Neil Diamond’s Letter To Fans
The concept of a Broadway musical based on my life has always seemed overwhelming. It wasn’t until the signs of Parkinson’s disease abruptly halted my touring career that I began to seriously explore the possibility.
I say “prematurely” because my heart and spirit would travel till the day I died if my body would cooperate. My friend and veteran producer Bob Gaudio had some success with his little show, Jersey Boys (have you heard of it?), so I asked him for advice on where to start.
Bob brought in Ken Davenport and together they built the incredible creative team that became, A Beautiful Noise. When Anthony McCarten came on board, we spent hours talking. It was his idea to frame the show in the context of therapy sessions. I loved the idea and never shied away from talking about my years of psychoanalysis. 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.
Sitting in the theatre and watching the show has itself been therapeutic: reliving some joyful and some of the painful parts of my life, wishing perhaps that if I could only make a few edits in the script, it would change some of the reality of what I was seeing. But 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.
I’d like to thank Marcia and Jaye, this story wouldn’t be possible without you. My children and grandchildren for your most important supporting roles in my life. My wife, Katie, who encouraged me to keep going through this process and finally, to Dr. Lu Katzman, my long-time therapist who inspired this story. May she rest in peace.
Neil Diamond
