A Q&A with Mark Jacoby
Dec 20, 2023
Recently, we asked A Beautiful Noise fans to submit questions they had for Mark Jacoby. After reviewing hundreds of questions across Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter/X, and sending them to Mark to review and answer, we are thrilled to share his responses!
Tatiana: What do you hope audiences/fans will take away from A Beautiful Noise?
Mark Jacoby: It’s a good question and I’m grateful that you asked it. But I want to answer honestly that I try very hard not to think about that. That developing what the message is of a show or what the audience might feel afterwards. What the emotional experience is, is not really for me. That’s for the director, for the musical director, the choreographer, the book writer, the composer, Neil Diamond, in this case, even the producer. But I have to be, I think to do my best work, I have to be very focused on playing the honesty of the truthfulness of the scenes and leave it to others to decide what if anything should be the takeaway.
WATCH: Mark Jacoby Answers Tatiana’s Question
Jake: What drew you to the role of Neil Diamond in the Neil Diamond Musical?
Mark Jacoby: Jake and everyone else who might be watching, I’m gonna give a very blunt answer. I’m kind of a journeyman performer, actor. I was drawn to it because my agent got me an audition for it. I did the audition. They asked me to do the show. And I said, you know, give me 15 minutes to pack a bag. That’s what drew me to it. Work. I’m very glad I’m doing it. No question about it and it’s been a marvelous experience for me personally, and I would hope for the audience, but I did it because it’s a job.
WATCH: Mark Jacoby Answers Jake’s Question
Ani Sophia: What’s the most powerful moment you get to watch in the show?
Mark Jacoby: Wow! I think the whole show is just dazzling – choreographically, vocally, I was just way into it from the first day of the rehearsal. But I have to remind myself that I don’t watch the show in the same way that an actor would normally watch things going on around him in a play or the way that the audience watches it. I’m really remembering – the things that you see on the stage, The Bitter End, the concerts, the interaction with Jaye and Marcia, are all things that happened in my life, and I’m remembering them. so I’m not taking that information in. I’m actually giving it out to my therapist, and that’s something I need to remind myself of every time I do the show.
WATCH: Mark Jacoby Answers Ani Sophia’s Question
Michael: Do you have a favorite moment to play?
Mark Jacoby: I’m not going to call it a moment but I very much like the top of the show. The very top of the show when we first see Neil, with his therapist, and, frankly, the gruffness that he displays to her. He doesn’t want to be there. He is not particularly nice to her. There’s a great, great level of hostility actually between the two of them. And for some reason I enjoy playing that part of it. Maybe it’s partly because I know how it’s going, how the show is going to evolve and the journey that Neil is going to take and where he’s going to get to, makes it fun to play the rough part.
WATCH: Mark Jacoby Answers Michael’s Question
Caitlin: What’s your favorite memory of crafting the show in rehearsals and workshops?
Mark Jacoby: I really do have one and it was when Neil Diamond came to our rehearsal as we were about to go to Boston to try out the show. And he watched a run-through and at one point in the run-through during a musical number, he raised his hands straight up over his head, as if he were reaching to the sky. I don’t know what it was doing. I don’t know if he was stretching or whether the music uplifted him but it was a very powerful image and one that made quite an impression on me. And I decided to use it in the show in my portrayal of Neil Diamond. It’s in a moment where probably no one in the theater is looking at me. And I don’t know that it means anything to anybody but me but it makes me remember Neil, remember that moment, and the powerful image of his reaching to the sky.
WATCH: Mark Jacoby Answers Caitlin’s Question
Felicity: How are you able to muster up that high level of emotion in your final scene every show?
Mark Jacoby: I think it’s valuable for an actor to try to find the common elements, the commonalities between yourself and the character you’re playing. Sometimes they may seem not to be there at all. And I could initially say that about me and Neil Diamond. I was never a rock star, for example. I was never any kind of a star, but they’re always there if you look hard enough. And one thing I can relate to with Neil is his feeling about what kind of a parent he was, how he dealt with his children, or, was unable to deal with them because of his constant absences. There’s also the commonality of age. Let’s face it, if we’re lucky enough to grow old enough we suffer in abilities. We suffer decline, physical decline, sometimes mental declines, and that is always poignant to the individual involved whether you’re Neil Diamond, or whether you’re Mark Jacoby, or anyone else who has to say there’s something that I did that I can never do again.
WATCH: Mark Jacoby Answers Felicity’s Question
Laura: Did you study Neil’s movements and expressions for this role? If so, did you study him when he was young or older or both?
Mark Jacoby: The answer is I studied him in general. I didn’t look for particular expressions, for example, or facial characteristics. I tried to get the essence of him by studying him. I did it almost exclusively from the age that he is now. I did see some clips of his performing when he was in his prime. What I was really interested in, and for obvious reasons, is that I wanted to find out how he behaves now. What he’s like and when he’s talking to other people so it was mostly interviews.
WATCH: Mark Jacoby Answers Laura’s Question
Bettina: Do you have a favorite song of Neil’s?
Mark Jacoby: I do, but I can’t really explain why. It just appeals to me and the song is “Hello Again.” It’s a very sweet melody, and it’s a very sweet sentiment that is given to us in the lyrics. And it’s very, I think, representative of Neil’s way of composing and of writing lyrics. It feels to me like his lyrics come straight from the heart without taking a detour to the head. It’s just real, honest, and it’s universal. “I just called because I want to hear your voice” – touches me every night.
WATCH: Mark Jacoby Answers Bettina’s Question
Amanda: How do you recharge during time off from the stage?
Mark Jacoby: I’m a very regimented guy and I have routines. For example, between shows on a two-show day. Right after the matinee, I eat, I nap and then I take a walk. And if I don’t do those things, I feel totally off of what I’m supposed to be doing. It’s very strange in a way. I like doing mundane things. You know what really centers me… doing my laundry. Is that odd? But you know, doing something very normal. That has nothing to do with performance or show business or the life I lead. Otherwise I like getting down to the basics.
WATCH: Mark Jacoby Answers Amanda’s Question
Amy: Which was more challenging, Neil or the Phantom?
Mark Jacoby: Oh, Amy, they are so very different and so very challenging, I would say equally but in very different ways. As you probably know, the Phantom is a big singing role. There’s extensive makeup and preparation. It’s very active physically. And it’s just exhausting, frankly, to play the Phantom. This is so challenging as an actor, the emotional… what is called upon one to play this role at this time in Neil’s life, the emotional toll that it takes on the actor and takes on actual Neil Diamond is significant, it’s big and to do it eight times a week. I must admit it’s tiring. But in a very, very different way. A rewarding way, but in a different way.