REVIEW: Barrington Stage Company, “Next to Normal”

Barrington Stage Company, Pittsfield, MA

https://barringtonstageco.org

through September 8, 2024

by Michael J. Moran

Winner of three Tony Awards in 2009 and the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 2010, “Next to Normal” is one of the most acclaimed and widely produced musicals of the 21st century.  The Pulitzer board called it "a powerful rock musical that grapples with mental illness in a suburban family and expands the scope of subject matter for musicals.” BSC’s intensely moving production shows just how powerful it can be in the right hands.

 

Photo by Daniel Rader

The story focuses on Diana Goodman’s struggle to manage her psychotic disorder and its effects on her family -- husband Dan, son Gabe, and daughter Natalie. The other two characters are Henry, Natalie’s high school classmate; and Dr. Madden, Diana’s therapist. The plot merges scenes of Diana’s treatments with past and present scenes of her family life and Natalie’s budding romance with Henry, leading to hope for a life that, if not exactly “normal,” is at least “next to normal.”

The six-member cast of singing actors uniformly realizes the often-heroic demands of Tom Kitt’s searing score and Brian Yorkey’s lucid book and witty, poetic lyrics. Natalie Joy Johnson is sensational as Diana, capturing the full range of her emotions, from rapture in “I Miss the Mountains,” to sardonic humor in “My Psychopharmacologist and I,” to despair in “Didn’t I See This Movie?” Alan H. Green, a resourceful veteran of many BSC shows, is stalwart as Dan in “A Promise” and vulnerable in “Song of Forgetting.”

Adante Carter is a mesmerizing Gabe, defiant in “I’m Alive” and haunting in “There’s a World.” Madison McBride and Ben Clark are appealingly awkward and resilient as Natalie and Henry in their duets (“Hey” and “Perfect for You”). Joseph Morales is an empathetic Dr. Madden. The full ensemble is impressive together in a resonant choral finale, “Light.”    

Director Alan Paul (BSC’s Artistic Director) creatively uses Nicholas Hussong’s live video projections to immerse the audience in the characters’ emotions throughout. Choreographer Eamon Foley imaginatively deploys the cast and scenic designer Wilson Chen’s flexible set to suggest the fluidity of the characters’ experiences. Music direction by Angela Steiner and a powerhouse band of six under Jacob Carll binds the musical forcefully together.    

BSC’s “Next to Normal” is “must see” theatre for all fans of serious musical drama.