they don't tell you that they redo Sweet Caroline again to end Act 2.
But there is. She's like. You noticed when he becomes a little more in his religious phase, which is later in life. And that was some of the songs that are a little bit later, a little more gospel and stuff. And again, not the popular ones, because they didn't just do, like, the. I always think of, like, the. I always think of, like, Glee, where they, like, took the songs and they tried to put them into the story as much as possible instead of, you know, like, it was, like, incorporated. And this did not do that.
That's okay. I mean, for Neil diamond fans, they. The guy in front of us, he ate that up. Every single moment of it. He did not care.
But this is definitely then a concert of people for people who love Neil Diamond.
I think that's your mom. Like, your mom. Well, your sister too, but that's a different story. But they, like, ate that up. They loved it. Your mom was. Came after she came down and we were talking to her, she was like, oh, this song and that song and that song and this part of his life and that part of this life. And for us, it was just music and a story.
[00:12:20] Speaker B: Yeah. She is still raving about it. She absolutely adored it, loved it. Knew every single song, thought it was incredible. Thought it was very well done, Was very intrigued with how it was created and why and just. But she also knew his story. Right. Like, she is way more.
She lived through way more of his life, obviously, than we have. So there was a greater appreciation there.
[00:12:52] Speaker A: Right. Because, I mean, he is a song singer, songwriter of. Of yesteryears. You know, most of this took place in the 70s and 80s, and some of it was in the 90s, but, like, we were born in the 90s, you know, like. Yeah, this. This was not our music.
Yeah. So I have to say that this. You know, I think that the standout thing for me was definitely the mental health aspect. I think that that was really well done, and I think that was really beautiful for. It was a beautiful noise.
But it was definitely something that I think drew me into the story a lot more because I liked that they were embracing that, especially because mental health is not something that older generations tend to embrace very well. So to see someone who's a little bit older on stage going through it, it normalized that a little bit. So I liked that they embraced that. I'm like that. I didn't know that behind the scenes, that was something that he wanted, and I'm glad that he pushed for that because I think it's what ties that story all together.
[00:13:50] Speaker B: Yeah. And I think right along with that, you talk about generation also just men in general. I feel like, statistically And I could be totally lying about this, but when I. When I hear mental health and depression and things of that nature being talked about, it's usually amongst women.
And men are the ones who, of course, that toxic masculinity of choking it down, not talking about it. I would never go to a therapist, blah, blah, blah.
And so for someone who has generations of folks looking up to him, yeah, I think it's incredibly, essentially moving for him to be so transparent about this part of his life and how important it is because it's such an important message. And he had, he had the platform, he had the ability. He didn't have to talk about it, he didn't have to frame it this way, but he did, which is cool.
[00:14:55] Speaker A: You know, we have a rule in couples therapy that if in a standard marriage, you know, of, Of. Of a heterosexual relationship, if the woman reaches out, there's still hope, but if the man reaches out, it's too late. Because most men reach out to therapy when the problem's already been so gone. And this actually isn't just mental health, this is health as well. Like, it's very common that men do not go to doctor's appointments that they should be, or they, like, they're just like, I'm a man, I'm gonna tough it out. And for. So for therapy, we don't see a lot of, again, older men, specifically because of the generational beliefs. You just don't embrace therapy as much. You don't see a lot of older men, or if you do, they're very, like, hip, cool, you know, they're very much like the. I've been on the therapy training for 60 years now. And like, um. So, yeah, you're 100% right. That is, that is, statistically speaking, men don't embrace therapy like this.
I think it's interesting too, that when the show starts, that even kind of he says, my wife Kate is kind of forcing me to be here.
