By the time Nick Fradiani got to Utah, he had portrayed Neil Diamond 900 times.
Nine hundred curtain calls for “A Beautiful Noise,” a jukebox musical that chronicles Diamond’s rise to stardom and his present-day struggles navigating life with Parkinson’s disease, means he’d sung “Sweet Caroline” 1,800 times — and that’s just counting his onstage performances of the crowd-pleaser.
Opening night of a short Salt Lake City run this past January marked show No. 901 for Fradiani.
“If you told me I would still be doing it … it’s kind of still shocking to me,” the singer said the morning after his first show at the Eccles Theater. “I obviously love the show very much to still be doing it.”
Fradiani surpassed his 1,000th show several months later.
On Sunday, he took his final bow as the Brooklyn born-and-raised, sequin-adorned superstar — concluding a roughly four-year chapter of his career that started as an understudy to Utah native Will Swenson on Broadway.
In an interview with the Deseret News, Fradiani talked about his relationship with Diamond, the ongoing resurgence in the legendary artist’s popularity and his own career post-”A Beautiful Noise.”
‘I just felt like I was supposed to be a part of it’
In the early days of the pandemic, a Facebook post about a Neil Diamond Broadway musical in the works caught Fradiani’s eye.
Fradiani had actually seen Diamond in concert when he was just 3 years old (his dad’s a big fan). He didn’t really follow the singer much after that, but thanks to a Christmas album that was a family staple, Diamond’s rich baritone voice would seep into his childhood from time to time.
As heard throughout his winning “American Idol” run in 2015, Fradiani’s natural singing voice is higher than Diamond’s. But the longtime musician believed he could learn Diamond’s catalog and play the part.
“I just felt like I was supposed to be a part of it,” he said. “I don’t know how to explain it.”
He asked his music theater agent to look into the opportunity, and soon found out the lead role had already been filled by Will Swenson, who also grew up with a dad who’s a Diamond fan.
Swenson originated the role for a premiere run in Boston, and then took Diamond’s gritty, gravelly sound to Broadway. The actor/singer who is originally from Provo, Utah, portrayed Diamond for the musical’s first year on Broadway, from the fall of 2022 to the fall of 2023.
For that first year, Fradiani was Swenson’s understudy and alternate. He regularly watched performances and continued to practice in case he needed to go on in a moment’s notice. During that time, Fradiani and Swenson developed a friendship and played to each other’s strengths.
Fradiani gleaned insights into portraying the ups and downs of Diamond’s life onstage from watching Swenson, who grew up in the theater world and appeared in “The Greatest Showman.” Swenson, meanwhile, would seek guitar advice from Fradiani, a longtime musician and “American Idol” winner.
After about a year, Fradiani took over the vocally demanding role in “A Beautiful Noise.” He helmed the production through its Broadway closing in the summer of 2024, and then continued the role for a North American tour that concluded on July 12 in Kansas City, Missouri.
“The reaction from the audiences across the country has been nothing short of kind of crazy,” he said. “As much as Broadway is the pinnacle and everything, I think it’s been a little bit more fun, honestly, to do this show on the road. I think it was kind of meant to be on the road. Neil loved to tour.”
‘It’s very difficult for him to not be able to perform’
Once he took over the role full time, Fradiani started getting to know Diamond a little better — both through portraying him onstage and working with him in person.
Prior to “A Beautiful Noise,” he hadn’t really known much about Diamond’s personal life, including his marriages and struggles with record labels. Through the musical, he learned that Diamond is a private person who generally keeps to himself — making his flashy onstage persona all the more surprising.
Fradiani also hadn’t really known about the reach of Diamond’s songwriting — including songs like The Monkees’ “I’m a Believer” and UB40’s reggae rendition of “Red Red Wine,” which both hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Offstage, though, is where he really learned the most about Diamond.
The singer behind a dynamic catalog that includes No. 1 hits like “Cracklin’ Rosie,” “Song Sung Blue” and “America” had a very hands-on approach to the musical and collaborated closely with the creative team.
For Fradiani, Diamond’s love of music and of touring, and the pain of no longer being able to do that, was palpable. It’s a struggle that plays out in the musical, as a present-day version of Diamond grapples with his Parkinson’s diagnosis through a series of therapy sessions, where he’s encouraged to turn to his extensive songbook for guidance.
It’s very difficult for him to not be able to perform. If he didn’t have the diagnosis, he would for sure still be performing, and I don’t think this musical would be made, either.
— Nick Fradiani
“It’s very difficult for him to not be able to perform,” Fradiani said. “If he didn’t have the diagnosis, he would for sure still be performing, and I don’t think this musical would be made, either.”
In portraying Diamond, Fradiani had to get more comfortable performing in the lower register of his vocal range. He lives in that part of his voice all the time now, he said, but it took a lot of work to get there.
