There’s a New Doctor In Town: Meet Shirine Babb Joining the Cast of A Beautiful Noise on Broadway

Producers Ken Davenport and Bob Gaudio announced that Shirine Babb will begin performances in the role of the ‘Doctor’ in A Beautiful Noise, The Neil Diamond Musical starting on Friday, September 22, on Broadway at the Broadhurst Theatre (235 West 44th Street). 

Linda Powell, who originated the role of the ‘Doctor’, will play her final performance on Thursday, September 21. 

“To be joining this show with this terrific cast and play this beautifully nuanced role at a time when mental health is on the forefront of everyone’s mind is a gift,” says Babb. “In addition to the ability to help remove, through art, the stigma that it is so often associated. As Shakespeare says in two different plays, ‘Madness in great ones must not unwatched go, so good counselors lack no clients.’”

Tickets are available at www.abeautifulnoisethemusical.com, by calling 800-447-7400, or at the Broadhurst Theatre box office.

In addition to Babb, the cast of A Beautiful Noise features Tony Award® nominee Will Swenson as Neil Diamond – Then, Tony Award and Drama Desk Award nominee Mark Jacoby as Neil Diamond – Now, Chita Rivera Award winner, Tony Award, and Drama Desk Award nominee Robyn Hurder as Marcia. They are joined by Jessie Fisher as Jaye Posner; Michael McCormick as Fred Weintraub, Tommy O’Rourke; Tom Alan Robbins as Bert Berns, Kieve Diamond; and Bri Sudia as Ellie Greenwich, Rose Diamond. 

The ensemble, swings, and standbys include Neal Benari (standby Neil Diamond – Now), Ninako Donville (swing), Paige Faure (ensemble), Nick Fradiani (Alternate Neil Diamond – Then), Kalonjee Gallimore (ensemble), Samantha Gershman (swing), Becky Gulsvig (standby for Ellie Greenwich, Jaye Posner, Marcia, and Rose Diamond), Alex Hairston (ensemble), Makai Hernandez (swing), Philip Hoffman (standby Neil Diamond – Now), Sydney Jones (swing), Jess LeProtto (ensemble), Tatiana Lofton (ensemble), Aaron James McKenzie (ensemble), Mary Page Nance (ensemble), Robert Pendilla (swing), Max Sangerman (ensemble), MiMi Scardulla (ensemble) and Deandre Sevon (ensemble).

A Beautiful Noise includes a score of Diamond’s most beloved songs, a book which four-time Academy Award®-nominee Anthony McCarten (I Wanna Dance with Somebody, Bohemian Rhapsody, The Theory of Everything) distilled from hundreds of hours of conversations between himself and the legendary singer-songwriter, direction by Tony Award® winner Michael Mayer (Spring Awakening, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, American Idiot), and choreography by Olivier Award® winner and four-time Tony Award nominee Steven Hoggett (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Once, Black Watch). 

The design team for A Beautiful Noise features Tony Award winner David Rockwell (scenic design), Tony Award nominee Emilio Sosa (costume design), four-time Tony Award winner Kevin Adams (lighting design), Tony Award winner Jessica Paz (sound design), and Luc Verschueren (hair and wig design). The production has music supervision and arrangements by Sonny Paladino, incidental music and dance music arrangements by Brian Usifer, vocal design by AnnMarie Milazzo, and orchestrations by Bob Gaudio, Sonny Paladino, and Brian Usifer. The team also includes Bonnie Panson (production supervisor), Jamie Harrison (illusion consultant), Kathy Fabian (properties designer), Jim Carnahan, CSA (casting), and Amy Jacobs of Bespoke Theatricals (general manager).

With his first break into songwriting in the 1960s and his meteoric rise in the 1970s, and plenty of crushing disappointments and heart-stopping triumphs along the way, Neil Diamond has maintained an almost unthinkable level of superstardom for five straight decades. How did a poor Jewish kid from Brooklyn become one of the most universally adored showmen of all time? There’s only one way Diamond wanted to tell it: a musical set to his era-defining smash hits that entranced the world.

Throughout his phenomenal and wide-ranging career, Neil Diamond has performed at sold-out stadiums and arenas around the world, dominated the charts for more than five decades, sold over 130 million albums worldwide, and achieved record sales.

A Grammy Award-winning artist, Diamond is a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He has been presented with the Johnny Mercer Award, the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award, three of the highest honors bestowed on songwriters and artists. He has also been the recipient of the NARAS Music Cares Person of The Year Award and the prestigious Kennedy Center Award for his contributions to American culture. 

His music has earned him a multi-generational fanbase and he is a believer of the healing power of music. Through his charitable foundation, he has supported many causes close to his heart.

A Beautiful Noise is produced by Ken Davenport, Bob Gaudio, Sandi Moran, Hunter Arnold, Scott Abrams, Marco Santarelli, Jonathan and Rae Corr, Adam Riemer, Marguerite Steed Hoffman, Ron Kastner, Rob Kolson, Valli Family Group, Caiola Productions, Paul Dainty AM, Gaudio Family Group, Joseph J. Grano Jr., Starlight Theatre, Roy Putrino, James L. Nederlander, Tricia Blake, Mark E. Jacobs, Universal Music Group Theatrical, Deborah Green, Patty Baker, Sheri and Les Biller, H. Richard Hopper, Sharon Karmazin, NETworks Presentations, Matthew Salloway, BB Investments LLC, Universal Theatrical Group, Witz End Productions, Theatre Producers of Color, and Ryan Conway.

The Original Broadway Cast Recording of A Beautiful Noise, produced by Bob Gaudio and released by UMe, is available now as a CD and to stream on all major platforms. To order the album or stream it, please visit www.abeautifulnoise.lnk.to/originalcastalbumpr 

BIOGRAPHY

Shirine Babb (Doctor) is ecstatic to be joining this beautiful cast. Broadway: The Piano Lesson, Harry Potter and The Cursed Child (OBC), Lincoln Center’s Macbeth. Selected highlights: King Lear with Patrick Page (TFANA), Napoli Brooklyn (Roundabout), Merchant of Venice with John Douglas Thompson (TFANA), Red Bull Theatre, STC, Folger, Roundhouse (Helen Hayes Award), and Hartford Stage. Selected television: “Extrapolations” (Apple+), “Iron Fist,” “Blue Bloods.” Old Globe/USD.