And I've heard that time and time again from older men of just being like, well, my wife wanted me to be here. I don't know what we're going to talk about. And so sometimes we don't talk about anything, but sometimes we talk about like, okay, let's talk about things that were important to you. Sometimes we still do music therapy where it's like, okay, tell me a song from your childhood that was important to you and why, you know, and like, we'll just kind of talk about it that way. And you kind of learn so much about a person. So getting to use somebody's music like that, who has performed on stage and stuff like that, and getting to use that to like seek mental clarity, it's a beautiful thing. But it's also something that we truly do in therapy. So again, that was the biggest kind of standout moment for me in this whole story was this, this connective narrative and actually something that I think that like, was what like the Cher show tried to do by having Cher go through it. But it wasn't therapy. It was just like share was magically floating through her life. And I think that this worked better because it was such like a concrete thing in reality because we're talking about somebody's real life. So I liked that aspect.
So how familiar were you with the works of Neil diamond before the show? Like, your mom seemed pretty into it. Did you know Neil diamond up before this?
[00:17:19] Speaker B: I mean, I knew his name. I knew I knew the one song or two songs that I knew.
I did not realize how many albums and how many songs or anything about how he started.
Which of course, like, I could probably say the same thing about a couple of the artists that kind of have these types of musicals. The one that immediately comes to mind in the same kind of generation being Carole King, where they started as singer songwriters and evolved because they were kind of discovered or could sing their own music better than anyone else could as the further they got into the music scene.
But I wouldn't.
I mean, also I. I got a music major, so for sure I've heard his name before.
[00:18:23] Speaker A: I've.
[00:18:24] Speaker B: I've heard his. His songs before. I've heard, you know, random variations of his name float around because of the singer, song, song aspect. But not like have a bunch of Neil diamond albums sitting on my, you know, record table or anything like that.
[00:18:47] Speaker A: Thought for sure you'd have at least four of them.
[00:18:50] Speaker B: It just stacked.
[00:18:54] Speaker A: That is something that my mom had told me before I went was. She's like, you will know songs that he has written because he's written so many songs for other people as well. And in the show you kind of get some of that. You get the I'm a Believer, which everybody knows I'm a Believer, but there's. There's just a lot of music too that's just like, I haven't really heard before, but like. But you.
He is somebody that seems to have transcended just like. Like he went from the songwriter to a singer songwriter. You know, he was just kind of when he started the show, shows you that he's just going to Be somebody who was going to write songs. And he had a vision of how he wanted them done, but he didn't necessarily want to sing them. It didn't seem like, at least that's how it kind of was portrayed. And then he kind of like fell into music and became this.
This big legend.
But no, I was also. Wasn't very familiar with this work as well.
And sometimes maybe it's the name thing because, like, you had reviewed Carole King. I was reading it over for you. And it wasn't until I was reading a book about one of the actresses in Gilmore Girls that it dawned on me that Carole King is the person who sang the theme song for the Gilmore Girls. And she sang all the in between music in the Gilmore Girls and stuff. Like, she. And so I was like, oh, holy hell. Like, I did know this name, but I didn't know her. Like, I knew her, but I didn't know her name.
So it feels like Neil Diamond's very much in that same boathouse of, like, maybe you know his music, but maybe you don't realize that is Neil Diamond.
[00:20:34] Speaker B: Well, and it's always interesting. Like, as it started out, especially the. Really, the first act, you have this person who, yeah, he's writing songs, but it seems like he has zero to no interest about performing.
And then that flips on its head, really. Right when he meets Marsha and she kind of shoves him out onto stages.
But. And it's so interesting to me. That part is so interesting to me because they talked about kind of that high of performing and getting that feedback from the audience. And so the shift from kind of getting amped off of creating versus getting amped off of how people feel about what you've created.
There's so many performers where I feel like that is the same story at some point. Like, usually a few years in, where this switch just kind of happens where they realize, oh, like, this feels good.
And to go from wanting to be invisible, which is what it kind of felt like he wanted at first. He just wanted a paycheck. He wanted his songs to be played and sung by other people. And then just a 180 shift of, okay, now let's just do tour after tour after tour.
