Better Than Normal! Next To Normal – an extraordinary theatre experience you should not miss!
PUBLISHED September 12th, 2013 01:58 am | UPDATED January 20th, 2016 04:04 pm
If the word ‘Broadway musical’ conjures up images of lions, green witches and masked phantoms, then Pangdemonium’s production of Next To Normal will come as a shock to you. Next to Normal is anything but a ‘normal’ Broadway musical. For a start, the term ‘rock opera’ would be more accurate than ‘musical’.
The 2010 Pulitzer Prize-winning musical, which features a Tony Award-winning score by Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey and a Tony-nominated book by Yorkey, is currently having a run in Singapore. The original musical opened on Broadway in April 2009. It was nominated for eleven Tony Awards and won three: Best Original Score, Best Orchestration and Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical (which was won by Alice Ripley). It also won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
Pangdemonium, founded by husband and wife team, Adrian and Tracie Pang (the Director of Next To Normal), calls itself a ‘kick-ass theatre company’. It’s a company that likes to challenge itself, judging by its past productions: ‘The Full Monty’, ‘Closer’, ‘Dealer’s Choice’, ‘Spring Awakening’ and ‘Swimming With Sharks’. 2013 has turned into what they term their ‘Survivor Season’ which started with ‘Rabbit Hole’, now ‘Next To Normal’ and will end with ‘Gruesome Playground Injuries’ in November.
‘We discovered that these three very different shows actually had common themes of family, struggling through life’s adversities, and most of all, survival. Something about these three stories spoke to us, perhaps because it made us as parents appreciate all over again how precious family is, how blessed we are to have the gift of good health, and how we should not take anything for granted,’ said Adrian.
Next to Normal is centred on the seemingly normal Goodman family. The action opens as wife Diana (Sally Ann Triplett) prepares her family: husband Dan (Adrian Pang), daughter Natalie (Julia Abueva), and son Gabe (Nathan Hartono), for what seems like an ordinary day. It’s only when a frenzied Diana begins making sandwiches on the floor that we suspect something is badly askew in this seemingly domestic world.
We soon realize that Diana is bi-polar and has a long history of mental problems, triggered by a life-defining trauma some 16 years in the past (I am not going to give anything away – all will be revealed in due course). But the problem is she doesn’t know there’s a problem. Meanwhile, her husband and daughter suffer from a wife and mother, respectively, who both is and isn’t there.
When Diana’s condition worsens, her new psychotherapist, Dr. Madden (Juan Jackson) suggests a radical new treatment that could backfire. Meanwhile, ‘invisible’ daughter Natalie, worn out by her mother’s heedless neglect plus a niggling suspicion that she may have inherited the same mental condition, slips into her own trough of depression and drug abuse, despite the efforts of her new boyfriend Henry (Linden Furnell) to save her.
Diana’s condition affects every facet of every life that comes into her orbit, and usually the effect isn’t good. The show follows her attempts to deal with it through drugs, counseling, even electro shock therapy. And as she her family try to deal with things, we learn a little about why she is the way she is.
Part of Next to Normal’s strength is the uncompromising way it looks at every character, every relationship, every effect of Diana’s bi-polar disorder. It offers no answers and there is no Disney-fied happy ending.
On being asked if they were hoping to draw the public’s attention to the disorder, Tracie and Adrian Pang said, “We have spoken to several individuals who live with bipolar disorder and each of them have told us that mental illness is very much a misunderstood condition, and sufferers of bipolar disorder also have the social stigma to deal with. They said that often they feel they are treated not just but also “weak”, and the profound loss of dignity and self-worth attached to the illness is compounded by the lack of understanding and compassion and also the stigma. We are largely unaware of it, but mental illness is all around us in our community, and there are people all around us who are suffering mental illness in silence and fear. So if NEXT TO NORMAL is able to make us all a little more aware, a little more compassionate and a little more willing to do something active, then the show would have achieved something positive”.
The lyrics are excellent. There are many times when two characters sing exactly the same words but with exactly opposite meanings. The characters are complex and real and you see them dealing with all the contradictions and hard choices life offers each of us. Each character’s journey is punctuated by a powerful music score by Tom Kitt. There are 30 original songs, including ‘I’m Alive’, “Just Another Day,” “You Don’t Know” and “Superboy and the Invisible Girl’.
