{"id":521265,"date":"2022-12-05T04:31:00","date_gmt":"2022-12-05T01:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/awful-broadway-show-is-on-the-rocks\/"},"modified":"2022-12-05T04:31:00","modified_gmt":"2022-12-05T01:31:00","slug":"awful-broadway-show-is-on-the-rocks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/awful-broadway-show-is-on-the-rocks\/","title":{"rendered":"#Awful Broadway show is on the rocks"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a2d21608187e\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a2d21608187e\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/awful-broadway-show-is-on-the-rocks\/#%E2%80%9CAwful_Broadway_show_is_on_the_rocks%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;Awful Broadway show is on the rocks&#8221;<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CAwful_Broadway_show_is_on_the_rocks%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;Awful Broadway show is on the rocks&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n<p>Good times never seemed so dull.<\/p>\n<p>So dull. So dull. So dull. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cA Beautiful Noise, the Neil Diamond Musical,\u201d which creaked open Sunday night on Broadway, begins in the most sedate and uninvolving manner imaginable. The lights come up on a plain-looking therapy session and the titular musician, now in old age (Mark Jacoby), sits opposite a woman in a red leather armchair.<\/p>\n<div class=\"inline-module inline-module--review alignleft\">\n<div class=\"inline-module__inner\">\n        <span class=\"inline-module--review__eyebrow widget-heading-semi__label\"><br \/>\n            Theater review      <\/span><\/p>\n<p>        2 hours and 15 minutes, with one intermission. At the Broadhurst Theatre, 235 W 44th St.\n    <\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m sorry,\u201d the doctor (Linda Powell) says to him. \u201cI don\u2019t know your songs.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Diamond, not offended, then whips out his handy dandy songbook, cracks it open and explains who he is through his tunes.<\/p>\n<p>That is a confounding way to start a show that ticket buyers have come to see, I would assume, because they are big fans of Diamond\u2019s popular catalogue. But \u201cA Beautiful Noise\u201d is one off-key moment after another.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Just wait till you get to the repressed memory childhood flashback in Act 2, set to the songs \u201cBrooklyn Roads\u201d and \u201cShilo,\u201d in which nothing perceivable h<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>ens.<\/p>\n<p>Or the two singalongs, to \u201cSong Sung Blue\u201d and \u201cSweet Caroline,\u201d that, at my performance anyway, prompted very little singing along.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/a-beautiful-noise-4.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Will Swenson plays Neil Diamond in &quot;A Beautiful Noise&quot; on Broadway.\" class=\"wp-image-24876288\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/a-beautiful-noise-4.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1536 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/a-beautiful-noise-4.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/a-beautiful-noise-4.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Will Swenson plays Diamond in \u201cA Beautiful Noise\u201d on Broadway.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Photo: Julieta Cervantes<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>At first the musical follows the usual jukebox musical formula, straightforwardly depicting a young Brooklyn-born Diamond (Will Swenson) playing guitar at the Bitter End rock club on Bleecker Street and being discovered by record producer Ellie Greenwich (Bri Sudia). His nascent career is not unlike Carole King\u2019s. (Don\u2019t misunderstand me \u2014 \u201cBeautiful: The Carole King Musical\u201d is an infinitely superior show.) He writes hit songs for other more famous artists to sing, such as \u201cI\u2019m a Believer\u201d for the Monkees.<\/p>\n<p>When he leaves his first wife Jaye Posner (Jessie Fisher) for Marcia Murphey (Robyn Hurder), his new girl encourages him to actually perform his compositions in his pleasantly gravelly voice. And the Diamond we know today is born.<\/p>\n<p>Posner, in one of the occasional moments a character uses a song to express their feelings, sings \u201cLove on the Rocks\u201d as her marriage crumbles. But all the onstage drama is mistakenly calm, so such should-be emotional moments are burdened by indifference. The plot boils down to two relatively amicable divorces and some signed contracts.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/a-beautiful-noise-19.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"As Marcia Murphey, Robyn Hurder sings &quot;Forever In Blue Jeans.&quot; \" class=\"wp-image-24876293\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/a-beautiful-noise-19.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/a-beautiful-noise-19.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/a-beautiful-noise-19.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>As Marcia Murphey, Robyn Hurder sings \u201cForever in Blue Jeans.\u201d <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Photo: Julieta Cervantes<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Hurder brings a burst of vivacity as Murphey, and nails \u201cForever in Blue Jeans.