And then as they kind of delve into depression and loneliness, what almost. It's. It's almost like an addiction. Right. Like, you get amped off of this feeling of how others make you feel. And then when you don't have that, what does that mean for you as a. As a person?
[00:22:41] Speaker A: Yeah. And if you look at the different stages of his life, specifically his relationships. I mean, when he wanted to kind of be anonymous, he had a very traditional esque wife who was, like, homemaker and having children and, like, we don't have to have a big, spectacular life. I just love having this life with you. And then he meets Marcia, and as soon as Marsha walked in, I was like, that's gonna be his draw into this world. And it's intoxicating her energy. I mean, the actress's energy, the character's energy, all of her singing, her dancing, like, she is electric on stage.
That becomes very addictive. And he did become addictive to that. But I think there was one scene where he, like, walks off stage and he's, like, very happy. And he, like, walks to Marsha, and all of a sudden he looks like. Just like a. Like, Eeyore.
And they're talking about, like, what happened? Like, you were like, what happened a second ago till now? And he, like, couldn't keep that energy up. And I loved.
I loved that. I love those different changes, you know, because you're right, it's probably really hard to keep that energy up all the time. But as he shifts from one relationship to another, he changes. Almost like you said, 180. He's a completely different person, whatever that says about him. And obviously, that relationship doesn't last as well.
Do you think that looking at that, like.
I guess what I'm trying to ask is, like. So the thing you. You talked about loneliness, and what I liked about the loneliness aspect is that you got to see that, like, both people were very lonely in that relationship, like Marcia and Neil diamond and that conflict that happens between them. While Marcia, paraphrasing is kind of like, this is the life you created, and you don't, like, you don't want it anymore. But, like, I still have to live with these people kind of thing.
What did you think about that component of the loneliness of the depression storyline?
[00:24:47] Speaker B: Yeah, I think it's very, very real. It humanizes, like, superstars, you know, like, to be.
To come. To see someone essentially, you know, come home from a day of work, except really, he was coming home from, you know, a world tour.
[00:25:09] Speaker A: Sure.
[00:25:09] Speaker B: And kind of want nothing more than to just. Literally, we've all had that moment where we come home from work and we just want to be home. We want to be with our people, and we want to do absolutely nothing.
But because of the stardom and because of the life that he's leading, it's expected that he go to fancy Dinners that he meet with other superstars, that he essentially show face all of the time.
And he's just like, no, like, I can't do it. Like, I don't want to do it. And meanwhile, on the flip side, she is trying. So, I mean, she. She's for years been working to encourage him, to support him, to.
Essentially, it's keeping up with the Joneses, right, With all of the name dropping that she did in regards to, you know, I'm having dinner with so and so, I'm meeting with so and so.
These are your friends.
And essentially trying to be a supportive partner and keeping all of those relationships up when your other half doesn't have the energy to do so is really hard because then you're going. She's doing it alone, too. On top of. On top of being a homemaker, on top of raising children, essentially by herself, all of these things. And then to have your partner say, like, I don't want to, or even kind of regret or resent you for it. Right, because he was kind of like, she offered to cancel. And I'm sure that's the story many times over, but it's. It's a lot of sacrifice on. On both sides, I think.
[00:27:01] Speaker A: I think that we've all. I shouldn't say we all, but, like, there's a lot of us who have been in both of those shoes. Like, I've heard us both say at times, like, man, I just want to go home and go to bed. I'm exhausted, I'm tired. Work's been hard. And granted, that's just like a day in, day out thing. But, like, when you're on a world tour, you're, you know, life is luxurious as it could be. Luxurious as it could be. You're traveling around the world, you're performing, you're giving all of this energy all the time. You're somebody for some, for everyone else at that moment, you know, and you want to come home and you just want to be at peace. And so, like, you can feel that. I felt that from him. I felt for him. I was like, I've been there. I've been in your shoes, but I've also been in Marcia's shoes of just being like that. I'm giving 110% while you're gone and you're here, and I need you to be here with me just for a moment before you. You take off again.
