Review: THE SEXY 70'S Arrived at 54 Below

The walls reverberated with stunning sounds on September 19, 2025 at 54 Below.  It was here that a filled-to-capacity crowd sung along with and took to their feet as Douglas Ladnier presented his performance of Diamonds - The Greatest Hits of Neil Diamond! 

Attired in a silky black sequined open shirt with leather trousers, the seductive Emmy Award-nominated songwriter and Broadway performer easily held the audience in the palm of his hand with his sensuous baritone vocals and matinee-idol good looks.  The audience not only swayed with the music but swooned at the singer.  

Without further ado, Ladnier jumped onstage and began his rendition of the hits of Neil Diamond (along with a few other songwriters).  What a voice! Performances in Broadway’s own Jekyll and Hyde as well as national work in Sweeney Todd, The Fantasticks, Aladdin, Phantom of the Opera and Jesus Christ Superstar to name but a few, have honed these sultry, honeyed vocals to a fine pitch.  Douglas Ladnier’s deep, rich baritone singing voice left this reviewer and I am sure many others wanting more.  The range and passion of his vocals are utterly amazing!   Douglas Ladnier truly brought the ballads and love songs of Neil Diamond to life for theatergoers last evening at 54 Below.  

This reviewer would have liked it if Ladnier had given us some background information and anecdotes as to his own personal  journey through his professional career.  Such knowledge would definitely have provided insight as to how he was drawn to Neil Diamond’s iconic songwriting and singing.

One outstanding performance followed another as Ladnier oozed his own brand of passionate charm through his magnificent voice.  Standout performances included “Forever in Blue Jeans”, “Cracklin Rosie” (which he explained was how men without a date for the night “Up North” used to buy wine / Rose, got drunk and wrote songs), “America”, “Red Wine” (which was redone as a dance song by UB-40), and of course “Sweet Caroline” (which Diamond himself admitted in the press was inspired by Caroline Kennedy, daughter of the late President John F. Kennedy).  More famed hits included: “I am - I said”, “Hello Again”, “Play Me”, “ Love on the Rocks”, “Shilo” (inspired by Diamond’s childhood invisible friend), “I’m A Believer” (made famous by The Monkees’ Davy Jones), “September Morn” and “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers” among others.

Douglas Ladnier truly embodied the bold, sexy baritones of the wild decades of the 1960’s and 1970’s.  Charged with emotion and soul, he easily brought out inner feelings in the audience with each and every song.  The renowned “Sweet Caroline” saw Ladnier immerse the audience into a “sing-a-long” - as the majority of the audience knew the words by heart.  Thank you to drummer extraordinaire - Ray Marchica who had the job of keeping the rhythm going throughout each and every song!  

As Neil Diamond himself wrote “Good Times Never Seemed So Good.”

Douglas Ladnier:  Diamonds - The Greatest Hits of Neil Diamond starred the talented baritone Douglas Ladnier with Musical Director, Ross Patterson, Producer, Scott Siegel, and a band featuring Sean Harkness (guitar), Tom Hubbard (bass), and Ray Marchica (drums).