Hugh Sheridan finds Diamond in the rough

Arts & Entertainment Music Sound

John Moyle
August 10, 2022

Hugh Sheridan has come to his upcoming Solitary Man concert by a hard road of adversity, personal loss and vilification, but along the deeply personal three year journey he has also discovered a love for the songs of Neil Diamond.

Growing up as one of seven in a devout Catholic Adelaide family, from whom he received support for his earliest artistic strivings, Sheridan was mostly inspired by his father Denis, whose passion in life was jazz, whether in the form of his 18 piece big band or the more agile quintet.

It was only natural that while kids of his age were listening to the Back Street Boys, TLC and Nirvana, Sheridan was already being steeped in the songs of Sinatra, Quincy Jones and Count Basie.

And then came Hot August Nights.

“My parents had Hot August Nights, which I think everyone had, but it wasn’t my inspiration at the time,” Sheridan said.

“I was busy working on two shows at the Adelaide Fringe and shooting Packed to the Rafters when I got the offer to do this show.”

It was also around the time that Sheridan was to start rehearsals for Hedwig and The Angry Inch, which was about to turn pear shaped.

“Around the time I was supposed to be doing Hedwig I started to listen to Diamond’s music.” Sheridan said. “At the time we didn’t know about Covid, and then Hedwig fell over, and then my father got sick and there was a lot of suffering and Neil became the soundtrack for all of that.”

Sheridan became an early victim of cancel culture when Queer Artist Alliance Australia objected to his casting, claiming that the character of Hedwig was transgender, but Sheridan wasn’t.

The show’s co-creator John Cameron Mitchell said the role was more of a “drag” character than transgender, and that it has traditionally been played by gay or straight men, and even a woman.

Sheridan was called out with hateful online mail and eventually sought mental health help.

“Once Hedwig fell over, I just focused on Neil and fell in love with his music,” Sheridan said.

But most importantly for Sheridan and his closely knit family, their father Denis had been diagnosed with cancer, and so started another struggle.

“The producers wanted to workshop in Melbourne to see what would work, and I told dad that I would cancel and he said ‘you’re definitely going’”, Sheridan said. “My brothers and sisters told me that while I was in Melbourne dad was highly approving of the fact that I was doing the show. How can I go on and sing these songs and not remember that?”

One of Diamond’s songs featured in the show is “Love on the Rocks” which brings back fond memories of early days when he was studying at NIDA.

In those days there was a late night club in Kings Cross called Barons, famous for its backgammon boards, sticky floors and even stickier couches.

An equally famous feature was its jukebox loaded with hits.

“You used to have to get a meal ticket for entry and my sisters were more interested in drinking, so as a hungry student I would end up eating all their pasta meals and going upstairs to hear ‘Love on the Rocks’ on repeat,” Sheridan said.

Also featured in the show is “I’m a Believer”.

“I’ve always loved that song which Neil wrote in the Brill Building, and I am doing his version, not the Monkees,” Sheridan said.

The Brill Building was a centre of popular song-writing in New York for over 50 years, and Neil Diamond worked there for many years as a jobbing songwriter, selling hits to other artists for $50 a tune until in the early sixties he decided to sing them himself.

This decision laid the foundation for Diamond becoming one of the most popular songwriters in the world, with 38 of his songs reaching the American Top Ten charts.

In 1972 Diamond released his first version of Hot August Nights which has become one of the highest selling albums ever in Australia.

It entered our charts in late ’72 and was still charting as the number three album in 1974, eventually earning 14 Platinum awards for sales.

In 1996, it was estimated that it had sold over one million copies in Australia alone and is still selling in various forms to this day.

“Sweet Caroline” has become an unofficial anthem for the Sydney Swans and other sports teams around the world.

Solitary Man has been scheduled for one night in the refurbished Concert Hall at the Sydney Opera House, Friday 21 October.

It has been put together by Melbourne producers Phil Bathols and Tim Woods, who was responsible for the many Beatles tribute shows of recent years.

Sheridan is being supported on stage by a 19-piece band under the musical direction of James Black.

“With James at the helm it is going to be a big fat sound,” Sheridan said. “I expect that there will be a lot of sing-a-longs, especially with ‘Sweet Caroline’.”