And him not being able to give that. And it's kind of one of those things, you know, we do. We deal with that a lot in couples therapy of just being like the person that's in front of you. Can you love them for who they are like, or do you expecting too much from them? And I don't think that she's expecting too much. And I don't think that he's. I think he's giving his all. I think that there's just that, that miscommunication. That's really where the relationship fell apart.
But I think that was the, the, the closest I got to being emotional during that show was the moment of just that scene where she's like, I can cancel. And he's like, no, but he's doing in a very passive aggressive way. And she ends up going anyways. And there's just this breakdown. You're just like, oh, this, these are real people. At the end of the day, you know, these are, this is a real family that's falling apart.
And a lot of the times as, as, you know, regular people, we take that, we take advantage of or like, we don't put it into perspective, you know, we think that we're, we're privy to these people's lives and their attention and, and, and they sometimes need to fall apart in silence, you know.
[00:28:58] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:29:01] Speaker A: So going back to the music, do you think that it's okay, you're getting better, you're getting better. That was the first one. Only 30 minutes and you did it.
So with this being songs that we didn't know very well, you know, and granted we, there's probably been some jukebox musicals that this has happened. I know I was not very familiar with Michael Jackson's music and I got ridiculed for that.
Some people maybe don't know shares the music and stuff, but like this is one that we both can kind of agree. We didn't know most of the music for Neil diamond in the Neil diamond show.
Did this one work better for you than as a show? Because from my perspective, I want to say that like I liked it almost better not knowing all of his music because then I got to experience it with the show. And you know, sometimes there's like that excitement of like seeing a show and seeing the music live the first time. Like Suffs did. We didn't have Suff before we went into it and that was an experience.
And so it almost made it feel like it wasn't necessarily like a jukebox musical with the exception of everybody else knew the words because we were the youngest people in a crowd of 60 plus year olds.
But I guess how Did. How did you feel like that worked for you, that. That certain dynamic?
[00:30:21] Speaker B: Yeah.
A little bit. Hit or miss.
[00:30:27] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:30:28] Speaker B: Because I will say the sound. I was struggling to understand the lyrics a lot of the time.
[00:30:36] Speaker A: Sure.
[00:30:37] Speaker B: And so I am a. I'm big on lyrics, so it was just hard to.
Because the story was kind of wrapped around his life. And lyrics are so much. You know, they come from him, and so you're learning about him through his lyrics. And then I could understand them.
[00:31:01] Speaker A: Sure. Okay. Did you have trouble understanding it because the music was so loud?
[00:31:07] Speaker B: There were some.
Some sound issues, and maybe that. Maybe it was intentional for me, just the band and. And it's weird to even be saying that, because I'm typically a person who is cranking the music all the way up in my car. I'm cranking it anywhere I am. I want everything to be at 110 volume. And so to. Just from the second they hit the overture, I was like, oh, my seat is shaking.
It's gonna be a loud one.
It did that. The orchestra or not orchestra, the band did outweigh the vocalists for most of the show. And so that did make it a little. A little logistically more difficult.
[00:32:05] Speaker A: Two thoughts with that. First off, was it because it was a show geared towards older individuals, do you think that they turned it up?
[00:32:12] Speaker B: Honestly, sometimes, you know, as someone, once again, who has worked backstage, sometimes that is very much the case. And I'm. And I'm not saying that to be ageist or anything. I just.
It is the truth.
And sometimes it's actually the opposite, because when you think about the people. The amount of people who are probably wearing some type of hearing assistance device.
[00:32:41] Speaker A: Sure.
[00:32:42] Speaker B: Well, for sure, they cranked it off for that show, but sometimes they are cranking them up. And so the. The production. It would have been a production decision, and they easily could have said, you know what? We're gonna. We just. This is our regular. This is who we know are coming.
