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‘Next to Normal’ lifts lid on difficult subject
By GUY D’ASTOLFO
CLEVELAND
When “Next to Normal” roars to the end of its ride, the viewer is left full of emotions but not answers; rays of light, but with no clear direction.
Which is to say, it succeeds.
The Tony Award-winning musical opened its Cleveland run this week at the Palace Theater.
A story of mental illness set within the pressure cooker of a suburban household, it is a gripping journey.
It has a structure not unlike “august: osage county”: tension ratchets up in a home that revolves around a controlling, pill-popping matriarch. But “Normal” is not nearly so dark. It has a steady intravenous drip of humor — and not all of it is black.
It’s also an upbeat rock’n’roll musical, with a razor sharp book that spawns a slew of zingers. My favorites: “Happy people just haven’t thought about it that much”; “They say love is blind, but love is insane” and “What doesn’t kill me, doesn’t kill me.”
Psychosis spins out of control in the home of Diana (Alice Ripley) and Dan Goodman (Asa Somers), and their daughter, Natalie (Emma Hunton).
A tragedy has triggered bipolar disease in Diana. Dan, who is indeed a good man, lovingly remembers his lively former wife and patiently waits for the day she returns.
Diana’s disturbed sorrow is muffled by pills, but all that changes when she goes to see a rock-star psychologist (Jeremy Kushner) in a hilarious scene.
Meanwhile, Natalie, who is dealing with teenager troubles, feels as though she is invisible to her tormented mother. She hooks up with a boyfriend, Henry (Preston Sadleir), and they develop a relationship that parallels her parents’.
Every member of this family has personal demons and disappointments that the others can’t see. One doesn’t have to be touched by psychosis to relate to the general nuttiness that is part of every family.
The audience, however, does get the picture — most effectively in the many scenes that make full use of the three-tiered set. Interconnected action simultaneously occurs in different locations on stage, bouncing back-and-forth before boiling over in gripping mini-operas.
It’s at these times that the lighting is used to greatest effect. The back-lit wall glows at peak moments —sometimes bright red, sometimes cool blue — like a mood barometer.
The signature “I’m Alive” number is most brilliant, making use of the entire set, and even taking on a sinister tone when it is reprised later in the show by the Goodmans’ son, Gabe (Curt Hansen).
But Diana is the focus of the story, and Ripley energizes every manic mood swing, giving pause with the odd quality of her singing voice.
She originated the role on Broadway, winning the 2009 Tony for Best Actress in a Musical.