‘A Beautiful Noise’ keeps Brooklyn-born Neil Diamond’s music rocking on Broadway

At the Broadhurst Theatre, good times never seemed so good.

Since the fall, the music and life story of the Brooklyn-born Neil Diamond has been getting an airing in a Broadway biomusical, with Will Swenson filling the singer-songwriter’s (sometimes sparkling) shoes.

The jukebox production, “A Beautiful Noise,” came up short of any Tony Award nomination love. Some tagged Swenson’s convincing Diamond performance as a snub.

But don’t dwell on the nominations at the Broadhurst, where middle-aged-leaning audiences have been gleefully soaking in the music of Diamond, the 82-year-old behind “Sweet Caroline,” “America” and “Forever In Blue Jeans.”

Singing along is sometimes frowned upon on Broadway. Not so at “A Beautiful Noise,” an up-tempo, bright-lights musical that can feel like a concert.

The production provides an unvarnished accounting of its flawed, sometimes aloof but enormously talented subject. The show situates an elderly Diamond (Mark Jacoby) in therapy, looking back, with Swenson stepping in as the younger Diamond.

On Sunday at the Tony Awards, Swenson and the cast of “A Beautiful Noise” are expected to perform along with shows including “Camelot,””Funny Girl,” “Into The Woods,” “& Juliet,” “Kimberly Akimbo,” “New York, New York,” “Parade,” “Shucked” and “Some Like It Hot.”

Perhaps a singalong could be in store at the United Palace, the grand theater in Manhattan’s Washington Heights where the Tonys are set to take place this year.

Swenson, a big-voiced Broadway veteran who dons a glittering wardrobe for the show, said crowds consistently belt out at the Broadhurst.

In a recent interview, Swenson suggested the demanding elements of the musical — which has an extensive list of songs — have helped chisel his voice closer to Diamond’s rugged rasp. To begin with, the two men’s voices have parallels.

“He and I have basically a similar range: We both are kind of resonant baritones,” said Swenson, 50. “I knew from a young age that I could do a Neil impersonation. I used to play his songs around the campfire, trying to woo girls.”

But he referenced a line from the musical describing Diamond’s voice as “gravel wrapped in velvet” to highlight the challenge of the daily impression.

“The gravel’s the trickiest part, because it’s not necessarily healthy on the voice,” Swenson said. “I think Neil has it naturally. But for somebody who doesn’t, you have to put pressure on your vocal chords.”

“My voice is actually so tired that it helps make that Neil Diamond sound,” he added.