By Mary Boyle

​In January of 2018, Neil Diamond was 77 years old and partway through his 50th Anniversary tour when he announced that he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.  Arguably the hardest working man in music, Diamond has sold over 130 million albums worldwide, earning 38 Top 40 singles and 18 Top 10 albums, as well as 40 Gold albums, 21 Platinum albums, and 12 multi-Platinum albums, all while touring the country and world for over five decades.  Were it not for the recommendation of his doctors, “…my heart and soul would tour until the day I die,” Diamond said, “if only my body would cooperate.” 

While his touring days were over, Diamond didn’t stop working entirely.  In 2022, with Diamond’s help, a new musical was unveiled on Broadway that tells the story of his incredible journey from a poor Jewish kid growing up in Brooklyn to becoming one of the world’s greatest showmen.  At last, Milwaukee audiences can join in A BEAUTIFUL NOISE: THE NEIL DIAMOND MUSICAL from March 25-30 at the Marcus Performing Arts Center in Milwaukee, thanks to the Broadway at the Marcus Center series.

Directed by Michael Mayer and with book by Anthony McCarten, the musical features many of Diamond’s greatest hits, all written by him, including “America,” “Forever in Blue Jeans,” and “Sweet Caroline,” as well as his first hit that he wrote for The Monkees, “I’m A Believer.”  While I seriously doubt there are many songs in the show that aren’t familiar to anyone over the age of 40, it’s the story of Diamond’s life and how the songs were inspired that gives them all more dimension and meaning; a story that is told by “Neil – Now” (Robert Westenberg) as he works through a lifetime of struggle with depression in the office of his therapist, Dr. Lu Katzman (Lisa Reneé Pitts).

“Neil – Then” (Nick Fradiani) was a desperate man; a songwriter from Flatbush in need of a break with baby number two on the way with his first wife, Jaye Posner (Tiffany Tatreau).  The break came from Ellie Greenwich (Kate A. Mulligan), a pop music singer, songwriter, and record producer in New York who convinced Diamond to keep his real name and eventually convinced him to stop giving his songs to others and to perform them himself.  From his first live performance at The Bitter End in New York in 1967, Diamond seemed destined for fame, though he struggled to appreciate his successes and made several wrong turns.  The Bitter End was where Diamond met and fell in love with Marcia Murphey (Hannah Jewel Kohn), his second wife who was married to him for the next 25 years, until the constant touring finally took its toll.  It was Diamond’s third wife, Katie, who insisted he finally get some help with his depression, and this decision turned out to be the one that truly changed Diamond’s life for the better.

“There used to be a stigma around talking about mental health and thankfully through the years, it’s become an important and accepted topic of conversation,” Diamond wrote in his letter about the musical.  “…in the end, coming to terms with my life and accepting it has somehow come full circle.  I feel fortunate and full of gratitude for all the people in my life.  It is each of them who have impacted and shaped me in their own way to get me to the place where I am now…a better man.  A better father.  A better husband.  A better songwriter.”

As a child of the 80s, Neil Diamond’s music has been a part of the soundtrack of my life, though I never considered myself a huge fan; however, the musical caused me to revisit that soundtrack with new understanding, and I have a new appreciation for his songwriting.  Nick Fradiani is a ringer for the young Neil, with that voice “like gravel wrapped in velvet,” and nearly as effective as the real Diamond at getting the audience off their feet to clap and sing along, especially to “Sweet Caroline” – a song that even the twenty-something set can sing along to.  “Neil” is backed by a great band and talented backup singers and dancers, with music supervision and arrangements by Sonny Paladino and choreography by Steven Hoggett.  A Beautiful Noise is so much more than the music Neil Diamond created; it’s a fitting legacy for a man who worked hard all his life running away from his loneliness, only to find peace when he finally forced himself to sit down and listen. 

A BEAUTIFUL NOISE: THE NEIL DIAMOND MUSICAL runs through March 30,  2025, at the Marcus Performing Arts Center’s Uihlein Hall, located at 929 N. Water Street in Downtown Milwaukee. Tickets may be purchased online at www.MarcusCenter.org, calling 414-273-7206 or by visiting the MPAC Box Office.  Groups of 10 or more can secure their seats by calling 414-273-7207.
 
About Marcus Performing Arts Center
A mission-based non-profit organization located in downtown Milwaukee, the Marcus Performing Arts Center (MPAC) brings high-quality arts and cultural programming to Southeastern Wisconsin. MPAC strives to act as an energizing force that connects the community to the world through collaboration, innovation, social engagement, and the transformative power of the performing arts. Through multiple performance series, community events, and educational experiences, MPAC brings a diverse range of celebrated artists to the region. A fixture in Milwaukee for over 50 years, MPAC is proud to be part of the Milwaukee Theater District as well as a dedicated War Memorial facility. Learn more at www.MarcusCenter.org.

