Neil Diamond is a tricky character to play. Diamond was practically an accidental rock star — a professional songwriter who expected to spend his career working 9 to 5, penning hits for other people. And he did. But he was also a singular performer and rock star in his own right. That dichotomy, the man behind the curtain and the man in front of it, is at the core of Neil Diamond — and why casting an actor to play “Neil – Then” (Neil in his superstardom days) in “A Beautiful Noise, The Neil Diamond Musical” is such a challenge.
“It’s the people who are rather understated as humans, but suddenly when the music starts and they’re onstage, they kind of explode and become the big rock star that we need,” said casting director Jason Thinger, one of two who cast the original Broadway production and subsequent tours of the musical. “It’s a different show to cast because you’re looking for rock stars as opposed to musical theater performers.”
