Watching a show about a woman’s slow deterioration due to her poor mental health is not my idea of a good time. But if that is your thing then go see the musical ‘Next To Normal.’
Diania (Caissie Levy) is a mother of two teenagers with a handsome husband and who all live in a beautiful home. She’s seems to have it all, but in reality an episode from her past hangs over her head. It also hangs over the head of her husband Dan (Jamie Parker) who won’t talk about it or confront it. But Dan is worried about his wife’s troubling behaviour (making a dozen sandwiches on the floor of their kitchen, and washing the same dishes over and over again), and raises it with a psychologist who agrees to see her, and feeds her lots of medication, lots. Is it the medication or her illness that may or may not be her downfall? Her illness also has a huge impact on the rest of her family – will they all make it through this, especially daughter Natalie (Eleanor Worthington-Cox) who has started dating and is falling in love with a new boyfriend, and son Gabe (a fantastic Jack Wolfe)?
Mental illness is a heavy duty topic for any show, but luckily for Next to Normal the music saves it from the catacombs. Most of the songs are actually catchy, and the cast sings them with relative ebb and flow. Wolfe is simply fantastic throughout the show and steals it when he sings ‘I’m Alive’ – a song that should be released as a single. Worthington-Cox is also great as the daughter who has a hard time focusing on her new relationship and her moms troubles. Leads Levy and Parker, while they don’t kill it, are good. But as mentioned before, music by Tom Kitt and book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey make this show a visit, barely. Transferring from the tiny Donmar warehouse to the larger Wyndham’s theatre will ensure more people get to see this show. Whether they’ll overall like it or not is another issue.
Photo by Marc Brenner
