Be ready to sing along in The Smith Center’s next show

Here’s a hack for you aspiring lounge performers out there. If you’re losing the crowd, stop whatever you’re playing immediately and break into “Sweet Caroline.”

Like bacon for a chef, it never fails.

“It just seems to be the song that’s played in a stadium when somebody’s winning something, or everybody’s singing it in a bar,” veteran stage star Nick Fradiani says. “That song just never goes away. Our kids, our grand kids — everybody will know that song.”

Fradiani is touchin’ warm, reachin’ out, as he portrays Neil Diamond “A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Story.” The jukebox adaptation of Diamond’s career plays Reynolds Hall at The Smith Center from Tuesday through Aug. 17.

Fradiani is “Neil Diamond — Then,” or the early-Neil period. Robert Westenberg is “Neil Diamond - Now.”

The 40-year-old Fradiani stepped into the role, as a swing, in 2022. He has now played Diamond on Broadway and on tour for more than 800 shows, more than any other performer.

Fradiani would be excused from becoming tired of hearing Diamond classics, or even ducking for cover when “Caroline,” “Love On the Rocks” or “September Morn” are played. But he has found a way to keep the passion for the enduring material.

“The hardest thing for me at this point after doing it so long, is just getting myself ready to do it every day,” Fradiani says. “I sing so many songs, the hardest thing is just the preparation, being ready to do it again. But once I’m out there and make that first entrance, you get that bug, that drug, from the audience.”

The show covers 30 songs, all Diamond originals. This includes several numbers that new or casual fans might not realize were Diamond compositions. “I’m A Believer” by The Monkees and “Red Red Wine,” a No. 1 hit for UB40 are among them.

“You get response from the audience, like the biggest gasp, during ‘Red Red Wine’ because you can tell they’re surprised by it,” Fradiani says. “We hear it with ‘You Don’t Bring Me Flowers,’ which was one of his biggest hits with Barbra Streisand, and one of the few ballads we get into.”

The show doesn’t cover a significant moment in Diamond’s history in Las Vegas, when he opened the Aladdin Theatre for the Performing Arts with three shows in July 1976. Seems a major omission.

But there is some peripheral Vegas in the story. Fradiani’s father, Nick Sr., has a rich history of performance here, toggling between Las Vegas and Atlantic City decades ago in a band called Rhapsody.

“He’s going to be 70 in this in February, and he’s got quite a voice, still,” young Nick says. “He’s a piano player, guitar player, bass player. He plays everything.”

Fradiani met Diamond in show preparations about four years ago. The two have facetimed about Fradiani’s run in the show. Diamond has given the performer a few guitars and a lot of advice. During a run in L.A., Diamond was in the audience, which Fradiani says was “kind of mind-blowing.”

“At intermission, he was in the room next to me and I went in there, dressed as him,” Fradiani recalls. “I’m talking to him before I go back out there to sing more songs as him, which was just so crazy. But he has been just a super, super sweet guy.”

The 84-year-old Diamond has halted live performance, having been diagnosed with Parkinson’s seven years ago. The pop legend has contributed a letter in the show’s Playbill. He says Parkinson’s “prematurely ended my touring career.”

But after conferring with original Four Seasons member and “Jersey Boys” musical producer Bob Gaudio, he was eager to put “A Beautiful Noise” to the public. The show is framed in context of therapy sessions.

“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,” says Diamond, always adept at bringing joy, optimism and an irresistible sing-along to his public.

Cool Hang Alert

The busy classic-rock band Yellow Brick Road plays Chrome at Santa Fe Station at 9 to 11 p.m. Friday at Chrome at Santa Fe Station. The act delves into The Who, Stones, AC/DC, Guns N’ Roses, and many others. Gotta be 21 and over to attend; no cover, but the songs are all covers, if that makes sense. Go to stationcasinoslive.com for intel.

John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.