MUSICAL MAYHEM: MY TOP TWENTY-FIVE MUSICALS – Part 10: THE TOP TEN – #9

MUSICAL MAYHEM: MY TOP TWENTY-FIVE MUSICALS – Part 10

THE TOP TEN – #9

And the countdown to my favorite musical continues. Holding the ninth spot is a remarkable show that will stay with you long after the lights come up in the theatre. 

# 9: NEXT TO NORMAL  – Book and Lyrics by Brian Yorkey, Music by Tom Kitt

Surprisingly, the 2010 Pulitizer winner did not win the Tony Award for Best Musical when it was nominated in 2009. That honor went to the flashier Billy Elliot. Please understand, I love Billy Elliot. It's solidly in my Musical Honor Roll. It's a terrific, heartwarming show. But, Next to Normal is, simply, a better show…meatier, more thought-provoking, more gut-wrenchingly emotional, and the award should have gone to it. With its central themes of mental illness, life-crushing loss, and inability to move forward, Next to Normal is truly unlike any musical before or since. You think, you laugh, you cry. You become involved with the six characters on stage, and you leave the theatre a changed person, for these characters have touched the very core of your being. With dialogue and music flowing seamlessly from one to the other and back again, it's tough to pick favorite moments, but among them would have to be the gentle "Perfect for You," the plaintive "I Miss the Mountains," the touching "Maybe (Next to Normal)," and the cautiously hopeful "Light," the finale of the show, and I defy you to be dry-eyed when the song and show ends. Even I, a confirmed curmudgeon, was wiping away moisture from the eyes. My mother suffered from mental illness and went through ECT, aka shock treatment, which was a go-to therapy back in the 50s/60s. As a child, I remember psych ward hospital stays, the removal of locks from all the interior doors in the house, pills, pills, and more pills. My dad and grandparents pretty much shielded us from the particulars; we just knew that Mom wasn't feeling well. Thankfully, advances in the treatment of mental illness had a postive effect on my mother, but until the day she died, she had a stockpile of pills. So, trust me, this show had and continues to have, a profound effect on me.

"We tried to give you a normal life
I realize now I have no clue what that is
I don't need a life that's normal, that's way too far away
But something next to normal would be okay

Yeah, something next to normal
That's the thing I'd like to try
Close enough to normal to get by
We'll get by, we'll get by"

- from "Maybe (Next to Normal)"

June, 2009; February, 2010. Our first unforgettable experience with Next to Normal  was two weeks after it won 2009 Tony Awards for Best Score, Best Orchestrations (tie) and Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical. We really didn't know quite what to expect, but by the time the final curtain fell, both Bob and I knew we had experienced something very, very special. Maybe it was the stunning scenic and lighting designs by Mark Wendland (scenic) and Kevin Adams (lighting). Maybe it was the sensitive direction of Michael Greif, which somehow managed to be innovative, yet comforting and traditional at the same time. Maybe it was the book and score by Brian Yorkey and Tom Kitt, dynamic and enveloping. Or perhaps it was the pièce de résistance of the brilliant ensemble cast led by a jaw-dropping performance by Alice Ripley as Diana, in her Tony Award-winning role, and Tony-winning original Jersey Boy J. Robert Spencer as her husband, Dan, whose unconditional love and devotion were heartbreaking . The true beauty of this show, however, is that even though Diana and Dan are the central characters, it's the supporting characters that round everything out and give the musical an added layer of emotional depth and humanity not often found in musicals. Kudos, therefore, go to a defiant and searching Jennifer Damiano as Natalie, a gentle and tender Adam Chanler-Berat as Henry, a sexy and seductive Kyle Dean Massey as Gabe, and a wry, supportive Louis Hobson as Dr. Fine and "rock star" Dr. Madden. At the intimate Booth Theatre, this was…magnificent. – at the Booth Theatre, New York

Sidebar: At the February, 2010, performance, we had the pleasure of seeing Michael Berry play the part of Dan. Excellent job.

Next to Normal: the final cast.

January, 2011. Closing day, the penultimate performance. In a stroke of casting genius, the producers of Next to Normal cast husband-and-wife Jason Danieley and Marin Mazzie to lead the replacement cast of this groundbreaking show. Bob and I are huge fans of the Danieleys and the opportunity to see them together in a show we love, well, it was theatrical catnip! The preferred final performance on Sunday evening was sold-out, so we snagged two of the few remaining seats for the Sunday matinee. To say this performance took our breath away would be a disservice to the cast and a gross understatement. Because of their marital status, Mazzie's and Danieley's performances were imbued with a bond of love, a willingness to just trust the other person, a kind of shorthand that people in a successful long-term marriage or relationship inherently have. Ripley's Diana was both frenetic and chaotic and her fellow actors' performances complimented that performance. In Ripley's performance, you could see Diana's brain firing from one cylinder to the next. Director Michael Greif, however, was, and is, no fool. Realizing that Mazzie and Danieley's unique skill sets could bring another dimension to Next to Normal, he had the good sense to allow them to make Diana and Dan their own, not beholden to originators Ripley and Spencer. The result was a quieter show, but no less powerful. Don't let Mazzie's outward calm fool you. The anger, the confusion, the fear, and, yes, the joy were all there and when she let them out, the theatre exploded. Danieley's Dan was also more controlled, more tightly-wound. Like Mazzie, you could sense his emotions, his overwhelming fatigue seething just beneath the surface. Mazzie and Danieley are both better singers than their predecessors and as a result, the score took on an added dimension. Meghann Fahy was now playing Natalie. Adam Chanler-Berat, Louis Hobson, and Kyle Dean Massey were still on board to provide sterling support. Like the Christopher Sieber/Harvey Fierstein La Cage aux Folles, I preferred the replacement cast of Next to Normal to the original. In the case of La Cage, having gay men play gay men gave the show a certain je ne sais quoi, a verisimilitude that was not and could not be present in the wonderful performances of its original stars, Kelsey Grammer and Douglas Hodge. In Next to Normal, having a married couple play a married couple gave the show an indescribable something extra. The sniffling and open sobs were in abundance by the final blackout and the cast's curtain call was greeted with a standing ovation, no make that a leaping-up-to-your-feet ovation and cheers that rocked the theatre. An unforgettable afternoon. – at the Booth Theatre, New York

January, 2012. It was no surprise that Milwaukee Rep's production of Next to Normal would be good. What was perhaps surprising, even though it really shouldn't have been, was just how powerful the musical was in a different staging, in a different production environment, and with a talented cast providing their own unique takes on the memorable characters created by Brian Yorkey and Tom Kitt. Tightly directed by the Rep's artistic director, Mark Clements, this version had its own pace and rhythms, and guess what?, it all worked. Cheers for the remarkable cast: Tim Young (Gabe), Laurie Veldheer (Natalie), Danny Henning (Henry), Tony-winner Jarrod Emick (Dr. Fine/Dr. Madden), and especially Kevin Vortmann (Dan) and Sarah Litzsinger (Diana). Rock-solid production from the reliable Milwaukee Rep. – at the Quadracci Powerhouse Theater, Milwaukee

Final footnote: Even with a Pulitzer and Tony Awards, Brian Yorkey and Tom Kitt's next production, also with Michael Greif at the helm, the underwhelming If/Then, received critical indifference and struggled for most of its run, even with the box-office pull of star Idina Menzel and a supporting cast of Broadway favorites. The sophomore slump strikes even the best of them!

And on that note… Until next time.

© 2016 Jeffrey Geddes