Interview: Sonny Paladino of A BEAUTIFUL NOISE: THE NEIL DIAMOND MUSICAL at Ohio Theatre

Sonny Paladino distinctly remembers when Judgement Day arrived for the show A BEAUTIFUL NOISE: THE Neil Diamond MUSICAL.

After months of rehearsing, Paladino, the music supervisor, arranger, and orchestrator, and the cast of the Neil Diamond bio-musical faced their toughest critic in January 2020 when Diamond himself walked into the room.

“I think we were all nervous,” recalled Paladino, whose show runs April 22-27 at the Ohio Theatre (39 E. State Street in downtown Columbus). “It was like the heavens opened and he came in.”

In a small rehearsal space, Paladino was at the keyboard conducting the actors and a small band when Diamond grabbed a seat. Paladino was about three feet away from Diamond and he kept watching the singer out of the corner of his eye. Diamond kept a complete poker face as he studied the performance.

“At the end of the first act, we do ‘Sweet Caroline,’” Paladino said. “Finally, I saw him tap his feet to the song. At that point, I knew … we got him.

By the time the performers reached the climatic “Holly Holy,” a gospel-tinged song that peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard’s top 100 in 1969, Paladino said Diamond was in tears.

The creative team and Diamond went out for a celebratory lunch afterward. The first question Diamond asked Paladino was, “how did you make the music sound so good?”

A BEAUTIFUL NOISE had an ace up its sleeve when recapturing Diamond’s sound: Bob Gaudio, who produced the musical with Ken Davenport. Gaudio, who composed the music for the Tony Award-winning JERSEY BOYS and helped create most of the Four Seasons’ biggest hits, became a record producer after leaving the group. One of his clients was Neil Diamond.

“Bob produced a lot of Neil’s biggest hits like ‘America’ and ‘You Don’t Bring Me Flowers,’” Paladino said. “He was our guiding force; he had a real handle on what he thought Neil would like and not like.

“We do justice to Neil’s catalog. In many cases, the versions of the songs are what people expect. In other cases, we take a lot of liberties.”

JERSEY BOYS, according to BroadwayWorld writer Michael Dale, “changed the jukebox musical and influenced its future.” In many ways, A BEAUTIFUL NOISE mirrors JERSEY BOYS. It takes the audience on a behind-the-scenes look at Diamond’s rise to the top.

Diamond is a huge fan of JERSEY BOYS. After watching the show, the singer asked Gaudio when he was going to do a musical about him.

With the way the show is designed, it takes two performers to take on the role of Diamond. Nick Fradiani, the 2015 winner of American Idol, plays the younger version of Diamond while Robert Westenberg, a 1987 Tony Nominee for his work as the Wolf and Cinderella’s Prince in INTO THE WOODS, plays an older, more reflective version of the singer.

Other key cast members include Hannah Jewel Kohn (who plays Marcia Murphey, Diamond’s second wife), Lisa Renee Pitts (Doctor), and Tiffany Tatreau (Jaye Posner, Diamond’s first wife).

“I’d imagine it must have been difficult (for Diamond) to watch some of the show,” Paladino said. “(In the run of the show), his character relives his two divorces but Diamond seems to be able to put the past in the past.”

A BEAUTIFUL NOISE almost had a built-in audience when it debuted on Broadway in 2022. During his career, Diamond:

• Sold over 130 million records, placing him 27th among the all-time best selling artists, placing him ahead of Billy Joel, Phil Collins, Prince, and Stevie Wonder;
•  Recorded 10 singles that reached number one on Billboard Magazine’s Hot 100 and had 38 songs break into the top 10 of the magazine’s adult contemporary music chart;
• Was inducted into the Rock-And-Roll Hall of Fame in 2011.

Once the curtains are peeled back for A BEAUTIFUL NOISE, fans are not disappointed.

“This show doesn’t open in the most conventional way, but when (Fradiani) opens his mouth and sings, the audience looks at each other and go, ‘Oh here it is. This is what we came for,’” said Paladino, who was calling from Orlando after watching A BEAUTIFUL NOISE. “They know every word and sing along with the show, respectfully as theater audiences do. At certain moments during the show, they are sort of encouraged to do so.

“We've constructed a beautiful story around Diamond’s great songs and people get more from Diamond’s story than they were expecting.”

Ironically, Paladino wasn’t a Diamond devotee until he started working on A BEAUTIFUL NOISE.

“Either your family was a big fan of Diamond or they weren’t,” he said. “My family wasn’t as I was growing up. However, as we started working on the show, I became the biggest Neil Diamond fan. His catalog is so vast and varied. It runs the gamut from early rock-n-roll to world music and everything in between.

“I obviously love the most common ones, like ‘Sweet Caroline’ and ‘America,’ but ‘Holly Holy’ is a special ballad with some great vocal harmonies. That one still, to this day, hits me and hits the audience.”

A BEAUTIFUL NOISE is not the first time Paladino has worked with a rock star nor will it be the last. Paladino served as the associate producer on Sting’s musical, THE LAST SHIP and is currently working as the music supervisor, arranger, and orchestrator on DION’S THE WANDERER, a musical about Dion DiMucci.

Asked if there was a singer out there he would like to do a bio musical on, Paladino paused and then said, “Bon Jovi.”

“I’d love to do a Jon Bon Jovi musical but he has told interviewers he doesn't want to do one,” Paladino said. “I used to teach Jon’s son (Romeo) piano, so I know him a little bit but I haven’t had the guts to ask him.

“There’s this documentary about Jovi’s journey into stardom and it’s fascinating. But he’s going to have to want to do it. Maybe he’ll read this article and be convinced.”

The ball is in your court, Mr. Jovi.