With its heavy guitar riffs and taboo topics, "Next To Normal" (2009) is far from the Broadway camp of yesteryear. Composer Tom Kitt redefines the modern rock musical with folk undertones in his pop?infused score, topped off by the bitingly realistic lyrics of Brian Yorkey.
The SpeakEasy Stage Company is holding the Boston premiere of "Normal" at its Roberts Studio Theater, boasting one of the largest pre?sales the black?box space has ever seen.
Winner of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and three Tony Awards, the two?hour romp sets the stage ablaze with emotion and catchy chords. But behind the explicit language and crude jokes, "Next to Normal" tackles serious issues such as psychological illness, broken marriages and coping with loss.
The musical centers around Diana (Kerry Dowling), a mentally unstable woman, and her equally dysfunctional family: husband Dan (Christopher Chew), daughter Natalie (Sarah Drake) and son Gabe (Michael Tacconi). Diana introduces them as the typical household in "Just Another Day," crooning "so my son's a little s??t/ my husband is boring/ and my daughter/ though a genius/ is a freak."
Dowling flawlessly transitions from a typical, embarrassing mother telling her daughter far too much about her sex life to a disturbed woman feverishly making countless sandwiches on the kitchen floor.
On the eve of Natalie's parents meeting her boyfriend, the musical shifts dramatically as we learn the severity of Diana's mental illness. The remainder of the musical is spent contemplating her treatment, and who, in fact, is crazy.
Although incredibly successful at drawing emotional responses, the one piece missing from the show is a real dialogue about psychological disorders. The humor Diana uses as a coping mechanism to avoid serious issues suggests the writers' inability to confront the gravity of the mental illness they are trying to portray.
Instead, "Normal" pokes fun at it through numbers like the sexualized patient?therapist relationship in "Who's Crazy/ My Psychopharmacologist and I." Diana dilutes the tense scene with an expertly timed quip: "He knows my deepest secrets/ I know his ... name."
Nonetheless, the honest performances enhance an already stellar script. Dowling blends strength, vulnerability and charm in her dynamic performance. Whether through a slight tremor in her wrist or an instinctual grasp for the security of an embrace, Dowling's subtle moments stick with the audience long after the curtain call. Her rendition of "I Miss the Mountains" is particularly heart?wrenching as Diana experiences a broad array of emotions from catharsis to nostalgia to depression.
Unlike the Broadway performance by Alice Ripley, Dowling's refinement and huskier tone underscore her bubbling anxiety instead of creating a generally manic quality that alienated the audience from the original Diana.
The precocious Sarah Drake takes on Natalie in a truthful portrayal of a teenager on the edge. Her descent from obsessive straight?"A" student to substance abuser is handled delicately with honest moments of rage, elation and pain. Drake's voice pierces the audience in "Superboy and the Invisible Girl" as she pleads desperately for recognition from her mother.
On the other hand, Michael Tacconi's performance of Gabe, Diana's spectral son, lacks any nuance, whether emotional, vocal or physical. Apart from the symbolic blocking by director Paul Daigneault that literally places him between Diana and treatment, Tacconi brings no life to the role, ironically falling flat in the screaming ballad "I'm Alive." The sly, parasitic role falls sadly to a one?note performance and a smug grin seemingly tattooed across the young actor's face.
Technically, the show copes well with working in a refined space. With a minimal set, the sparse stage is colored - literally - by its lighting design. By projecting various scenes onto the wall?flats, from homey wallpapers to sterile scans of technical diagnostic manuals, the plain environment gains a clear sense of space. Although some images felt heavy?handed and distracting, the most effective instances were vibrant flashing orbs, symbolizing the frenetic nature of Diana's thought, and hazy reflections of the characters' faces that projected a lulled moment of hypnosis.
There were, in addition, some lighting difficulties in the production due to unnecessary use of blinding lights shining directly into the audience from spinning wall flats. Also, the continual tracking of characters under spotlights was shoddy, a result of the minimalist blocking which left room for spontaneity but few marks to be hit.
In spite of these minor issues, the heart of the play comes through and affects all theatergoers. "Next to Normal" paints an alarmingly relatable family in which characters' human tics and convincing portrayals underscore the fact that illness, sorrow and conflict are ever?present in suburbia.
The SpeakEasy's production of "Next to Normal" is an incredible show: Its catchy sound, crude humor and mostly marvelous acting offers something that resonates with everyone - weary musical theater?goers and die?hard Broadway aficionados alike.
