Musical Theater | review

by Lisa Kasamoto | BackWardPress.org

Apr. 15, 2009


"Next to Normal" (N2N), the new Broadway musical, stars the versatile and compassionate Alice Ripley as a woman with Bipolar I Disorder (formerly known as manic-depression).  She plays Diana Goodman, a wife and mother struggling to regain herself, while also dealing with the effects her losing battle is having on her family.  A Tony-nominee for "Side Show", also a challenging role for its uniqueness, Ms. Ripley is singular in her physical and emotional capacity to understand her character; she outruns her, actually-- and because of that endurance, she does the work for us.  She makes Diana a person we will listen to and react honestly to, whether that be with wracking laughter, wracking sobs, everything in between, or everything simultaneously. 

The music, plot, and cast, as a whole, teach us that our reactions just need be honest - however that comes out for each of us.  That is how we will survive.  And we are royally rewarded for our openness and individuality, while also being blanketed, one by one, with the entire spectrum of light, where even the color white, oft-overlooked, is attached to an emotion.  Matching the power of this language of lights are the immaculately-coordinated costumes and the award-winning geometric proof of a set, ingeniously outfitted for the catapulting life of this family. 

Matching one of the core themes of the show, each person's perspective being valid, there is no bad seat in the house.  No matter where you sit (in other words, no matter the price range), you will see something someone else may not see.  You've got to move around, sit in a different seat another night, keep your eye on one character for five minutes, then another for twenty, or just lean back and take it in however you're able to.  We each will move through a different journey, yet all come out of that theater house better for it.

All who are part of the show's collaborative process have come to N2N able to manage such a complex piece.  They've prepared themselves through past original and unusual works.  Helmed by director Michael Greif ("RENT", "Grey Gardens") and championed by producer David Stone ("Wicked", "Man of La Mancha") this show rides on the intelligence, wit, and balanced tone penned by Brian Yorkey and is set to the back to back to back melodies of Tom Kitt's remarkably accessible rock/pop/ballads/country/waltz/metal/alternative numbers.  Find me another musical that even approaches this, and I'll let you buy that ticket to "Next to Normal" for me.

For two hours, singing a staggering number of songs, Ms. Ripley dons this woman's pains and triumphs like a second skin.  Her success goes beyond her talent as an actress and singer; it's about her being a willing citizen of the world, which is what gives her an uncanny and keen eye for those in the audience who relate to trauma and victories (of whatever sort they may be).  She actually glows when she speaks of this show being a place where all can belong.  Diana, in Ms. Ripley's tight yet somehow gentle grasp, is the show's fuel in this welcomed emotional ride.  She is a mother, wife, and patient, just trying to survive through illness and loss, for there's no time or energy to do anything else.  She simply seeks a place of recovery and a solution other than the only one being offered: being drugged into numbness.  The welcomed ups, downs, and all arounds of this brave and six-dimensional show come roaring at you because Ms. Ripley herself is a brave and six-dimensional woman, matured and made wiser via her own struggles, victories, and this survival mechanism of hers called musical theater.  What makes her even more uniquely qualified is that her capacity (a powerful combination of innate and hard-earned over 30 years) is also bolstered by her startling candor about who she is and what she has in common with her character. 

You don't soon forget her voice.

Ms. Ripley has more than ten CDs out, all worth a listen because of her crystal clear range, but also because of her versatility in vocal styles. From song to song, her voice has a different sound, from Rebecca Luker to Natalie Merchant to Tricia Yearwood.  It’s a curious talent. Also speaking to talent, she writes all of her own music and lyrics: strong-willed, poignant, intelligent.  Corralling an intense creative energy, she also plays guitars, piano, and drums.  None of these skills are a given in the field, or if they are there, are too often unseen.  Until now.  For years, New York's been lacking a role smart and unique enough to equal, thus challenge her; to grab her and make her stay on the Great White Way; to challenge us; to grab us and make us grow.  Until now. 

You don't soon forget this show.

Out of the entire musical, the sound that went straight to my heart was this cry of pain, defiance, and something all too real, when Diana sings of what only someone living inside the disorder can see, hear, and feel:

"Do you wake up in the morning and need help to lift your head?
Do you read obituaries and feel jealous of the dead?
It’s like living on a cliffside, not knowing when you’ll dive.
Do you know, do you know what it’s like to die alive?!"


You don’t spend 16 years taking pills, further medicating the guaranteed side effects, but without a single guarantee of relief–

you don’t find yourself helpless to save your daughter from feeling, "It only hurts when I move, it only hurts when I cry."–

you don’t reach for your son and have your husband step in the way–

you don’t reach within for laughter and love, only to find everything’s numb–

then reach for something sharper to connect with– without being forced to explode with the raw truth: 


"You don’t know!"