\u201d Why Murphey sings it, however, I couldn\u2019t tell you.<\/p>\n<p>Act 2 is a mostly incomprehensible fusing of events with the basic takeaway that fame is hard. Diamond tours the world, his hair gets bushier and his outfits shinier. His star status strains his relationship with Murphey, and Swenson and Hurder duet on \u201cYou Don\u2019t Bring Me Flowers.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Steven Hoggett\u2019s choreography gets more spirited during the concerts, yet all the bouncing around is unpleasant to look at \u2014 like live bait wriggling on a hook. At other times he has the cast make obnoxious \u201cWalk Like an Egyptian\u201d-esque hand gestures.<\/p>\n<p>The backdrop for the go-go-gone-wild movement and Michael Mayer\u2019s saltine-cracker direction is David Rockwell\u2019s set of panels made of taut parallel strings that look great at Nobu \u2014 not in a Broadway musical. The scenery does not easily morph into the variety of locales the decades-spanning story requires it to.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/a-beautiful-noise-8.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"David Rockwell's set includes panels of taut strings and a couple red armchairs. \" class=\"wp-image-24876338\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/a-beautiful-noise-8.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1536 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/a-beautiful-noise-8.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/a-beautiful-noise-8.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>David Rockwell\u2019s set includes panels of taut strings and a couple red armchairs. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Photo: Julieta Cervantes<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>At least the omakase-style decor is elegant. Clunkier are the ugly old therapy armchairs that often flank the stage as the doctor and older Neil observe past events like he\u2019s Scrooge in \u201cA Christmas Carol\u201d a few blocks away.\u00a0The lazy frame story is absolutely deadly.<\/p>\n<p>Still, of the two men who play Diamond, it\u2019s Jacoby who is the better actor \u2014 even if he\u2019s saddled with some abysmal dialogue \u2014 and who owns the most exciting musical moment of the night when he croons \u201cI Am\u2026 I Said.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/a-beautiful-noise-11-1.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Mark Jacoby has the show's best musical moment when he croons &quot;I Am ... I Said.&quot; \" class=\"wp-image-24876352\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/a-beautiful-noise-11-1.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1536 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/a-beautiful-noise-11-1.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/a-beautiful-noise-11-1.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Mark Jacoby has the show\u2019s best musical moment when he croons \u201cI Am \u2026 I Said.\u201d <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Photo: Julieta Cervantes<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Jacoby summons a superstar rocker energy \u2014 even retired and in a boring gray sweater \u2014 that Swenson cannot muster. Usually it\u2019s the lead performances that redeem and lift these soulless musician MadLib shows. Unfortunately, Swenson makes no impression and we\u2019re left feeling as though we got to know nothing about the inner life of a prolific and ingenious singer-songwriter.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA Beautiful Noise\u201d ends with a second singalong of \u201cSweet Caroline\u201d \u2014 an experience you can get every single night at any bar in New York that serves beer. And it\u2019s there, not on Broadway, where you\u2019ll really feel Diamond\u2019s legacy reaching out, touching me, touching you.\n                        <\/p><\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/12\/04\/neil-diamond-musical-review-awful-broadway-show-is-on-the-rocks\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Awful Broadway show is on the rocks&#8221; Good times never seemed so dull. So dull. So dull. So dull. \u201cA Beautiful Noise, the Neil Diamond Musical,\u201d which creaked open Sunday night on Broadway, begins in the most sedate and uninvolving manner imaginable. The lights come up on a plain-looking therapy session and the titular musician,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":521266,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/a-beautiful-noise-comp.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=1024","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[136693,29467,72707,111642,70731],"class_list":["post-521265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-12-4-22","tag-broadway","tag-musicals","tag-neil-diamond","tag-theater-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521265","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=521265"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521265\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/521266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=521265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=521265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=521265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}