Theater is most exhilarating when the actors' emotions aren't confined to the stage. It's best when the audience is invited, or rather, forced into the story. The Tufts Department of Drama and Dance’s run of the musical “Next to Normal” does just that. It’s refreshing that at a school like Tufts, where the audience is no stranger to the discussion surrounding mental illness, that the production is still more than capable of stirring the feelings of all.
Directed by Assistant Professor Noe Montez, “Next to Normal” is visceral and evokes the right amount of discomfort in its audience. It chronicles the struggles of Diana Goodman, a mother with bipolar disorder coping with the demands of both her illness and family. Although the musical centers around Diana and the inner workings of her mind, everyone around her has their own demons as well. Her daughter Natalie is fighting to stop living under her older son Gabe’s shadow, while her husband Dan is scrambling to put the pieces of their life back together.
As a rock opera, "Next to Normal" opens with a number that paces its growth from quiet introduction to the intensity appropriate to the show's narrative . The song “Just Another Day” serves as a perfect stepping stone into the fragility of their lives and is one of the most effective sequences in the production. This is due in large part to the performers, whose voices soar in exciting ways and pierce through the audience members' hearts.
Senior Imogen Browder plays Diana with both grace and brute force. Her tone is melodic and firm, yet it is in the more unguarded moments that her vocal work's complexity impresses with its jagged and raw nuances. She carries the show beautifully, with a thorough transformation in physicality that skillfully mirrors the arc of Diana’s story.
Senior Nick Whitney brings the role of Gabe to life with flawless technique that shines through all his harmonies and solos. The riffs during his showstopper “I’m Alive” are unreal, and anyone familiar with the original cast will find themselves gasping and wondering if it’s Aaron Tveit standing before them. Senior Ed Rosini plays Dan, giving a convincing portrayal of the restlessness and helplessness of a father breaking under chaotic circumstances. He connects with audiences and delivers some of the funniest lines in the show. As Natalie, senior Becca Cooley masterfully juggles the frustration and angst of her situation with a palpable need to be accepted. Her performance in “Superboy and the Incredible Girl” is heartbreaking, and it strikes a nerve when Natalie is demoted to the harmony of her very own song by Gabe.
The parts outside of the nuclear family are played strongly as well. Diana sees two different doctors during the musical, both played by senior Dorian Pistilli. As Dr. Madden, he seamlessly weaves through reality and Diana’s own rock 'n' roll induced perceptions of him. Natalie’s love interest, played by senior Tyler Beardsley, brings a much needed lightness to the stage as the stoner-romantic type.
Performances aside, every carefully crafted element in “Next to Normal” heightens the intensity of the show. As is expected for an in-the-round setting, the audience has the chance to admire the production design as they’re settling into their seats sans actors. The set is minimal, relying mostly on the heights and multi-level structure. The floor, painted a deep oceanic blue, and the misty stage lights make the confined and intimate nature of the Balch Arena Theatre expand in a dream-like stupor. It gives the appropriate illusion that the players are drowning in their surroundings.
Everyone stands to enjoy something about “Next to Normal." It’s self-aware in how it relates a delicate and emotional topic to the audience, yet it wrestles with the ugliness and hardship surrounding it deftly, an achievement for theatre, and for how we talk about mental health and illness as a campus.