Johnson Financial Group, with offices in Wisconsin and Minnesota, is a privately owned financial services company offering banking, wealth and insurance solutions through its subsidiaries, Johnson Bank, Johnson Wealth, and Johnson Insurance Services. For more information visit  johnsonfinancialgroup.com.
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Broadway Across America (BAA) is part of the John Gore Organization family of companies, which includes Broadway.com, The Broadway Channel, BroadwayBox.com, Group Sales Box Office, and Broadway Brands. Led by 22-time Tony-winning theater producer John Gore (Owner & CEO), BAA is the foremost presenter of first-class touring productions in North America, operating in 48 markets with over 400,000 subscribers. Presentations include Disney’s The Lion King, Wicked, The Book of Mormon, and Hamilton. Current productions include & Juliet, Hadestown, Hamilton, Hell’s Kitchen, MJ: The Musical, Moulin Rouge! The Musical, The Outsiders, and Stereophonic.

By Mary Boyle

In 2009 a theatre company called StarKid Productions was born at the University of Michigan.  Bold and innovative, they produced their works by utilizing Kickstarter, meaning anyone could help support the production.  One of the people who supported their 11th stage show was a local actor from the Milwaukee area named Logan Milway, and Logan is the reason I came to know about the inexplicable phenomenon that is THE GUY WHO DOESN'T LIKE MUSICALS.  After a short run in the fall of 2018, the show was uploaded to YouTube and has now been viewed over eight million times.  Six years later, Logan finally got his chance for his "dream role" as Paul, the Guy, himself, in the Hartford Players Theatre Company's production of this underground gem of a musical that Logan originally helped bring to the stage.

Directed by Abigail Ford, TGWDLM is definitely a show for mature audiences.  Based on the 1956 horror film, The Invasion of the Body Snatchers, this production has far more humor than horror but makes good use of adult language.  Paul (Logan Milway) works in an office (not unlike Office Space) with his three coworkers:  Charlotte Sweetly (Elena Donley), an anxious wreck of a woman trying to repair her marriage with her husband, Sam (Colleen Cline), Ted Spankoffski, a young, overconfident womanizer, and Bill Woodward (Brandon Haut), a divorced father who is hoping to gain favor with his teenage daughter, Alice (Maddy Buchta) by taking her to a performance of Mamma Mia!  When Bill invites Paul to the musical, Paul refuses, because he really doesn't like musicals.  Instead, Paul heads over to the local coffee shop in hopes of seeing his favorite barista, Emma (Brianna Deans), who is crabbier than usual because the management is making the staff sing for every tip.  Paul is sympathetic, and the two of them bond over their mutual hatred of musicals.

As it happens, Bill never gets to take his daughter to Mamma Mia! because a meteor crashed straight through the marquee and into the theater; however, the following day, strange things begin to happen in Hatchetfield.  Everywhere Paul goes, people are singing – beginning with the Greenpeace girl (Mackenzie Gehrke) and even his boss, Mr. Davidson (Kory Friend).  Paul heads to Emma, needing a strong coffee and someone to confide in, but the two quickly realize that something truly is amiss.  Together with Paul’s coworkers, they find refuge with one of Emma’s professors from college, Professor Hidgens (Cobi Tappa), an eccentric doomsday prepper whose home is like a fortress.  What has come for the simple people of Hatchetfield?  Will this band of unlikely people be able to do anything to help?

With music and lyrics by Jeff Blim and book by Nick & Matt Lang, The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals is a hilarious parody mash up of musicals and campy 50s horror films that really can’t be beat.  Clever, fast-paced, and full of pop culture references, the entire show will keep audiences laughing and entertained from start to finish.  The cast and crew do an admirable job in keeping with the original, which is important, because anyone with an internet connection can see it.  The set, costumes, and “special effects” are spot on and the cast, overall, is strong – how they all manage to play it so straight without cracking up is admirable.  Cobi Tappa and Kory Friend are scene-stealers as Professor Hidgens and Mr. Davidson, so look for them.  Inspiration Studios is an easy to find, intimate space, which means seats are limited – don’t miss this one!
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THE GUY WHO DIDN’T LIKE MUSICALS runs through March 23rd at Inspiration Studios in West Allis, located at 1500 S. 73rd Street.  Tickets may be purchased online at https://hartfordplayers.ltd/tickets/.  Seats are general admission and $25 each.
 
The Hartford Players do professional theatre, they just don’t get paid for it. The goal is to give our community the very best in theatre by tapping into the incredible pool of talent that walks by you in the grocery store and sits near you in the restaurant at lunch.  They create beauty on the stage today and nurture the seeds of tomorrow’s beauty together through scholarships for worthy students of the arts.  The Hartford Players is a 501 (c) (3) organization. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation today.

By Mary Boyle

Shakespeare only used a prologue in five of his plays, but easily the most famous is from his most performed work:

Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;
Whose misadventured piteous overthrows
Do with their death bury their parents' strife.
The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love,
And the continuance of their parents' rage,
Which, but their children's end, nought could remove,
Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage;
The which if you with patient ears attend,
What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.
 
