Not even performing in the ensemble of a certified Broadway phenomenon like “Hamilton” could have prepared Amber Ardolino for entering the Diamond-verse.
The Beaver Falls native recently landed her first principal Broadway role in “A Beautiful Noise, The Neil Diamond Musical.” This jukebox musical about the “Sweet Caroline” singer’s life and work premiered in December 2022 at New York City’s Broadhurst Theatre and has remained there ever since.
Ardolino officially joined the cast of “A Beautiful Noise” on Jan. 2 as Marcia Murphey, Diamond’s second wife who was with him for about 25 years before their marriage ended in the mid-1990s. More than a month in, she’s still not totally used to seeing this many theater audiences that can’t contain their unbridled joy.
“The Neil Diamond musical fans are unlike any other fandom I have ever seen of any other Broadway show I’ve been in,” Ardolino told the Post-Gazette last week. “I thought ‘Hamilton’ was crazy, but the audiences we get at ‘A Beautiful Noise,’ they’re at a concert. They’re reliving these memories like it’s the first time again.”
Though she has somehow never performed professionally in Pittsburgh, a young Ardolino would often visit the city to watch shows and participate in summer dance intensives at Point Park University. She attended the Lincoln Park Performing Arts School in Midland, Beaver County, and still regards the training she received in Western Pennsylvania as a major reason for her Broadway success.
“I was equipped to go out into the world and start auditioning,” Ardolino said. “Because of the arts programs I grew up with back home, I felt more than ready to come to New York and hit the pavement.”
After a year at Syracuse University, Ardolino left to join the national tour of “West Side Story.” She also toured with “Flashdance” and “Legally Blonde” before securing the lead role of Sherrie Christian in a Las Vegas production of “Rock of Ages.” Her Broadway break came in 2018 with “Hamilton,” and Ardolino went on to join the Big Apple-based ensembles of “Head Over Heels,” “Moulin Rouge!,” “Funny Girl” and “Back to the Future: The Musical.”
Television and movie fans can also hear her vocals during a few songs in the 2019 FX limited series “Fosse/Verdon” and 2021 cinematic adaptation of “In the Heights.”
It’s still tough for Ardolino to wrap her mind around the fact that she’s now the elder stateswoman “constantly feeding people backstage” and mentoring the next generation of theater folk.
“I remember being the fresh 20-year-old joining the Broadway company,” she said. “Now, I’m the mother of the Broadway company? Stepping into this part and these shoes of feeling like a Broadway vet, it’s such a full-circle moment.”
Ardolino was perfectly content in the company of “Back to the Future” when she got “a random phone call one day” from “A Beautiful Noise” director Michael Mayer. The original Marcia Murphey, Ardolino’s friend Robyn Hurder, was leaving the show and he knew exactly who her replacement should be.
“I’ve had the pleasure of working with Amber in the original casts of both ‘Head Over Heels’ and ‘Funny Girl’ and found that in both shows, I couldn’t take my eyes off her,” Mayer said via a press release. “She’s a true triple threat with genuine star quality. ... Amber was a no-brainer for me.”
As a kid, her grandparents would often play Diamond’s music alongside other “oldies” tunes. Her late grandfather provided plenty of encouragement during the “A Beautiful Noise” audition process, and Ardolino was able to tell him she booked the part before he died. She can’t wait for her grandmother to see her on stage as Marcia Murphey in the near future.
“A Beautiful Noise” is structured around a series of therapy sessions in which Diamond (played by both Mark Jacoby and Nick Fradiani) reflects on every aspect of his career and personal foibles. Ardolino gets to belt out Diamond staples like “Song Sung Blue,” “Play Me” and “Forever in Blue Jeans.” She always gets a kick out of the audible gasps she often hears after singing just the first few lines of “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers.”
The real-life Marcia Murphey wasn’t involved in “A Beautiful Noise,” and she was apparently so private that researching her wasn’t particularly useful as Ardolino workshopped her performance. There aren’t even that many easily accessible photos of her, though Ardolino did manage to find one of Murphey and Diamond in the dressing room of the New York theater where she had just been doing “Back to the Future.”
She ended up latching onto the notion that Murphey “brought a lot out of him” as an artist while they were married and helped him “grow into the legend that is now Neil Diamond.”
“After meeting her, he really transformed into this true, rock star icon,” Ardolino said. “Throughout this story, you see how Marcia helped him achieve that. ... It was really cool to see how crucial a role Marcia played in Neil Diamond’s life, getting him where he is.”
Playing Murphey has allowed Ardolino to find that “giddy theater energy again” as she gets “to sing some of the best music ever put out” on a daily basis. She hopes Pittsburghers who can make the trip check her out on Broadway.
Oh, and University of Pittsburgh football fans: Diamond himself has said that “Sweet Caroline” is about Marcia, so feel free to interject a “Let’s go Pitt!” or two during the “A Beautiful Noise” rendition of what has become an improbable sports anthem.
“If you like Neil Diamond and supporting people from Pittsburgh’s dreams coming true, come see ‘A Beautiful Noise,’” Ardolino urged. “If you don’t come for anything else, come to scream ‘Sweet Caroline’ in a Broadway theater full of 1,200 people.
“It’s unlike any experience you can have on Broadway.”
Joshua Axelrod: jaxelrod@post-gazette.com and Twitter @jaxelburgh.
First Published: February 8, 2024, 10:30 a.m.
Updated: February 8, 2024, 9:02 p.m.