As a student at Arizona State University, Richard Leigh-Nilsen took an interest in directing and stage managing. He is now working as production stage manager on the show “A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical.”
The show’s national tour will visit ASU Gammage through Sunday, Feb. 1.
The musical, which was developed in collaboration with Neil Diamond, tells the story of the boy from Brooklyn who became a music icon.
The singer has been inducted into both the Songwriters and Rock and Roll Hall of Fames and has received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award for his work.
The show features well-known songs from the artist’s repertoire, including “Sweet Caroline,” “America” and “Forever in Blue Jeans.”
The production stars Nick Fradiani was Neil Diamond — Then and Robert Westenberg as Neil Diamond — Now. The two have both been on the tour since it started.
Leigh-Nilsen said the show incorporates Diamond’s music into the story in different ways.
“It’s about Neil Diamond, what he’s gone through throughout his life and what he’s going through now in his life. It’s really lovely to get to hear the music every night. You get to hear a lot of his songs in more of the original context, but there is also one medley. There are also a number of songs that are integrated into the story, that other characters sing as well,” Leigh-Nilsen said.
Richard Leigh-Nilsen, the production stage manager for “A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical,” graduated from ASU.
(Richard Leigh/Submitted)
He has found a new appreciation for Diamond’s music through working on the show.
“It’s always great when you can love the content of a show. I knew two songs from Neil Diamond. Once I learned it, I was like, ‘Oh, this is great music.’ I probably never would have thought that had I not done the show. Having done this for so long, it’s fun to be surprised by what you learn to love with shows,” Leigh-Nilsen said.
Leigh-Nilsen said audiences are often surprised when they hear “America” because of the story it tells.
“It’s a song about being proud, but it’s about immigrants. It’s Neil’s story of his family coming over as Jews during the Holocaust,” Leigh-Nilsen said.
Leigh-Nilsen said that anyone, even non-Neil Diamond fans, can relate to the story because it speaks to the human experience.
Leigh-Nilsen joined “A Beautiful Noise” in July.
In his role as production stage manager, he is involved in different aspects of the show.
“Your job is to keep the artistic integrity. You are the voice of the director when they’re not there. You’re noting the show. You’re helping to train incoming actors and principals,” Leigh-Nilsen said.
One important part of his job is scheduling.
“I am the one who creates the schedule for everyone inside of the theater and helps coordinate all the logistics with that, along with the head carpenter, who’s in charge of the crew, and the music director, who’s in charge of the musicians. We travel with our own pit of live musicians,” Leigh-Nilsen said.
Although he has extensive experience in stage management, every show is slightly different.
He said even though he came in after the tour started, he felt welcomed.
“You have a completely different vibe with ‘Hair’ than you do with ‘My Fair Lady,’ with the way the cast gels together backstage. This one is really interesting because it’s all about the psychology of what it is to be a performer. There’s a line that Neil says about ‘when the road and the family that you make on the road becomes more like home than home.’ Coming in on year two, you’re being adopted into this family,” Leigh-Nilsen said.
Leigh-Nilsen has also worked on national tours of “Anastasia,” “The Color Purple,” “The Bodyguard,” “Jersey Boys,” “Hair,” Bring It On: The Musical,” “Ghost The Musical,” “My Fair Lady,” “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas!” and “Hello Dolly.”
He has taken on different roles in theater, starting when he was a student.
He graduated in 2007 from ASU with a master’s in music theatre performance.
He started off studying acting at ASU before switching his focus to directing.
He directed a student show called “March of the Falsettos” before being hired as a guest director for “Godspell.” He stayed on after graduating to teach acting and audition book building as an adjunct professor at ASU.
Leigh-Nilsen started stage managing as a college student, starting as an undergrad in Western Pennsylvania.
He was asked to stage manage the opera “Ariadne auf Naxos” for the Lyric Opera Theatre program while at ASU. Soon after that, he directed two operas.
Although he has worked in opera, he has always been drawn more to musical theater.
After spending five years in Arizona, he moved to New York with dreams of being a director and worked in the restaurant management business for a few years.
Hannah Jewel Kohn as ‘Marcia Murphey,’ Nick Fradiani as ‘Neil – Then’ and ‘The Noise’ in A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical.
(Photo credit Jeremy Daniel)
He left that job and was hired as an assistant stage manager for his first tour, “My Fair Lady.” He took over as lead stage manager after a few months.
Leigh-Nilsen said when he started doing tours, he was always open to learning from others.
“As soon as I got down the parts that I thought I knew, I would go up to the lighting team or the carpenters and say, ‘What don’t I know about what you do? What can I do to help?’” Leigh-Nilsen said.
Skills he has developed throughout different jobs have helped him with stage managing.
“The technical elements, the organizational elements, that’s what you’re expected to do. What the job is truly about is managing people, personalities and situations. I’ve had a whole bunch of different kinds of management experience. When theater wasn’t going, I did project management for IBM. Way back when I was in school, I was a reservation manager for a hotel. I did box office management one summer. I did house management one summer,” Leigh-Nilsen said.
As part of different tours, he has gotten to explore new cities, visiting restaurants, museums and other spots.
“I like that during my afternoons off, I get to be in a brand-new place… I’ve played over 200 cities and four countries, and a lot of those cities I’ve played multiple times. I’ve gotten to play over in Tokyo a couple of times and in Taiwan. It’s a blessing to get to see this much of the world,” Leigh-Nilsen said.
If You Go…
WHAT: National Tour of “A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical”
WHEN: Through Sunday, Feb. 1
WHERE: ASU Gammage,
1200 S. Forest Avenue, Tempe
COST: Tickets start at $59
INFO: asugammage.com