Next to Normal

It requires a certain amount of courage to attend next to normal, now playing on Broadway at the Booth Theater. Far from the "feel-good" musicals of the past, this is an in-your-face examination of a dysfunctional family trying to make it day by day. At first, all seems completely normal. There's a dad, a mom, and two teenage kids, all singing "Just Another Day." As Diana, the mom, continues to chirp in this light-hearted tune, she admits that her daughter is a freak, her son's a shit, and her husband is boring. So much for family harmony.

Darker tones soon begin to surface. Diana goes a bit wacko when making brown-bag lunches for her family. The father and daughter, sensing trouble, agree that Mom is due for a visit to the doctor. We quickly learn Diana is coping with a bipolar personality disorder that simply won't respond to drugs or talk therapy. Her route towards "normality" is torturous at best. She hallucinates, suffers from a host of physical effects caused by the drugs and sees the worry and hurt in her family's eyes.

She longs for the past. In many ways, she is still the woman her husband adores: smart, sassy and carefree. But Dan, her husband, also knows the painful reality of living with a high-maintenance spouse. It's a wonder that he can keep his job, with all the time he spends caretaking. The daughter is an intriguing character, too. Natalie worries that one day she'll turn into her mom. To distract her from these thoughts, Natalie turns to drugs (mainly, the prescription pills mom seems to stash everywhere). Her sweet, stoner boyfriend, Henry, seems just as solidly rooted as the girl's father. Henry makes his romantic feelings known as he sings to Natalie, "I may be perfect for you." The son, who frequently appears and disappears as so many teens do, seems to have some power over his mother. It's clear (especially to Natalie) that the mother-son connection is strong. Natalie wishes she could get some attention from her mom, too. But Diana's illness supersedes everything else.

As things continue to spiral out of control, the audience learns a few unknown facts about the family that put a different spin on the situation. We discover that Diana's condition didn't just come out of nowhere. Near the end of the musical, Natalie struggles to get closer to her mother. She claims that she doesn't need life to be normal. "Next to normal" would be all right with her.

The history of this contemporary musical is so extensive that its arrival on Broadway seems remarkable. After a stint Off-Broadway, it went "back to the drawing board" in a series of productions in Washington, D.C. In April, the show returned to New York.

What sets this musical apart (aside from its unusual subject matter) is the strength of its cast. Alice Ripley won a well-deserved Tony Award as Best Actress. Although Ripley is known for her strong singing, her tone was a bit flat during the performance attended by this reviewer. Perhaps she was singing over a cold? In every other respect, she is letter perfect. When she softly notes, "I want my life back," one feels extreme sympathy for her situation.

As Diana's husband, J. Robert Spencer demonstrates his ability to muster every ounce of his steadfast devotion. He is the heroically strong and steady presence that brings order to the family's disordered world. But he doesn't succeed. J. Robert Spencer makes his final scenes heartbreakingly believable. As the two teens, Jennifer Damiano and Tim Young (the understudy for Aaron Tveit), are completely credible. Like many children living in a dysfunctional world, Natalie tries to prevent her boyfriend from meeting her parents. It's clear she finds her crazy mother embarrassing.

Adam Chandler-Berat hits all the right notes as Henry, the tender, caring boyfriend that Natalie so desperately needs. As the son, Tim Young gives an energetic and sensitive performance.

The edgy storyline is perfectly punctuated by the trendy, modular set. Instead of upholstered easy chairs and warm reading nooks, the stage is little more than iron pipes and cold platforms. Partitions swing in and out to represent different locales. Each partition has an over-pixilated image that suggests the work of artist Roy Lichtenstein. The music is impressive in its ability to move the plot forward. Lighting must be -- and is -- critical to transporting the audience to different locations with the one-set staging.