Photo provided Robert Neary will present “So Good! The Neil Diamond Experience” at 8 p.m. May 9 at the Brown County Music Center.
The music of world-renowned singer and songwriter Neil Diamond comes to the Brown County Music Center May 9 as Robert Neary presents “So Good! The Neil Diamond Experience.” The show, entering its fourth year of touring, promises to be the ultimate tribute to Diamond’s career.
So Good! The Neil Diamond Experience will be at 8 p.m. May 9 at the Brown County Music Center. Tickets range from $25 to $100.
Neary’s work has spanned both on the screen and on the stage. He has made several guest star appearances on television shows including “Criminal Minds,” “Blacklist,” “NCIS” and “Sons of Anarchy,” in addition to appearing in multiple commercials in the ’90s. Neary said he had always wanted to be an actor, and in 1996, he made his Broadway debut as the lead in Smoky Joe’s Café.
“… and that, of course, was probably the biggest highlight of my career because I never thought I was going to be on the Broadway stage,” Neary said. “And I met my wife… on Broadway in that show, so dividends are still paying off. But, it’s been a roller coaster and it’s been one great little success story after the other.”
As parts and auditions began to slow, Neary said he needed to stay creative, which is what led to him creating “So Good! The Neil Diamond Experience” in 2019. The experience premiered in March of 2021 and has now gone on to perform in several locations nationwide, with one of those performances being put together into an Amazon Prime documentary.
“So Good! The Neil Diamond Experience” features 25 songs and New York-based band The Mystic performing alongside Neary. He said the experience will take audience members and fans of Neil Diamond back in time.
When putting the experience together, he said he didn’t want to just play one Neil Diamond song after another for the entire show; he wanted to create a true concert experience. He said he studied the singer-songwriter’s concerts and music to create a two-hour long experience, complete with stories and trivia surrounding Diamond’s music and career.
“The show moves like a Broadway show, there’s two acts with an intermission,” Neary said. “There’s costume changes, we do an entire 20-minute finale tribute to ‘A Hot August Night,’ his biggest live album, and the people are going to think, ‘you know, it’s Neil Diamond up there.’ Because I do quite a show and I immerse myself in his talent and his music, and I sound like him. They’re going to have an incredible time.”
This upcoming performance will mark Neary’s Brown County Music Center debut, and he said he looks forward to performing in a tremendous venue. He hopes audience members have a great experience and said they can look forward to reliving some memories of listening to Neil Diamond. To Neary, hearing about those relived memories after the show is by far his favorite part of doing these shows, he said.
“We sign programs, we sell some merchandise and I do a meet and greet, and just the reactions on their faces when they shake my hands and they tell me how much they just… relive the memories or they’ll tell me, ‘my mom or my dad used to play Neil Diamond all the time and you brought back so many wonderful memories,’” Neary said. “And they’re so genuine, I just see it in their faces and the smiles and that is just everything. That’s just like, ‘wow,’ that means so much.”
Tickets for “So Good! The Neil Diamond Experience” are available at browncountymusiccenter.com.