Let's. Let's turn up the volume so that we avoid complaints. Or it's possible that they got complaints on opening night, and so they decided to kind of mess with the volume for the next show, and that's what the result was.
[00:33:22] Speaker A: I. So, you know, obviously I love my mom, but when I watch television, my mom, she can. She watches it 20, 30 levels higher. Again, being 62 years old, like, as life has gone on, it's gone from, like, 35 to, like, 60. And I think last night she watched a movie, and it was at 80. And I'm like, okay, what your hearing's going. So, like, I understand. Like, maybe there was something of that as well. But I also wondered if it had to do with their placement. Because for the first act, you don't even know where that band is. And then when you find out that it's, like, at the farthest spot on the back of the stage, it's not underneath. So it's not like the actors could hear it very, like, as well. Like. Because I know sometimes, like, it's made so that it kind of goes back to the actors, but, like, it's coming from the back behind them through walls. Because there's, like, two walls between them. And that when they finally release it. I was wondering if it was also that decision, too, of just being like, play louder so that everybody can hear it.
Because you're trying to play through, like, thick walls that come and go.
[00:34:22] Speaker B: Well. And I couldn't tell.
And I didn't really look at the front of the stage for sure. They have speakers.
I couldn't tell if they had in Earth systems.
[00:34:35] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:34:36] Speaker B: Because maybe just for Neil, because he's singing so much, and I could not determine if his guitar was live or not.
I think it might have been. It was songs. And so that is a whole other.
That. That makes me think he probably did have an in Earth system. Because otherwise, I mean, yeah, you have your TV monitors in the back of the orchestra to play with, you know, to follow the band. But that's not enough when you're also playing with the band, because you need to be able to be hearing the click track. And so for sure, I. I'm betting a couple of them probably did. But for the ones who didn't, I would think that they would have to have some either backstage speakers, because really, the sound on stage is gonna just get swallowed up by the size of the stage. So the only thing, the microphones are doing all of the work. In that sense.
[00:35:49] Speaker A: I was gonna say that I did see in the opening act of Number of Act 2, the opening number Neil actually did at the end of it, he did the thing I've seen a lot of stars do where he put his finger, like, in his ear and was kind of, like, moving something around. So I knew in that moment, I was like, you probably have something in your ear, some kind of ear system. But Marsha also did. And she was the only other person I saw that at one point, she actually, like. She. Like, she was singing. It was during her number, the Blue Jeans one, and she moved it, like, in her ear you could tell that something like it didn't like irritated, it didn't fit right. And she like quickly tried to like, maneuver it a little bit and then she like went about singing again and I caught that. So at least those two, I think you're right. Had some kind of ear system to hear something more.
[00:36:31] Speaker B: Yeah, well, because she did, as we know, a ton of moving in that song. And so I would anticipate that. That things obviously shift around. Usually they're like in and over ear, but it can still. Obviously you're sweating, you're moving, there's makeup, there's wigs.
It's bound to. To move around.
[00:36:52] Speaker A: Makes sense.
So, yeah, there was. It was very loud. And I think that even you pointed it out during Act 2. Act. The intermission and like the first, like the entree back to act two. We both like turned and kind of smiled at each other because it was like. It was like dubstep was happening.
And there was. It just was a very loud show again. Acoustics, touring shows. I get it.
So I can understand why maybe you were like, yeah. Not knowing the lyrics kind of to take away from that. Because it was maybe hard to focus a little bit on what was being presented in front of us when you had more bass than anything else in the world.
Were there any numbers from A Beautiful Noise that stuck out to you? Obviously, Sweet Caroline, you can't go wrong with.
[00:37:38] Speaker B: I mean, we all. We all knew that one was coming. I. I didn't know the backstory to it, so that was super interesting. I didn't know his history in regards to kind of, you know, what he was tied into, unfortunately.
And that song was how he got out of it, which is insane, and how quickly he came up with it. So that was cool.
