Next to Normal: A Review
Seeing “Next to Normal” was my first time seeing a show at The Duluth Playhouse and I was not disappointed. The cast was made up of only six actors, which makes their talent and stamina all the more impressive. The run time of this show is just over two hours and each actor sings practically the whole time. The vocal range of each actor was quite impressive and gave the show so much catharsis and emotion.
The album cover of Next to Normal, featuring a normal-looking suburban home and a measure of music that is tangled. This show is performing through March 31st at The Duluth Playhouse. Image provided by The Duluth Playhouse.
The actual plot of the story focuses on the Goodman family and the way that the mental illness of the mother, Diana Goodman, affects each family member living in the house. It is an affecting depiction of mental illness, and brings awareness to the stigma around women’s health. Despite the tragic elements of “Next to Normal,” this show is also humorous and self-aware; the tension of Diana visiting her psychopharmacologist (Antony Ferguson) after a breakdown is juxtaposed by her flirtatious attitude towards him. This show would not be as touching if it did not have comedic moments to cut through the pain.
Most of the music is high-energy and has rock-inspired musical elements, especially when Diana (Jen Burleigh-Bentz) is singing — her anger is demonstrated through her wild range and the sound of gritty guitar. The other portion of the music in “Next to Normal” is soulful, reflective and somber. Each character is going through their own emotional battle, and when one clashes with another, a musical mash-up of sorts demonstrates their disagreement.
This show was quite inventive in many different ways: the staging, the costuming and the set each plays a unique and integral part in telling the story of the Goodmans. Certain things are said without words, but are communicated through visual cues like lighting, costuming, or where actors are placed onstage. For example, when Diana is being treated in the hospital, doctors crowd a rolling bed with a mannequin, while Diana herself climbs to the upstairs part of the set, and looks down at herself, communicating her “out of body” experience. Or when Diana is coerced into hurting herself, her son (Jake Nelson) leads her through a door, rather than depicting violent actions.
Though Diana goes through tragic episodes, this show is not violent or gory in depicting her struggle. They instead focus on the emotional and interpersonal effects that these moments have on her husband and daughter. What this play lacks in physical violence, it makes up for in psychological turmoil. The beauty in having a small cast also leaves more room for intimacy in their relationships, so when you finally see Diana talk one-on-one with her daughter Natalie (Daylen Moore), for the first time, it feels all the more impactful, especially after seeing how much attention she pays her son.
Natalie Goodman (Daylen Moore) sings about how invisible she feels, backed by her boyfriend Henry (SJ Olson), left, and her brother (Jake Nelson), right. Image provided by The Duluth Playhouse.
I don’t want to spoil any turns or plot points in this show, but I will say that the blocking (mapping of where actors are on stage and where they are looking) subtly shows how the characters feel about each other. When Dan Goodman (Thomas Bevan) turns his back on his son, it’s for a good reason.
A lot of thought went into this show from a technical perspective. The costumes were modern-day, everyday clothes, but they still reflected where each character is in their life. Arguably, the two characters who go through the most change are Diana Goodman and Natalie Goodman and this can be seen through their costuming. Natalie begins the show in bright, preppy outfits, but when she turns to other vices, like her stoner boyfriend Henry (SJ Olson) she wears edgier clothing, including black leather and dark lipstick. As for Diana, her story is much more up-and-down. When she is on medication that numbs her emotions, she dresses in gray, and when she returns from her hospital stay, supposedly “cured,” she wears a sleeved red dress. Dan is more stable, always trying to stay Diana’s rock, so his costuming hardly fluctuates, but he always looks like a regular dad.
The Goodman family is split in different directions: Diana (Jen Burleigh-Bentz) sees her therapist (Antony Ferguson), Natalie (Daylen Moore) wants to be seen, Gabe (Jake Nelson) feels immortal, and Dan (Thomas Bevan) tries to remain hopeful in a dark situation. Image provided by The Duluth Playhouse.
The set for this show was also extremely impressive as it was a modern house with an upstairs and a downstairs. The house only had one comfortable-looking place to sit, which was a white fuzzy armchair, but the rest of the house felt cold and uncomfortable, which mirrored the plot of the story quite well — this home was not a safe space for any of the characters. The set design also included strips of LEDs that framed the ceiling of the house and hung vertically in the background. The LEDs were a bright white most of the time, but they also turned purple and blue and rainbow depending on the mood of the scene, making for a seamlessly immersive experience.
I won’t sugarcoat it: this musical is tragic, gritty and vulgar —bring tissues. However, it is a poignant depiction of a debilitating chronic mental illness. This show is full of moments often left unseen, and it humanizes every member of the Goodman family, whether through honesty, comedy, or revelation. It forces the audience to ask themselves the hard questions: Would you sign off on your wife starting ECT therapy? Would you tell your mending wife about her toxic relationship with her past? In many ways, these characters do what you never would have done, yet they do what anybody would have done.
The Duluth Playhouse will be running its last performances of “Next to Normal” through March 31st. Grab your tickets at The Duluth Playhouse website, as this is a show you don’t want to miss.