Alice Ripley, J. Robert Spencer and Aaron Tveit star in the new musical Next to Normal, currently playing Broadway's Booth Theatre.

Aaron on the stage.

The award-winning Broadway musical Next to Normal woos Broadway audiences with its take on mental illness and bipolar disorder.

Cast of Arena Stage's Next to Normal Photo: Joan Marcus

So, I'm not even sure where to begin. Those who know me are well aware of the fact that I fell in love with this musical a couple of years ago when I saw it in NYC (twice), and I was euphoric when I found out that it would be included in this year's Fox Theatre season. Not only could my friends finally see what all the fuss was about, but they would get to see it with my girlfriend, I mean, the 2009 Best Actress in a Musical Tony Award winner (winning for this very role), Alice Ripley. I was very curious to see the reaction from St. Louis audiences to this show. I distinctly remember last March when AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY was here and proved too much for some to handle, with many unfortunate walk-outs at intermission. Although there is a good amount of humor in NEXT TO NORMAL, like AUGUST…, this show deals with some major shit -- bipolar disorder, pharmaceutical "treatments", grief, suicidal impulses -- and it does so with a relentless honesty. Really grabs you by the throat. But unlike AUGUST…, this is a musical -- a contemporary musical with its style drifting more towards SPRING AWAKENING rather than your Rodgers and Hammerstein type fare. I didn't think I would like it initially because I knew there weren't going to be any french horns or anything, but those preconceptions were quickly forgotten once I was sucked in to this bold roller coaster ride of a show. The New York Times called it not a feel-good musical, but a "feel-everything musical" when it debuted on Broadway in April of 2009. Alice Ripley & Jeremy Kushnier in the National Tour of Next to Normal. Photo by Craig Schwartz As the show opens, we're introduced to a seemingly typical suburban family, but by the end of the first number, as Diana Goodman (Alice Ripley) manically lays out sandwiches for the family on the kitchen floor, we know that Mom has some issues. During the course of the show, we discover (in revelatory spoonfuls) the cause of Diana Goodman's damage, and how her condition has in turn damaged the rest of her family. There's her husband Dan (faithful, supportive and beautifully portrayed by Asa Somers), who feels helpless in trying to console her and nearing the end of his rope, their daughter Natalie (a funny, angry and amazing Emma Hunton), who feels invisible and afraid she may be destined follow in her mother's footsteps, and their son Gabe, ally and enemy to his mother, played with the magnetic hovering presence of Curt Hansen. We're also exposed to the variety of medical treatments Diana is subjected to -- everything from an array of pharmaceuticals to electroconvulsive therapy -- administered by Dr. Madden and Dr. Fine, both played by Jeremy Kushnier. In the midst of all this, there's this boy Natalie kinda likes -- Henry, played by an incredibly likable Preston Sadleir. They connect at a time when Natalie's mom is perhaps at her lowest point, and seeing how Natalie deals with the pressure of living within this fractured family -- easing her pain with her own homemade cocktails of pharmaceuticals snagged from her mom's purse -- is another branch of this story that invests you in the outcome. The National Touring Company of Next to Normal. Photo by Craig Schwartz The industrial multi-tiered set (Mark Wendland) beautifully fills the Fox stage. Incorporated images of its pointillist house outlines, and sometimes, eyes, along with lighting by Kevin Adams that I loved -- accentuating every heartbeat of this show, is just spare enough to highlight the main attraction -- the action and the actors. Also featuring a powerful rock-opera score with music by Tom Kitt, book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey, and compelling direction by Michael Greif, this is a show that I'm reluctant to give too many specifics about. You know, spoilers and all. (If you don't care about spoilers, you can check out the Wikipedia article here). Let's just say that as the details unfold about what has triggered Diana's pain, the gravity of it never wanes. Alice Ripley in the National Tour of Next to Normal. Photo by Craig Schwartz Okay -- can I just talk about Alice Ripley for a minute? Thanks. I've NEVER seen anyone commit to a role the way she does. The emotion she's been able to bring to the surface for the past few years (including the show's earlier incarnation off-Broadway in 2008) never ceases to astound me. Having originated the part, and deciding to tour with it, Diana Goodman is a woman Ripley has had to accommodate in her life for awhile now, and the demands of it are evident. Particularly in the second act, which is basically sung-through. There's a vulnerability in her face and a rawness in her voice that compels you to root for her success in exorcising her demons. I mentioned that I love Alice Ripley, right? Okay, now here's part two-- I saw it again the next night (yes, yes, I know. Have we met? You know I love this show, right?) and my bff and I were treated to the standbys for the roles of Diana (Pearl Sun) and Dan (Jason Watson). I was a little worried initially, but all that nonsense went away the minute Ms. Sun opened her mouth. She's got a wonderfully strong voice, and it was a pleasure to see another take on the role. Mr. Watson was also a heart-breaking Dan with a beautiful voice. These are a couple of demanding roles, and it's good to know that if you see a standby slip or two tucked into your playbill, the ride you take won't be any less intense. Preston Sadlier & Emma Hunton in the National Tour of Next to Normal. Photo by Craig Schwartz Here's the thing. There aren't always neatly tied-up happy endings in theatre. Get over it. Put on your big boy pants and see this musical. It won a Pulitzer Prize for Drama for crying out loud, and the opportunity to experience the emotions this cast delivers is something not to be missed. Okay, I have to also mention that that first night there was this guy in suspenders and a striped "Garanimals" polo shirt behind me who apparently doesn't really get the "inside voice" vs. "outside voice" thing. *rolls eyes* Yeah dude -- we saw that too. Shut up. I'm in the middle of a moment here… NEXT TO NORMAL Alice Ripley & Curt Hansen in the National Tour of Next to Normal. Photo by Craig Schwartz Book/lyrics by Brian Yorkey Music by Tom Kitt Directed by Michael Greif Fox Theatre, 527 North Grand Blvd. through April 24 | tickets: $22 - $64 Performances Tuesday to Friday at 8pm, Saturday 2 & 8pm, Sunday 2pm, Sun, April 17 at 7:30pm, Thursday, April 21 at 1pm Cast: Alice Ripley (Diana), Asa Somers (Dan), Curt Hansen (Gabe), Emma Hunton (Natalie), Preston Sadleir (Henry) and Jeremy Kushnier (Dr. Madden/Dr. Fine). Creative: Choreography by Sergio Trujillo; scenic design by Mark Wendland; costume design by Jeff Mahshie; lighting design by Kevin Adams; sound design by Brian Ronan; orchestrations by Michael Starobin and Tom Kitt; vocal arrangements by AnnMarie Milazzo; stage manager, Rachel Zack. NEXT TO NORMAL Band: Conductor/piano, Bryan Perri; assistant conductor, Rick Bertone; guitars, Craig Magnano; bass, Michael Pearce; drums/percussion, Shannon Ford.