[00:38:02] Speaker A: For those who don't know, he was. He signed into basically a Mafia record label and wanted out. And so they told them that he had to write some bangers. And he wrote sweet Caroline with 30 minute deadline and got out of his contract and was able to go and do his own thing. So, like, it was really. I had no idea about that too. Am I surprised? Not really for like that. It kind of feels like that time period was the wild, wild west a little bit.
But that was interesting to learn and how he got himself out. Because you don't seal like you people don't get involved with the Mafia and get out of it very easily.
[00:38:39] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah, that was interesting.
[00:38:42] Speaker A: So that was really cool.
[00:38:43] Speaker B: But yeah, and just, I think his. I would call it second part era, there's just substantial difference to me, it feels like between his. The first act music and the second act music.
And I was kind of talking about it with my mom.
Obviously, she's way more familiar with the music and his ability or his usefulness of just random syllables and not even words for so much of his music. Like, I mean, for Sweet Caroline, of course we know. Everyone knows the ba ba ba, right?
[00:39:21] Speaker A: Yeah.
Got a fist bump to it.
[00:39:25] Speaker B: But so, so much of a lot of his music in the second act had non word pieces of music.
And so that was interesting to know that that was something he intentionally did. Because I think a lot of times I think that that it's just filler, filler noise. And so she said no. Like, that was something that he really liked to use. And there was a line that even kind of alluded to it. I can't remember it now, but I found that to be interesting about his music overall, because I wouldn't have. I wouldn't have known that.
[00:40:07] Speaker A: I. I did. I didn't know that. But it makes sense because he does use a. A lot of. It was like a lot of just sounds, you know, just like a lot of. But like, there's sounds that people get stuck in their head. Everybody knows to scream, ba ba ba. You know, like. But like, that doesn't really do anything to the song other than the fact that, like, it. That's that earworm that kind of gets stuck in your head. I think one of the songs that we saw that a lot into. And I'm going to butcher the name of this, but like, Suleiman, like, it was like part of, like the stadium medley, but it was just like, a lot of sounds to rhyme with words, or he was stretching out words to make them fit. And it worked. But I was like, wow, that. That was a very ingenious way to do that. So, like, that is kind of cool to kind of see that transition through his music.
I'm always gonna forever be calling out forever in blue jeans be. Just because Marsha absolutely killed it. I mean, there's not.
I just don't know how, like, that song was. So much dancing, so much singing, so much emotion.
And Hannah Jewel Khan just did a fantastic job. I loved that song. And so that was a real standout performance for me. But, you know, I'm always going to be a power ballad from a powerful woman. I'm. I'm there for. You're never gonna see me say no to that.
So those two definitely stuck out to me.
But there was also. It Was all very good. Like. Like. Like you said, the first part of the play was very, like, dance music from, like, the 70s and 80s. And then it kind of turned into. To something a little bit more as it progressed.
Real quick. I want to talk about the dancers. This was the one part that felt a little more fantastical, is that these dancers just came out of nowhere sometimes. Like. Like, it was like magic that they were coming out from. Be like hind chairs that you didn't see them coming up to. They'd pop out of couches. They would do all these things. What did you think of the dancers? Did you feel like it fit the show? I mean, they were incredible. They did a great job. But what'd you think about them?
[00:42:14] Speaker B: I thought it was interesting. I think even the way that they're listed in the program, I think if I remember right, they're. They're literally called, like, the beautiful. The Beautiful Noise or something like that.
[00:42:27] Speaker A: They are.
[00:42:28] Speaker B: Which is so interesting and such a cool way to be intentional about what they are and what they represent.
And they're not just ensemble. They're not just chorus. They are the beautiful noise. And so, yeah, especially the opening. And at least the way that I was interpreting what was happening. Right. Is that they open the songbook and that these characters or the Beautiful noise is literally coming out from the songbook. And so that was also very cool because it's such. It feels like an old school musical theater way.
Yeah.