Indeed, the music itself presented one of the greatest challenges of the production, “The songs are so brilliantly written, and span so many different genres – almost a reflection of the lead character’s bipolar disorder – that we are constantly being kept on our toes and tonsils! Unlike a conventional musical where there is almost a uniform style to all the music, NEXT TO NORMAL is a very challenging sing for all of us because one moment we are singing a power anthem, then the next moment a rock ballad, then a big “Broadway-style” production number, then a tender love song, then a dancey pop tune… And practically the whole narrative is told through the songs, so telling this extraordinary story and going through the roller-coaster emotional journey through this extraordinary music is a huge challenge, but a very rewarding one. This musical really is testimony to the power of music, how music can move and excite and calm and ignite; add that to that witty and gut-wrenching lyrics and we daresay it is not a normal musical!”.
Sally Ann Triplett’s performance as Diana is electrifying; her apparently normal demeanor offset by a disconcertingly intense stare and a down-to-earth bluntness. One minute she tells Natalie that she’s about to head upstairs to have sex with Dan, the next she uses a four-letter word on her son, Gabe. She slips into rage when she belts out “Didn’t I See This Movie?” in the emergency room. Incidentally, listen carefully to the lyrics of ‘Didn’t I see this movie?’ and you’ll hear references to ‘One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest’ as well as Sylvia Plath and Francis Farmer – clever stuff!
‘Didn’t I see this movie,
With McMurphy and the nurse?
That hospital was heavy,
But this cuckoo’s nest is worse.’
Most of the time, however, Diana seems to be viewing her loosening grip on sanity with detachment, which is both sad and eerie. And when she finally mentions the loss that has haunted her for a quarter of a century, the moment is still and powerful.
Earlier, I mentioned that Next To Normal is more a rock opera rather than a musical but a wide range of musical genres is incorporated – classical, folk, metal and even a waltz! ”My Psychopharmacologist and I” features a hilarious chorus on prescriptions in a take on Rodgers & Hammerstein’s ”My Favorite Things” from ‘The Sound Of Music’! It’s interesting how the scores fit the respective characters – Dan’s songs are steady and placid, with the occasional burst of forcefulness (”I Am the One”), while Diana’s are layered, hard, and completely unpredictable, ranging from the powerful (”Do You Know”) to the sweet, music-box-style ”I Dreamed a Dance”. The couple’s elusive teenage son, Gabe, who is both angel and demon to his mother, has insidious and creepy songs as well as the powerful and catchy ‘I’m Alive’, while those of troubled 16-year-old Natalie are like Diana’s, but on a smaller scale — she’s discovering she has a few things in common with Diana, a girl who lives in fear both of being invisible to her mother and turning into her.
The performance from the rest of the cast is top-notch. Nathaniel Hortono and Julia Abueva are superb as Gabe and Natalie respectively. Linden Furnell is totally natural as the free-spirited Henry. Adrian Pang as Dan is a steady presence on stage as is Juan Jackson as Drs. Fine and Madden.
Philip Engelheart’s set design is simple but very effective – three levels that function as a whole range of different spaces – family home, hospital emergency room, consulting room plus more. The side profile and brain outlined in neon provides a great frame and backdrop.
As mentioned before, ‘Next to Normal‘ is anything but normal but it is an innovative, real, and emotionally honest rock musical that left me walking out of the theater very moved. I am a fan of ‘Rent’ and I really enjoyed Pangdemonium’s ‘Spring Awakening’. ‘Next to Normal‘ is in the same class as these productions. It tackles a difficult, almost taboo subject – mental illness – using catchy tunes, meaningful discussions and tons of energy. It is an exhausting emotional roller coaster but the ride is well worth every turn. Don’t be surprised to find yourself in tears through certain parts and laughing in others. It is heart wrenching, honest and provocative. The New York Times was spot on when it described ‘Next to Normal‘ as “much more than a feel-good musical; it is a feel-everything musical.’
Pangedomium hopes that the production will, “Open your eyes, open your hearts, reach out to someone whom you feel might need help, it could save their life. We believe NEXT TO NORMAL will be a very unique musical experience – it is powerful, moving, funny and people will discover something very surprising and perhaps even life enhancing.” Don’t miss it!
Next To Normal is on until the 22nd of September at the Drama Centre, Level 3 National Library at 100 Victoria Street. Tickets from SISTIC here.
