Hugh Sheridan takes on Neil Diamond in Solitary Man the stage show

A copy of Neil Diamond’s 1972 double live album Hot August Night lay among other gems of its era and remained on high rotation at Hugh Sheridan’s family home growing up.

Now, the LA-based actor and entertainer is bringing Solitary Man to the stage, performing the hits that made the American singer-songwriter a global phenomenon.

“I discovered Neil Diamond through my parents’ record collection, like most kids in Australia. One in three Aussies homes owned this album,” says Hugh Sheridan, four-time Logie Award winner for their role in Packed to the Rafters, one of seven children who grew up in Adelaide.

Hot August Night spent 29 weeks at number one on the album charts in Australia during 1973 and 1974, making it one of the biggest-selling albums in our chart history.

“Dad was a musician, and he loved music, so I knew Neil’s music before I really knew much about him and his legacy,” Sheridan says.

Sheridan was asked to take on the mammoth task of bringing Solitary Man to the stage a year ago by the show’s promoter but initially had doubts he wanted to do it.

“I actually said ‘no’ before I said ‘yes’. The promoters came back to me 12 months after initially asking me and had full belief I could give this life,” Sheridan says.

“I really wanted to understand Neil Diamond the man and his music, so to speak. My family also encouraged me to take it on, too,” they say.

From performing the 1969 hit Sweet Caroline at the AFL Preliminary Final in Sydney a few weeks ago to help promote the show to immersing himself in Diamond’s music by watching YouTube video clips and streaming his albums, Sheridan wants everyone to know they’re not imitating the man, simply keeping his songwriting legacy alive – in the hope of attracting a younger audience to his back catalogue.

“I simply want to do justice to Neil’s music and make sure it lives on, so people continue to hear them. I would love a new generation to fall in love with his music as I did,” Sheridan says.

For someone who has been based in LA for 10 years, Sheridan continues to spend a lot of time in Australia, where the work keeps rolling in. They’re back in Melbourne to start filming a new season of Five Bedrooms, in which they play Lachlan, and then there’s a role in Brisbane based on the original play by Larry Kramer called The Normal Heart – all in the name of charity and raising awareness about AIDS.

“The play is performed in really intimate theatres, and there’s something really beautiful about being so close to the audience in a small space,” Sheridan says.

“This show is all about shining a light on AIDS and why we need to better understand it and still keep talking about it.”

A year ago, Sheridan’s world was slowly falling apart. He appeared on the cover of the Good Weekend magazine in November, talking about their declining mental health after being cancelled by transgender activists who lashed out that they were cast to play a gender-queer character in the musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch. This coincided with them coming out publicly as non-binary, entering a same-sex relationship, getting engaged and separating, followed by the death of their father, Denis, from cancer in May this year.

“I am a world away from where I was back then,” Sheridan says. “It was a hard time for me. Apart from the fact that my father died, and a few other close friends died too. I lost three dearest friends in the same year and a mentor. Getting cancelled after coming out; it was one thing after another.”

“It wasn’t a good time to be Hugh, but one of the great things about going through those hard times was having showbiz. Dad taught me that no matter what happens in life, get up and get on with it. I took the time out I needed, and my family rallied behind me. Having that support base allowed me to get up and go again. That is ultimately what life is about,” Sheridan says.

As a child, Sheridan recalls hearing Crunchy Granola Suite by Diamond and dancing in the lounge room – oblivious it was the American songwriter they were admiring. They still like to play that song and rewind to that magical childhood memory.

“Neil writes real songs that have so much depth and so many ways you can interpret them. Some of my favourites are Love On the Rocks, I Am … I Said, Play Me and Forever In Blue Jeans – they all have special meaning to me. The words are so beautiful, and for me, his music takes me to places in my past,” Sheridan says.

Solitary Man was written by Neil Diamond in 1966 and was covered by many artists – most famously by Johnny Cash. The two-and-a-half-minute song about heartbreak and self-affirmation became an anthem. “Themes of love and loss are universal, and Neil had this edge, where he could sing and make you feel like he might crack, but never did,” Sheridan says.

They remember heading to Melbourne to rehearse for the show while their father was still alive.

“I really didn’t want to go because I thought, ‘what if he dies when I am away?’ ” they say.

“My father was in the hospital and not well when I was travelling to Melbourne, but he was incredibly persistent [that I] pursue the show. He promised he wouldn’t die while I was away, but I know that wasn’t a choice for him to make. He didn’t pass away then, but while I was away, my siblings told me that he wanted to hear Neil Diamond songs in hospital so he could remind himself to keep hanging on,” Sheridan says.

“Dad won’t be with me physically this October, but I know he’ll be there beside me, holding my hand.”

Solitary Man \ Friday October 28, Hamer Hall, Arts Centre Melbourne