But it didn't take anything to do that. I mean, it took things. It didn't take anything extra to be. To just say, hey, we're gonna have these people be positioned so that it looks like they're literally jumping or intrinsically stepping out from this book rather than just. You easily. Just as easily could have had them just walk out onto the stage or dance or whatever. So I thought that was pretty cool. And that's just the way that it continued to be throughout the rest of the show.
[00:43:50] Speaker A: It kind of reminded me a little bit, but a little more fun than this. But, like, in Hamilton, when they have all the dancers, like, one is the bullet. And, like, there's, like, all of these. They're on the stage and they're dancing, but they're not actually, like, part of the story because they are, like, a omniscient being. Almost. Like, you saw these characters, like, when Sweet Caroline was being developed and he, like, had his epiphany and, like, had that moment of being like, aha, it's coming. They came out from behind the couch in different Ways and stuff. And like, that was also the moment of like, they are.
They are the music, they are the inspiration. They're whatever is in his head coming up with these songs.
So you're right. That was a really kind of cool effect. At first I thought, like, when they started doing, I was like, this seems a little cheesy. But it did fit the story in that it wasn't like they were characters. They were just people. They were just like, they were music. And when they were people, when they had solos, they were in the playbill as like the boat that I row soloist. And then they give you the name, even though it's also somebody who is a beautiful noise casting.
So that was kind of a cool dynamic as well. It kind of gives them their due. But also they get to be like they weren't just an ensemble. They were a different kind of character together also. I think we have to give mad props to our. Our Neil then. Nick Fradani, I think, is how you say his name.
In your opinion, was that like, did he have to train his voice to be that, like, there was. Neil diamond has such a distinct voice and he sounded just like him.
[00:45:26] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, I haven't listened to him as a solo artist, which, for those of you who don't know, he was the winner of American Idol.
[00:45:39] Speaker A: Season 15.
[00:45:40] Speaker B: I think, a few years back.
And so I would be interested in hearing the difference. I'm sure he did have to do some work. I don't think anybody just magically sounds like another artist.
But it seems from. From the little bit that I read, like this tour was kind of. Kind of. Seems like it was almost based around the fact that this is who he was playing. And so for sure, I'm sure that his. His quote unquote, regular singing voice has a lot of similarities, but I think. I'm sure he probably did have to do some. Some tonality work, some the way in which you pronunciate certain words when you sing.
But you could probably say the same for any character, right? I mean, whether it's an accent or, you know, you're. You're enunciating your T's this way or your. Your vowels this way. And so it's just really delving into that individual and how they spoke and how they sang.
[00:46:53] Speaker A: Absolutely. I mean, it was. It was crazy, you know, again, only knowing a few songs of him, but your mom even know too. She's like, that sounded just like Neil diamond on that stage.
And I'm sure a lot of people are walking off on that. I'm sure that a lot of people were. Would have been disappointed if not. And again, I kind of go back to like the Cher show when we had the. The older share and she sounded pretty much just like Cher that we know nowadays. Like, I'm sure there's parts that you have to be very intentional in finding the. The piece. Michael Jackson was another one from MJ the Musical. And he's actually the one that we had on tour is going over to West End now. He just left for West End to be the MJ over there. Because you have to hit it perfectly. You have to be Michael Jackson, you have to be Neil Diamond. These are people that you know. These are stars that people know. You want them to sound just like that. Otherwise you might be disappointed. And again, you don't. As a show, you don't want complaints. You want people to immerse themselves and enjoy.
But it was definitely mad props to him. He did a fantastic job. All right, before we wrap up, let's talk about the set design. Very simplistic, but there were some aspects that I really loved. But I'm kind of wanting to get to your idea because you're the more the technical theater guy here. You know, the ins and outs. You've worked it, you've lived it. What did you think of a beautiful noises set design?
[00:48:09] Speaker B: I thought it was smart. It was simple.
A lot of lighting design, for sure, a lot of lighting, but nothing too chaotic. Right. I mean, we have. We had, of course, the. The chairs for the therapy that were interwoven throughout. But you have a living space.
