Robert Neary, an East Meadow native, on his return home with hit tribute show
Robert Neary, an East Meadow native, will return home once again next month to perform his hit tribute show, “So Good! The Neil Diamond Experience,” at Eisenhower Park.
Having grown up in East Meadow, Neary got his start in show business after taking acting classes at Nassau Community College. One of his professors saw his talent, and pushed him to take a chance and pursue a career in Los Angeles.
And Neary did just that.
“I’ve been an actor for nearly 40 years,” Neary said. “I did everything from major guest star appearances, TV roles, and three Broadway leads in ‘Smokey Joe’s Cafe’ and most recently a ‘Bronx Tale’ in 2017.”
After a career in acting, Neary said the business began to change, and shift its focus from his category and he needed to reinvent himself.
“I did a couple of more guest star roles on TV and then the business just kind of shifted as far as you know, my category and I wasn’t going out on auditions anymore,” he said. So I knew I had to reinvent myself. I knew Neil Diamond had retired — always been a huge fan of his — and I could always you know, mimic his voice but I never really done anything with it, but I decided to say you know what, I’m gonna put together the best tribute I can to the man.”
After an overwhelming amount of support from his friends and family, Neary started working on the material to put together his tribute show. In 2019, Neary finished up those materials and started looking for a band to play with. He came across The Mystic, one of Long Island’s premier cover bands, at a music hall on Halloween in 2019 and immediately approached them with the idea.
“I didn’t have a band at the time and I saw The Mystic play at a huge arena on Halloween in 2019 and they were just fantastic,” Neary said. “I approached them with the idea, you know, joining me in this adventure, and they said absolutely. And so we put it together and during the pandemic, we perfected it and sent it out.”
Neary’s show took off, and since he’s been booked around the countr. The show made its return to Long Island in late August of last year, in the heart of East Meadow, where Neary grew up. The show was so well received that Neary was inivted back once more to perform at Eisenhower Park in Nassau County’s summer concer series.
“We did the show last year at Eisenhower, and the heads of the park just loved it,” Neary recounted. “She came right up to me after the show and said she’s booking us again for next year and I said great. She told me it was going to be bigger and better and I said I am definitely in.”
Neary is in the works of using content from his Einsehower Park performances to produce a documentary about his show.
“We actually filmed it with five cameras,” Neary explained. “And it this is going into as a documentary film of the whole concert of my show and how you know how it came to be. And it’s actually going to be released on Amazone Prime this fall as well.”
Since his last time on Long Island, Neary’s show has reached new heights. He was nominated for the Josie Music Awards Tribute Artist of the Year. The Josie Music Awards is an organization that honors independent music in all forms and genres. The awards ceremony will take palce on Oct. 27 at the Grand Ole Opry in Tennessee.
Until then, Neary is excited to return back to Long Island this summer to put on an even bigger and better performance than last time.
“Eisenhower Park was my park, I skated there, took sleigh rides there, played softball there,” he said. “It (was) right in my backyard. It’s amazing and it feels really, really, good to go back and play there again.”
Neary’s show will take place on July 6 from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Harry Chapin Lakeside Theatre in Eisenhower Park. Admission is free, and it is recommended those planning to attend bring blankets and chairs. For more on concerts this summer in the park, visit NassauCountyNY.gov.
