A Beautiful Noise is coming to Cleveland! The show celebrates the life and legacy of legendary performer Neil Diamond through his own music and is one of the more anticipated shows stopping in Northeast Ohio in 2024. The jukebox musical debuted on Broadway in 2022 and is hitting the road for its first national tour. The touring production recently finished tech rehearsals and opened earlier this week! The critically acclaimed show will run at Cleveland’s Connor Palace Theatre in the Playhouse Square district from October 8 – October 27. {Details and tickets}
As one might expect, the show features some of Diamond’s biggest hits, including “Forever In Blue Jeans,” “America,” “Holly Holly,” …and, of course, Sweet Caroline,” which will undoubtedly be an audience sing-along!
Actress Hannah Jewel Kohn, who plays the female lead, Marcia Murphey, in this show, is elated to be part of A Beautiful Noise. She described this musical as:
“…A story of a Brooklyn kid who essentially rose to fame and became an award-winning American icon; just this rock icon, and it features timeless hits,” she explained in a recent phone interview with CleveRock. “You may know ‘Sweet Caroline,’ ‘Forever in Blue Jeans,’ ‘America,’ ‘You Don’t Bring Me Flowers, ‘Cracklin’ Rosie,’ so it’s truly one of the most amazing, uplifting, electric shows. I’m going to be honest with everyone that it will leave you exhilarated, uplifted, inspired, and you will definitely have a truly unforgettable night. It’s really one of the most incredible shows I’ve ever done!”
Many biopic musicals fall a tad short of telling the full story of their subject. (I won’t call out any shows specifically!) To be fair, it is tough to capture someone’s life story and musical legacy in a time-constrained theatre production. Hannah feels that A Beautiful Noise does justice to the living legend.
“I think what’s interesting about this show is that Neil Diamond could have chosen a biopic, a documentary, a biography, an autobiography, a mini-series, but he wanted his story told through a musical. I didn’t understand that at first, but then I saw the show on Broadway, and I understand why,” she said. “It’s because when you see this show, it is a real-life concert. It is electric. It is so exciting and uplifting, and the messages that are in this story are so inspiring. I won’t give too much of the story away, but you will leave feeling a little more grateful for the things that you have, a little bit more appreciative, a little more inspired, a little more uplifted, and a little more positive. It’s such an iconic story and a lot of interesting things. I don’t want to give too much away, but there are a lot of interesting things in this show that I was not aware of about Neil Diamond. You have to come and see it!”
MEET HANNAH
In her short Playbill biography, the actress ended with, “This one is for 18-year-old Hannah.” She was asked to give some context to this text.
“I put ‘This one is for 18-year-old Hannah’ in my bio because I, at one point, when I was 18, wanted to be a principal; wanted to be a lead of a show, and didn’t really have that confidence. And I heard from people, ‘Maybe you’re just a dancer, maybe that’s your path. Just stick with dancing.’ And in my heart I was like, ‘Well, what if I want to do a little bit more? I want to sing, dance, and act altogether on that stage.’ I just kept on seeing that vision for myself,” she explained. “Even though I had some mental blocks and I had some people trying to give me the easy way out, because dancing, I had done that since I was age two. It was something I could do in my sleep and I had to believe in myself and gain more confidence to be a principal; to be a female lead in the show. I look back at all of the obstacles, and just obstacles I persevered through that have led me here. It just means a lot to me about never giving up, and really believing in yourself, and trusting that if you have this dream and this vision, it is in your heart for a reason, because it is going to pan out. It is going to come to fruition. So I’m doing this for my younger self, who didn’t have that confidence at that time, who was listening to other people, and I’m doing it now for me. And it means a lot.”
Every theater performer has a unique journey. It usually starts with being inspired by a specific play or performer, moves on to formal training, and requires some stumbles and falls to learn important lessons that help mold them and help them achieve their full potential. Hannah discussed what her journey involved.
