I don’t always love the juke box musicals that became so popular on and off Broadway the past several years. The Neil Diamond Musical A Beautiful Noise on stage at Shea’s Performing Arts Center is a different story…literally.

Yes, many of Diamond’s hits are woven through the story and they are the ones you expect to hear. Really astute fans will recognize some song lyrics are woven into the dialogue, too, in an understated, organic way. That’s what set this story apart from some of the others in this niche: there was more to the story than a little bit of biography between the hits.

The storytelling was framed by sessions with a therapist, where Now Neil (played by understudy Tuck Milligan on opening night) was reluctantly beginning therapy. The doctor (Lisa Renee Pitts) wasn’t exactly a fan (“I know this one,” she exclaimed when he set up the intro to “Sweet Caroline”) but she wisely used a book of his song lyrics to help him recount his life.

His reflections introduced us to Neil Then, wonderfully portrayed by Nick Fradiani. His voice had the depth and cadence of the real Neil the fans know and love. In other words, he wasn’t trying to impersonate as much as he was interpreting. From here the people of his past and present are revealed: first wife Jaye (Tiffany Tatreau), ‘60s pop legend Ellie Greenwich (Katie A. Mulligan) who lands some of the best lines of the script, record label owner Bert Berns (Michael Accardo), and second wife Marcia Murphey (Hannah Jewel Kohn), a spectacular dancer. The introspective wannabe poet then emerges as hit songwriter and pop superstar. It’s fun and wild ride.

And the hits kept coming. This production didn’t skimp on arrangements: songs were -for the most part – performed in full and not excerpted. The band under James Olmstead’s direction was tight and right.

The closing moments were poignant, too, without being a downtowner: even legends fade when their bodies and health begin to betray them. Their music shaped our stories, too, and that’s the truly special part.

Be sure to read the Letter from Neil in the program (page 11) where he sets up how to production came to be. While fictious Neil Now was hesitant to begin therapy, Real Neil writes about his years of therapy and how “mental health is an important and accepted topic of conversation.” Bravo.

As we’ve come to expect at jukebox shows, there’s a chance to sing and dance in your seat at the end, and don’t forget to bring along some cash or a card to make a gift to Broadway CARES/Equity Fights AIDS, the annual red bucket collection.

A Beautiful Noise runs through Sunday, April 13;  it’s just about two hours with a 15-minute intermission to pick up a So Good So Good So Good t-shirt in the lobby. (Come on, you know you want it!). Find tickets and details at http://www.sheas.org.