You kind of get introduced to the.
The band setup, which of course kind of simplifies his touring days.
And then we had those random, you know, the random, like kind of, I don't know, slots. They look like the wooden slats that.
[00:48:55] Speaker A: Just kind of moved.
[00:48:58] Speaker B: Yeah. But I did really like the lighting for, like the cafe. They used a lot of just different. Different lighting design that I think that was also physical enough to change the ambiance of the room.
So whether it was at home or whether it was in a cafe or on a bigger stage, literally just the level at which they were on the stage kind of differentiated those things.
So. And in musicals like that, I think they don't want to draw so much attention away from the actors. Right. Like, your focal point is Neil diamond, so you don't want an insanely elaborate set because he might. They might get lost.
So I thought it was. Yeah, I thought it was good. I thought it was exactly what it needed to be.
[00:49:52] Speaker A: I loved that they had. For specifically some scenes, but they had those. All those different types of lamps that kept coming down, and they'd come, like, really low at some points, like you were walking among them. And, like, that was just, like, a really cool effect because it was like the dark stage with, like, the, like, almost like the Edison bulbs that they're not quite. They're burning, but they're not quite there. They're not giving out a lot of light, and they're just, like, walking among them. And I thought that was one of the coolest things I had seen in a touring show to date, was those. Those simple lamps that came down from the ceiling.
So that's my takeaway from that. Was there anything about the set design that didn't work for you?
[00:50:29] Speaker B: I don't think so.
[00:50:33] Speaker A: Okay.
I definitely have this. I just. Going back, I think I. I do wonder what having those thick walls in front affected the band. And I just. That's my only thing of just like. Because you don't know the band is there until act. You know, end of act one, beginning, back two. And then you're like, oh, you've been hiding back there the entire time because there is ethic wall. So I do wonder what that did for the sound. But other than that, I think that it was a fantastically designed show with the simplistic pieces.
All right, last question. Rewatchability. And we've already talked about this at the theater, and we were coming from a difference of opinions here.
Would you go see this again?
[00:51:19] Speaker B: Probably not.
[00:51:24] Speaker A: One and done it just.
[00:51:26] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, not that I.
I don't.
I would be a little bit afraid to become bored if I were to go again, if I'm honest.
[00:51:38] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:51:38] Speaker B: Okay.
But also, that's, like, who I am as a human being. Right.
[00:51:45] Speaker A: There's.
[00:51:45] Speaker B: There's not a lot on stage that's going to, quote, unquote, I think, entertain you physically. You have to be into the music. And so I think, because I'm just not.
Not that it's not good, but because I don't know it, I'm not familiar with it. It's not my cup of tea that becomes less entertaining to me.
[00:52:08] Speaker A: Sure.
[00:52:08] Speaker B: And so could I sit through it again? Yes.
But I think there's a difference between sitting through it and, like, being enamored. Enamored with it.
[00:52:24] Speaker A: I do not know if it was because of the therapy aspect or not, but I absolutely love this show. And I would go see it again probably multiple times.
I feel like it's one of those ones that I'd go see it with multiple people just kind of getting their. Their take on it, their experiences, their. You know, like, everybody.
Everybody has such a different take on this. And I think this is just one of those. He's an interesting character, you know, like, he's an interesting.
He's an interesting person to watch because he's flawed and he's not all great or all bad. He's just different, you know? And I. So I would go see it again. I think that's the takeaway here, is I would see this again, but maybe go see with different people who haven't seen it, so I can appreciate it through their eyes and their experiences. So it's okay. You don't have to go again with me.
But we are running out of time, so. Thank you again for listening to another episode of the Cosmic Curtain, the official podcast of Cosmic Circus Broadway. If you're interested in finding us outside of our box seats, don't forget to, like, follow and subscribe to us at Boxy Babes or at My Cosmic Circus till our next curtain call.
