Backstage at the Princess Theatre, a row of guitars lines the wall, each one tagged with the name of the song that will be played on it. There is a guitar for Sweet Caroline, another for Cracklin' Rosie and one for Cherry, Cherry. The crew swaps them in and out through the night without missing a beat.
A Beautiful Noise tells the story of Neil Diamond's life and career through 25 of his songs, tracing his journey from struggling songwriter to international rock star. On stage, Swenson bursts into song after song as the audience sways, dances in their seats and sings along to the tunes they know by heart.
Behind the scenes, a live nine-piece band turns the performance into a full-blown concert, with sound hitting the back of the room as hard as it leaves the stage. The line of labelled guitars is the result of precision by a guitar technician, just one member of the large army of unseen labour behind the show.
The Princess Theatre, which seats 1500 people, has welcomed more than 100,000 theatregoers since the Australian premiere in August, with many performances coming close to selling out. That marks a change in a particularly tough season for musical theatre, with two blockbuster productions cancelled in June.