“My great grandma was in Vaudeville. She sang on the radio, and I always loved going to musicals with my family. We’re a huge, huge, huge theater family, and I remember going to see ‘Beauty and the Beast’ on Broadway and ‘Mary Poppins’ on Broadway. Disney shows are definitely my thing. I remember seeing Mary Poppins on Broadway, and I turned to my mom. I looked at her and said, ‘I want to be up there. I want to do exactly what those people are doing. It looks so exciting, so fun, so enjoyable, so fulfilling. I want to do that,'” she recalls. “My mom looked at me, and she said, ‘I know you can, so let’s do it!’ My whole family has been huge supporters of this career, and they’ve been huge supporters for my life and the path that I’ve wanted to take. I started off dancing at the age of two, and then I auditioned to be in ‘Annie,’ at my high school, and I booked the role of Annie. I thought, ‘You know what? Maybe I am good at this!’ So, I began homeschooling in high school to really do all three: music, dancing, and acting. I really wanted to hone my craft and really just take it up one level. I was able to have time to go and travel to New York. I’m from Detroit, Michigan. I had time to leave Detroit, Michigan, and go to New York City and network and see what it was all about; audition and form connections with casting directors and take classes with mentors. I had all that time to really get started and jumpstart into this career. When I graduated from this homeschooling program in high school, I started off auditioning, and I gave myself three months to book a job in the Big Apple. If I didn’t book a job, I would go to Pace University. I ended up booking a really great job. I felt ready. I have been working ever since. I’ve been really, really, really lucky. I’ve worked really hard, but I am so grateful that I chose this path and it just is the most fulfilling and rewarding job I’ve ever done. I couldn’t be more grateful.“
She also talked about the path that led to her being the female lead in a major touring production and the steps she had to take to achieve her dream:
“One of my first jobs I booked was leading a musical at a theme park. I was a princess in their show. And in that moment, I was like, ‘You know what? I didn’t really see myself going to work at a theme park, but you know what? This feels right. I’m going to take this job.’ I was 17, turning 18. I’m not going to be ungrateful. I’m going to jump into this job. Maybe it will lead me somewhere else that I am excited to go after this,” she said. “I was in this job, I noticed that the choreographer of our show was about to choreograph Beauty and the Beast, the National tour, and I wanted to do that tour so badly. And I remember saying to him, if you ever have any auditions, I’d love to be considered. And we had formed this connection. He was the choreographer and director of the theme park show, and it ended up panning out that I was in for auditions. He was behind the table and he was vouching for me because I was in his show currently. I ended up booking Beauty in the Beast. I toured with that show for two years, and it just goes to show that it’s kind of that slingshot. It’s like you go a little bit back and you slingshot forward. And the theme park was by no means a step back. But I was curious if this was the right move. But I went and I jumped into it and I said, you know what? I’m going to be patient. I’m going to trust that this could lead me to another wonderful, great job. And it did. That is what I’ve been talking about, about patience. It’s very, very, very important in this business.“
“One of the biggest obstacles I had to overcome was learning about patience in this industry. I wanted to constantly go to the next step,” she continued. “Maybe I booked a job, and in my heart, I was like, this job is amazing, and I want to take it up another notch and now do this and do that and do that. But it is not; it is not a race. This business is not a race. And I think when you really, really, really hone into patience as a virtue and the more that you are taking your time with this business, you’re going to be so fulfilled because all of that hard work is going to lead you to your destiny to where you’re supposed to be. That was probably the hardest lesson I had to overcome. It’s not a race, and I had to just take a breath and know that, oh, this is where I’m supposed to be right now, and that dream of mine is coming, but there are lessons I need to learn here, and there are connections I need to make right now that’s going to lead me to that next job.”
[videopress tT1PVXbb w=1920 h=1080]
Hannah wants Clevelanders to know this show is for everyone. Long-time fans, those (who live under a rock) who may not be familiar with Neil Diamond’s music, and theater fans of all ages can all fall in love with this show.
“I grew up not really knowing Neil Diamond’s music until I was first introduced to it at a Bat Mitzvah,” she said. “I heard ‘Sweet Caroline’ being played over the speaker, and all the adults were rushing onto the dance floor and singing. That was my first time really being introduced to Neil Diamond’s music. Ever since then, it’s just brought so much joy and so much happiness to my life. I mean, his music is so catchy, and his lyrics are so relatable. I want to make sure that everyone knows that this show is for all ages. Everyone is going to relate to the show in some way. I want everyone out there to know that even if you don’t know Neil Diamond’s music or you’re not sure what the story is about, come and see it because I’m telling you right now, you’ll be able to relate to something in this story or you will feel an immense amount of joy seeing this show, and that is something that you do not want to miss.”
© 2025 CleveRock Music Portal. A PROUD SHAPE CLEVELAND PRODUCTION