A Beautiful Noise

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From the 70s, I enjoyed the light, happy music of Neil Diamond. I have seen grown men dance like crazed teenagers in the aisles of his concerts. I have seen people who never sing, sing at the top of their lungs when "Sweet Caroline" is performed. We are in NYC to see the Broadway production of A Beautiful Noise:
The story of the legendary Neil Diamond comes to life on stage in an uplifting new musical featuring all his hit songs, including “Sweet Caroline,” “America,” and “Cracklin’ Rosie.” From those exhilarating early days in New York to the sold-out spectacles that defined his career, A Beautiful Noise explores the life of a rock icon through the music that made him “a national treasure” (Los Angeles Times).

Directed by Tony Award® winner Michael Mayer (Spring Awakening, Hedwig and the Angry Inch), choreographed by Olivier Award winner Steven Hoggett (Once, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child), and written by four-time Academy Award nominee Anthony McCarten (Bohemian Rhapsody, The Two Popes), A Beautiful Noise is a thrilling look at an artist’s search for himself and a celebration of the enduring power of his music.
This is a fitting conclusion to a whirlwind visit to New York City, that included a Yankee game, a Billy Joel concert at MSG, and many other notable stops. With his first break into songwriting in the 1960s and his meteoric rise in the 1970s, and plenty of crushing disappointments and heart-stopping triumphs along the way, Neil Diamond has maintained an almost unthinkable level of superstardom for five straight decades. How did a poor Jewish kid from Brooklyn become one of the most universally adored showmen of all time? There’s only one way to tell it: a musical set to his era-defining smash hits that entranced the world.Including a score of Diamond’s most beloved songs, A Beautiful Noise features a book by four-time Academy Award®-nominee Anthony McCarten (Bohemian Rhapsody, Darkest Hour, The Theory of Everything), direction by Tony Award® winner Michael Mayer (Spring Awakening, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, American Idiot), and choreography by Olivier Award® winner and four-time Tony Award nominee Steven Hoggett (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Once, Black Watch). The most expensive musical ever performed on Broadway: Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark, which premiered on Broadway in 2011, reportedly had an eye-watering $75 million budget. Even though it didn’t receive many positive reviews when it first opened, it still was a great success—it brought in over $2.9 million in ticket sales in just one week at one point in its run. The extravagant show, which had music and lyrics by U2’s Bono and The Edge, eventually closed in 2014.
I think my last live theater performance was Wicked in London, or I just don't remember. Or maybe a musical in Boston a few years ago when I went to the Boston Pops 4^th of July concerts.
More Broadway facts from Redbook:
A typical Broadway play costs between $3 and 6 million dollars just for start-up costs, and a musical is more, with upfront costs running on average $8-12 million. And that’s not even the weekly operating costs for paying actors, musicians, stage crews, theater rental fees, costumers, ushers, bartenders, ticket takers, electricity and so on.

Many shows have only run for one performance before they shut down due to operating costs and then factor in low-ticket sales and bad reviews. One of the most notable flops was Carrie: The Musical, which only ran for 16 previews and 5 performances before it closed, at a startup cost of $8 million dollars.

Phanton of the Opera started its Broadway run on January 26, 1988 and has run continuously (not counting closures of all of Broadway during the pandemic). The Andrew Lloyd Webber show has had more than 13,000 performances, and recently announced it will close in February 2023.
While there are 41 Broadway theaters in operation, only four of them have Broadway as part of their address. The rest are between 40th and 54th between 6th and 8th and must have at least 500 seats.

The Lion King opened on Broadway on November 13, 1997 and since then it has grossed (highest) over $1.6 billion dollars. The average ticket price is $107 and they’ve sold more than 15 million seats.

For the first two years of the Tony's, the Broadway honor, didn’t hand out a big shiny trophy, instead the winners received a scroll with a money clip. Additionally, women were given make up compacts (from Tiffany & Co.) and men were given cigarette lighters.

Wherever you go, whatever you like to do, a Broadway show is a must for your "water pail" list.

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