Diamond also has a unique way of phrasing words, a kind of intonation where he’ll fall off of a phrase. Early on, Fradiani worked on mastering the style through Diamond’s hit song “I Am ... I Said.”
Since taking on the role of Diamond, he’s shifted from trying to copy him to channeling him. When he initially tried to sound exactly like Diamond, he said, he’d listen to it back and think it sounded fake. Now, it’s his own voice, but the audience also knows who he’s representing.
Over the past few years, he’s entertained crowds of passionate Diamond fans on Broadway and throughout North America — and even Diamond himself when the singer showed up during a performance at the Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles last summer.
“Very stressful to portray a man while he’s watching you,” Fradiani said. “I was very, very nervous that night.”
A few months after that appearance from Diamond — which of course ended with a “Sweet Caroline” sing-along — Fradiani got the opportunity to accompany Diamond, who was then 84, for a performance at the Carousel Ball in Denver.
“His voice is still quite powerful. ... He still has his voice,” Fradiani said. “It’s pretty crazy how great his voice still is.”
Now, thanks in part to the musical and the popularity of the Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson film “Song Sung Blue,” even more people are starting to learn about Diamond’s one-of-a-kind voice.
‘There’s never going to be another Neil’
The Neil Diamond fanbase is dedicated and enthusiastic. Fradiani got a glimpse of that every night he took the stage.
“I didn’t understand how huge he was until I took over the show,” he said. “They’re real fans. I mean, they love him.”
Diamond is even bigger in other parts of the world: “He is literally the Elvis of Australia,” Fradiani said.
“A Beautiful Noise” launches the highly anticipated Australia leg of its tour in August, with Swenson reprising the role of Diamond for several months.
“I was really happy that he’s getting another run at this,” Fradiani said. “We share that Neil bond together.”
With the ongoing success of “A Beautiful Noise,” and the release of the film “Song Sung Blue,” which recently hit Netflix, Diamond’s music seems to be surging in popularity.
Much like Jackman’s character in “Song Sung Blue,” Fradiani is eager for new audiences to learn about Diamond’s repertoire beyond “Sweet Caroline.”
“There’s just so many incredible songs that he has,” he said. “I have such a strong connection to him now, and I feel so strongly for the guy, that I’m just happy a new generation is getting to learn about his music.
“I think it’s really cool that this is all happening — and that he’s getting to see it,” he continued. “Sometimes this stuff happens to people and they’re gone. I’m glad that he’s witnessing all of this and getting the love and flowers that he deserves.
“There’s never going to be another Neil.”
‘I’ll be connected to Neil forever’
When Fradiani won Season 14 of “American Idol,” it became his defining career milestone — the thing most people knew him for.
He didn’t mind. Being crowned the champion, let alone making it on the show to begin with, hadn’t been an easy feat.
He’d first auditioned when he was 21, but didn’t make it past the show’s producers in the preliminary round. Several years later, he tried out again with a vastly different result, winning the show at the age of 29. He’s returned to the show a few times over the years to mentor contestants and perform.
Now, a decade removed from his “Idol” win, Fradiani is finding “A Beautiful Noise” to be another pillar of his career. Many people who come to the show don’t even realize he was on “Idol” until they read the playbill, he said.
“It’s nice to have this other thing rather than just ‘Idol’ after all these years,” he said. “It’s really changed my life and opened up a lot of opportunities for me. It’s just been a real magical four years.”
Fradiani’s solo career has slowed down substantially since “A Beautiful Noise” — he last released an album shortly before the musical’s official Broadway premiere.
He now plans to return to his solo career. He’s already recorded a lot of music and is looking forward to putting it out on his own terms as an independent artist.
But that doesn’t mean he’s done with Diamond’s music.
He’s still not sick of singing “Sweet Caroline” — which he’s now performed more than 2,000 times — and he anticipates many more sing-alongs in the future.
“I see how happy it makes so many people at the end of the show. ... Everyone’s singing along, it’s great,” he said. “So even now when I play my own solo shows ... whenever a show is lacking, I could just throw that in my set and I know I’ll get the crowd back. It’s great to have that song in your back pocket.”
But of course, having portrayed Diamond’s life and music onstage over 1,000 times, Fradiani isn’t just leaving the production with “Sweet Caroline.” He also recently released his own version of “I’ve Been This Way Before‚” one of his favorite of Diamond’s songs that was a No. 1 hit on Billboard’s Easy Listening chart. And he loves singing “Heartlight‚” which isn’t in the musical but takes him back to his childhood when his dad would play it.
I don’t think I’ll ever not play his music, because it’s become such a big part of me. I’ll be connected to Neil forever.
— Nick Fradiani
So while he’s taking his final bow, ending a four-year era of wearing fringe jackets and red-beaded outfits, he definitely hasn’t sung his last Diamond song.
“I don’t think I’ll ever not play his music, because it’s become such a big part of me,” Fradiani said. “I’ll be connected to Neil forever.”