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Spotlight makes space for ‘Next to Normal’
By GUY D’ASTOLFO
SALEM
Thanks to Spotlight Players, the Mahoning Valley will be the first place in Ohio to see a community-theater production of the Tony Award-winning rock musical “Next to Normal.”
Spotlight will stage the show this weekend and next at the Masonic Temple in Salem.
Ryan Newell, director of Spotlight, had seen it twice on Broadway and again last summer when the touring production came to Cleveland. He immediately knew he wanted to tackle the musical.
“When I saw it the first time, I thought, wow, this would be wonderful to do in a community-theater setting,” said Newell. “Then I thought, wow, this would be really hard to do in a community-theater setting.”
Spotlight Players is the first community-theater group in Ohio to be granted the rights to “Normal,” said Newell.
“Normal,” which tells the story of a bipolar woman and her rapidly unraveling suburban family, received 11 Tony Award nominations in 2009 and took home three.
The Broadway version utilized a three-tiered set with simultaneous action on the various levels, as though in different rooms of the same house.
Spotlight created its own take on it.
“We have an original design, not so much the Broadway design,” said Newell. “We’ve built a two-level set with side platforms as well. It’s kind of bizarre and goes with the mood of ‘Next to Normal.’ It’s not a perfect set, but it’s made to be confusing. People have to run around to get from point A to point B.”
Newell has assembled a strong cast, with local stage veteran Brandy Johanntges in the central role of Diane Goodman.
Craig Conrad plays her husband, Dan, and Matt Schomer and Carly Magnuson play the couple’s children, Gabe and Natalie.
Rounding out the small cast are Paul Sauline as Henry (Natalie’s boyfriend) and Tom Kusiowski in the roles of Dr. Madden and Dr. Fine. Live music will be supplied by a four-piece band.
“I could not be more pleased with this cast,” said Newell. “Brandy is such a seasoned performer, and I think this is going to make Craig Conrad a star. This is his role. He’s perfect.”
Newell said the 19-year-old Magnuson is “sensational” as the troubled teen daughter.
Spotlight Players has been around for only about a year. It doesn’t have a regular season, preferring to mount productions as it sees fit. The company did an unabridged take on Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” last summer.
“We are just out there to do good theater,” said Newell. “We don’t want to be the best theater, and we don’t really have a set season or a schedule. When we feel the time is right to do a show, we do it.”
True to its philosophy of ad-hoc theater, Spotlight has built a stage, with wings, in the ballroom of the Masonic Temple in downtown Salem, converting the room into a theater. The stage can be taken down in modular pieces and stored.
About 80 cushioned chairs will be set up for the audience for each of the six performances.