One would think the spoiler would take all the fun out of the story but, in fact, the introductory outline of what will happen helps the audience know what to expect and makes them want to hear the details.  In my humble opinion, this is possibly a large part of why ROMEO & JULIET is the Bard’s most known play.  That, and the wonder, passion, and magic of young love.  Although I’ve seen this play around a dozen times, it never gets old because, even though the language remains the same, each production breathes new life into the story simply by changing the setting, the costumes, and the set.  I’ve seen Romeo & Juliet with the genders reversed, with Romeo as a deaf actor, and many more configurations, both classic and modern, but the Milwaukee Repertory Theater’s new version of this most classic of classics is, hands down, the best I’ve ever seen.

Most people know the basics of the story.  The Montagues and Capulets have been at war so long that neither family even knows what the original insult was – they only know they hate each other.  Lord Montague (Dimonte Henning) and Lady Montague (Giselle) are worried about their son, Romeo (Kenneth Hamilton), who seems to have fallen into despair over a girl.  Romeo’s good friends, Mercutio (Mathew C. Yee) and Benvolio (Nate Burger), vow to make him forget by crashing a party held by the Capulets.  There, Romeo meets Juliet (Piper Jean Bailey) and they fall hopelessly in love.  The young couple enlists the help of Juliet’s nurse (Alex Keiper) and Friar Laurence (Nate Burger) to secretly wed, but trouble follows immediately afterward when Juliet’s cousin, Tybalt (Davis Wood) kills Mercutio in a fight, followed by Romeo killing Tybalt in vengeance.  Romeo is banished from Verona as punishment, which is bad enough, but then Lord Capulet (Matt Daniels) and Lady Capulet (Laura Rook) inform Juliet that they have agreed to marry her to Paris (Gabriel Armstrong) immediately.  Friar Laurence comes up with a desperate plan to get Juliet out of her oncoming marriage and reunited in banishment with Romeo but, alas, the star-crossed lovers cannot be helped.

Adapted and directed by Laura Braza, The Rep’s Romeo & Juliet is a dark, gritty rendering with a southern, swampy vibe that rips the story from its English roots and grounds it firmly in America.  From start to finish, the production is woven with music played and sung by the actors themselves, under the direction of musical wizard, Dan Kazemi.  The show opens with a performance of “Ain’t No Grave,” a song composed by twelve-year-old Claude Ely in 1934 when he was sick with tuberculosis, but it is believed to be inspired by an African American gospel song of the same period.  The song, which seems to be made for the story, forms the backbone of the musical score, weaving its way throughout.

The Rep put together an incredible cast, filled with local and regional actors who are steeped in Shakespeare (but honestly, they had me at Nate Burger).  Two years ago, The Rep did an excellent grunge-inspired version of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, also directed by Laura Braza, which featured several members of the cast for R&J, including Nate Burger, Alex Keiper, and Kenneth Hamilton.  Both Laura Rook and Nate Burger have been Core Members at American Players Theatre in Spring Green for over a decade, where Shakespeare is always a part of the season lineup.  Milwaukee favorites Matt Daniels (who has taught Shakespeare to several generations of kids with at First Stage) and Dimonte Henning (who just directed a production of R&J this past season at Door Shakespeare) both delivered incredible performances in this show, as usual, but newcomers Piper Jean Bailey and Mathew C. Yee as Juliet and Mercutio were simply beyond impressive in both their acting and their singing and playing.  Rep Emerging Professional Resident Actors Gabriel Armstrong, Giselle, and Davis Wood rounded out the cast nicely.
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While construction is underway at the new Associated Bank Theater Center, this show will take place at the Wilson Theater at Vogel Hall, housed inside the Marcus Performing Arts Center,  located just one block away from from Milwaukee Rep and the Associated Bank River Center.  Though it’s no Quadracci Theater, it does the job.  For those who have never seen a performance of Romeo & Juliet, this is the one.  The southern dialect lends itself to Shakespeare’s words so wonderfully, making it even easier for audiences to understand; furthermore, this line-up of actors is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity you do not want to miss.
 
ROMEO & JULIET runs through March 30th at the Wilson Theater at Vogel Hall located inside the Marcus Performing Arts Center at 929 N. Water St. in downtown Milwaukee. To purchase tickets, go to www.MilwaukeeRep.com, call the Ticket Office at 414-224-9490 or visit in person at 108 E Wells Street in Downtown Milwaukee.  For more information, please visit www.MilwaukeeRep.com.
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About Milwaukee Repertory Theater
Milwaukee Rep is the largest performing arts organization in Wisconsin with its new artistic home in the Associated Bank Theater Center opening Fall 2025 with three unique performance venues –the Ellen & Joe Checota Powerhouse Theater, Herro-Franke Studio Theater and Stackner Cabaret.  For over seven decades, Milwaukee Rep has been a centerpiece of Milwaukee’s vibrant arts and cultural scene with productions ranging from Broadway musicals to Shakespeare to American Classics and New Works that are entertaining, inclusive and impactful.  Under the leadership of Artistic Director Mark Clements and Executive Director Chad Bauman, Milwaukee Repertory Theater ignites positive change in the cultural, social and economic vitality of its community by creating world-class theater experiences that entertain, provoke and inspire meaningful dialogue among an audience representative of Milwaukee’s rich diversity. More information is available at www.MilwaukeeRep.com



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