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 \u201cA Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The show\u2019s national tour will visit ASU Gammage through Sunday, Feb. 1.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The musical, which was developed in collaboration with Neil Diamond, tells the story of the boy from Brooklyn who became a music icon.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The show features well-known songs from the artist\u2019s repertoire, including \u201cSweet Caroline,\u201d \u201cAmerica\u201d and \u201cForever in Blue Jeans.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The production stars Nick Fradiani was Neil Diamond \u2014 Then and Robert Westenberg as Neil Diamond \u2014 Now. The two have both been on the tour since it started.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Leigh-Nilsen said the show incorporates Diamond\u2019s music into the story in different ways.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s about Neil Diamond, what he\u2019s gone through throughout his life and what he\u2019s going through now in his life. It\u2019s 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,\u201d Leigh-Nilsen said.<\/p>\n
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Richard Leigh-Nilsen, the production stage manager for \u201cA Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical,\u201d graduated from ASU.\u00a0<\/p>\n
(Richard Leigh\/Submitted)<\/p>\n
He has found a new appreciation for Diamond\u2019s music through working on the show.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s 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, \u2018Oh, this is great music.\u2019 I probably never would have thought that had I not done the show. Having done this for so long, it\u2019s fun to be surprised by what you learn to love with shows,\u201d Leigh-Nilsen said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Leigh-Nilsen said audiences are often surprised when they hear \u201cAmerica\u201d because of the story it tells.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a song about being proud, but it\u2019s about immigrants. It\u2019s Neil\u2019s story of his family coming over as Jews during the Holocaust,\u201d Leigh-Nilsen said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Leigh-Nilsen said that anyone, even non-Neil Diamond fans, can relate to the story because it speaks to the human experience.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Leigh-Nilsen joined \u201cA Beautiful Noise\u201d in July.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In his role as production stage manager, he is involved in different aspects of the show.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYour job is to keep the artistic integrity. You are the voice of the director when they\u2019re not there. You\u2019re noting the show. You\u2019re helping to train incoming actors and principals,\u201d Leigh-Nilsen said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
One important part of his job is scheduling.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI 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\u2019s in charge of the crew, and the music director, who\u2019s in charge of the musicians. We travel with our own pit of live musicians,\u201d Leigh-Nilsen said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Although he has extensive experience in stage management, every show is slightly different.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He said even though he came in after the tour started, he felt welcomed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have a completely different vibe with \u2018Hair\u2019 than you do with \u2018My Fair Lady,\u2019 with the way the cast gels together backstage. This one is really interesting because it\u2019s all about the psychology of what it is to be a performer. There\u2019s a line that Neil says about \u2018when the road and the family that you make on the road becomes more like home than home.\u2019 Coming in on year two, you\u2019re being adopted into this family,\u201d Leigh-Nilsen said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Leigh-Nilsen has also worked on national tours of \u201cAnastasia,\u201d \u201cThe Color Purple,\u201d \u201cThe Bodyguard,\u201d \u201cJersey Boys,\u201d \u201cHair,\u201d Bring It On: The Musical,\u201d \u201cGhost The Musical,\u201d \u201cMy Fair Lady,\u201d \u201cDr. Seuss\u2019 How the Grinch Stole Christmas!\u201d and \u201cHello Dolly.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He has taken on different roles in theater, starting when he was a student.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He graduated in 2007 from ASU with a master\u2019s in music theatre performance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He started off studying acting at ASU before switching his focus to directing.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
He directed a student show called \u201cMarch of the Falsettos\u201d before being hired as a guest director for \u201cGodspell.\u201d He stayed on after graduating to teach acting and audition book building as an adjunct professor at ASU.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Leigh-Nilsen started stage managing as a college student, starting as an undergrad in Western Pennsylvania.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He was asked to stage manage the opera \u201cAriadne auf Naxos\u201d for the Lyric Opera Theatre program while at ASU. Soon after that, he directed two operas.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Although he has worked in opera, he has always been drawn more to musical theater.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Hannah Jewel Kohn as \u2018Marcia Murphey,\u2019 Nick Fradiani as \u2018Neil – Then\u2019 and \u2018The Noise\u2019 in A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical.\u00a0<\/p>\n
(Photo credit Jeremy Daniel)<\/p>\n
He left that job and was hired as an assistant stage manager for his first tour, \u201cMy Fair Lady.\u201d He took over as lead stage manager after a few months.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Leigh-Nilsen said when he started doing tours, he was always open to learning from others.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAs 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, \u2018What don\u2019t I know about what you do? What can I do to help?\u2019\u201d Leigh-Nilsen said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Skills he has developed throughout different jobs have helped him with stage managing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe technical elements, the organizational elements, that\u2019s what you\u2019re expected to do. What the job is truly about is managing people, personalities and situations. I\u2019ve had a whole bunch of different kinds of management experience. When theater wasn\u2019t 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,\u201d Leigh-Nilsen said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As part of different tours, he has gotten to explore new cities, visiting restaurants, museums and other spots.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI like that during my afternoons off, I get to be in a brand-new place\u2026 I\u2019ve played over 200 cities and four countries, and a lot of those cities I\u2019ve played multiple times. I\u2019ve gotten to play over in Tokyo a couple of times and in Taiwan. It\u2019s a blessing to get to see this much of the world,\u201d Leigh-Nilsen said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
If You Go…<\/p>\n
WHAT: National Tour of \u201cA Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical\u201d<\/p>\n
WHEN: Through Sunday, Feb. 1\u00a0<\/p>\n
WHERE: ASU Gammage,<\/p>\n
1200 S. Forest Avenue, Tempe\u00a0<\/p>\n
COST: Tickets start at $59\u00a0<\/p>\n