At the Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage in Vancouver September 8 – October 9. I’ve twice been asked to provide “inside colour” on the role of a psychologist – once for a movie, once for a play. Both times I’ve secretly cringed. Mental health doesn’t usually get treated well. “Please: all I ask is that the therapist character doesn’t sleep with the patient.” Well, you can guess. Both times. And then, as always, we’re expected to sympathize with the therapist character, despite the fact they’ve just shown themselves to be incompetent, unethical, and a stain on the profession. So generally I don’t hope for much. In 2009 I spent a few days at the Stratford Festival in Ontario and met Michael Kuchwara, the Associated Press theatre critic, up from New York to review that season’s productions. Knowing what I do for a living, he later sent me a CD of the Broadway recording of Next to Normal, a musical about bipolar disorder. I listened with my usual skepticism, but was struck by how insightful – and entertaining – it was. When I found myself in New York in 2010, I went to see the production. Five days later it won the year’s Pulitzer Prize for drama. I was so impressed with the play that I wrote to the artistic director at the Arts Club in Vancouver advocating for it – something I’ve never done before. Little did I know, it was already in the works for fall 2011. Most musicals tend to voyage far from reality. Their most ardent defenders offer the excuse that they are meant to distract people from the drudgery of everyday life. The best plays, however, serve as more than distractions. They illustrate everyday life, including the more painful parts. Next to Normal is remarkable for cutting closer to the bone than any musical play in recent memory. It describes the life of an American family, and a woman who has suffered from bipolar disorder for 16 years. As the play opens the simple act of making lunch provides a hint that things are a bit iffy on the mental health front, and a confrontation with painful reality partway into the play shakes what little stability she has achieved, sending her into a spiral. This sounds like pretty grim stuff, but the play is surprisingly funny. A fast-paced recitation of medications (“Zoloft and Paxil and Buspar and Xanax…”) contains an allusion to The Sound of Music (sing it out loud and you can guess) and is followed by an even faster recitation of side effects. After one “adjustment” the patient fixes her psychiatrist with a stare and says, acidly, “Not a very exact science, is it?” Her daughter, grasping for an excuse that will allow her boyfriend to avoid the chaos of a family dinner, settles momentarily on rabies. The humour – much of it of dark - provides welcome relief for some steep dives into the reality of severe mental illness and its treatment. Mental health professionals may cringe, but for once it isn’t because of the false notes in the writing. It's in the sharpness of the picture and an awareness of the limitations of our professions. Hidden in the production there is a kind of emotional code that tells clinicians that the authors, somehow, know whereof they speak. Professionals are likely to feel moments of surprise at the portrayal of emotions and thoughts that they have never seen portrayed on stage before. Almost every line brought to mind one or another real person I have seen over the years in my clinical work. The husband asks “Who’s crazy? The one who can’t cope, or maybe, the one who still hopes? The one who sees doctors or the one who just waits in the car?” What ensues is more real than any reality show would dare display. A song about the appeal of self-destruction is startlingly true to life. One of the most striking aspects of the play is that all of the central characters have an emotional arc. The mother feels misunderstood and ashamed of her failure to maintain her stability, while missing the emotional peaks and valleys of her life without medication. The daughter fears that she will wind up like her mother, and buries herself in drugs and Mozart in an attempt to escape the pressure cooker. The father, who initially seems to be a backdrop for the mother’s drama, reveals how the illness of his wife has enabled him to avoid his own journey. Even the psychiatrist, initially a cipher, confronts his own limited powers. Any summary of Next to Normal runs the risk of making it sound like a “cultural vegetable”: something that is good for you but not necessarily entertaining. Far from it. The New York Times referred to it as not just a feel-good musical, but a “feel everything musical.” They were right. It richly deserved the Pulitzer it earned. It's hard to imagine anyone seeing this play and remaining unaffected. I strongly recommend it. What if the play describes your own challenges - should you see it? It depends on the person. I think that the majority of people affected by bipolar disorder (personally or through family) will find it affirming to see it portrayed seriously, sensitively, humourously, and without any sugar-coating. But Diana doesn't have an easy time of it, and isn't the greatest "treatment responder." If despair seems too close to home lately, the experience could be a bit intense in certain passages. If I had to guess, of 100 people with bipolar disorder, 10 will emerge somewhat shaken, 90 will be stirred. For tickets and information, go to http://www.artsclub.com/ September 16 update: I have now seen the Arts Club Production. See the post on it here.

Poster inspired by Next to Normal Includes: 1 - PDF - BW Pattern with Symbols 1 - PDF - Color Pattern with Symbols Finished Dimensions: Stitch Count: 95w x 119h Inches: 6.8w x 8.5h Colors: 24 Do you like our patterns and products? Become a Patron today to help us keep creating! https://www.patreon.com/taylorandcromwell

the best opening to the best musical

Multiple Tony Award nominee Marin Mazzie and Broadway veteran Jason Danieley began to lead the cast of the Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical, NEXT TO NORMAL, beginning performances Monday, July 19 at 8:00pm at Broadway's Booth Theatre (222 West 45th street). Ms. Mazzie and Mr. Danieley play Diana and Dan Goodman, a married couple dealing with Diana's bipolar disorder and the effect it has on their family.

Are you ~next to normal~?

♫ And we knowwww it's only in our miiiiiiiinds. ♫

Multiple Tony Award nominee Marin Mazzie and Broadway veteran Jason Danieley began to lead the cast of the Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical, NEXT TO NORMAL, beginning performances Monday, July 19 at 8:00pm at Broadway's Booth Theatre (222 West 45th street). Ms. Mazzie and Mr. Danieley play Diana and Dan Goodman, a married couple dealing with Diana's bipolar disorder and the effect it has on their family.

Tony Award-winning Broadway actress Alice Ripley (Next to Normal) leads the cast of CARRIE the musical, October 11-26, 2013, at the historic Moore Theatre, also featuring fellow Broadway alumni Kendra Kassebaum (Wicked) and Keaton Whittaker (A Little Night Music), and directed by Broadway alum Louis Hobson (Next to Normal).

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