In front of hundreds upon hundreds of sobbing and laughing people each week, we are given a voice and stage for the first time in Broadway history  because she is there, eight shows a week, to speak for us. And that note is the most piercing one. Because of its undeniable truth, octave, and delivery, it overpowers the husband’s and son’s lines to strike an audience of bipolar souls and the ones trying to love them; the average ignorant who creates false distance by saying, I am sane, you are not; and the so-called doctors finally seeing a person who, up until now, has been a faceless recipient on the other side of a prescription pad.

"You don’t know.  I know you don’t know.
You say that you’re hurting, it sure doesn’t show.
You don’t know. It lays me so low
when you say 'Let go' and I say, 'You don’t know!'"


Her voice penetrates and echoes out, over and onto the audience. The look on her face haunts me and I cannot stop staring because I’m looking at myself. 



I've been there, missing the mountains, missing the highs, missing me.  What a rotten hand that the only other option is to fall into that dark, depressing sea below.  And no one understands.  No one.  Ninety-nine percent of this country does not have this illness.  But, being one of the chosen few who doesn't believe Icarus' fall not worth it, nor Sisyphus' efforts laughable, I keep rockin' and rollin' on, aided now by N2N, the highest high in musical theater.  What a surprise that such gently powerful healing comes in the form of a musical about mental illness (a rock opera, actually, in the tradition "The Who's Tommy" and "RENT"), instead of a vial covered with so many warning labels that you can't see your name.

On the other hand, it makes complete sense --it was just a hidden gem that the genius team of Mr. Yorkey and Mr. Kitt unearthed-- because the show's unique and original lyrics and true-to-life dialogue give me a language to explain who I am, what I do, and how I feel when healthy and when not.  Even those who have a so-called more normal illness, for it being physical and measurable, more often than not lack the finesse to be able to explain how they're feeling.  That emotional language I've been granted is life-saving in a stunning way.  And I use it every day with the other "touched with fire"* people I meet, even if I've only got thirty seconds to say,

"Hey, look at me... it's gonna be okay.  I mean, who's to say what's normal, right?"


These folks then spread the word in order the share the experience, akin to the grassroots style of letting people know that the power of "Spring Awakening" and [title of show] is there to be mined.  So, hey, look at me... it's gonna be okay.  Come to the Booth Theatre at 222 West 45th Street, if only because these other shows have closed and you need somewhere to go and a bunch of folks who understand you.

Because of the show and everyone involved on both sides of that fourth wall (which comes down quickly in the second song), people will understand now - miraculously, people on both sides of that psych ward door.  The result is that less of us have to shout for our lives, "You don't know!"  What's revolutionary is the speed at which this change takes place, no matter if one identifies with the mother, father, son, daughter, boyfriend, or doctors - or even the writer, composer, or director.  That makes for a quieter, more peaceful existence for all in an astonishingly short period of time (without the knee-jerk arrogance and bloodshed of our usual attempts).  For the past few years, many have doubted, myself included, that we would again find that musical theater has that power and draw, as well as the incredibly important capacity to create a community for all the next to normal folks out there.

This show allows possibility for people with a mental illness.  It asks the question, "Who's crazy?" and presents the case that someone like me who is stable, medicated, and in therapy (and who has the nerve to be happy!) can see that I am as normal as anyone.  I look around me at those who judge, spew hatred, or cover their ears and turn their backs.  With this show's lessons to raise my chin, I entertain and enjoy the possibility that it's these sad people who are next to normal me.  Again, find me another show that can shift perspectives like that in a couple of hours, and I'll buy a ticket for that matinee, then we'll go see N2N in the evening.

For every show that plays, there are people who are changed and that makes it a safer world. A show that shows me my life is a show that is saving it. From the gasping, crying, and holding on I hear all around me, I know it’s not just me.  A standing ovation is an easy thing to do for a show that’s brave, necessary, and rock-and-roll bold, that’s almost completely sung through for two hours, and lit in colors that fuel a continuous emotional journey, but what I saw are people who’ve been hiding behind walls for too many dark years, standing for the first time.

Bravo and thank you.



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*poet Stephen Spender, quoted in Touched With Fire by Kay Redfield Jamison



Fan Community: nexttonormal.org
Official Site, ticket info: nexttonormal.com
Alice Ripley info: RIPLEY, her rock/punk/pop band & The Alice Ripley Link-Up


(The show is 50% very serious, but I always make sure to say it's 50% laugh-out-loud uncontrollably funny!  And the entire thing, really, is up for  interpretation - yours.  My N2N reviews tend to turn out 90% serious, so need to say this.)


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The Washington Post's review of the recent Virginia/D.C. production

[to be updated for B'way]
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This is an e-mail I wrote to let friends and family (and complete strangers!) know about N2N. 


There’s something I’ve been wildly fortunate to have in my life, so I'd like to share. 

As an artist finally taking that leap into the writing/art/music/theater world, here’s what’s changed my life.  As someone with bipolar disorder, here’s what’s saved my life:





This was a short run and, unfortunately, there's no guarantee it'll make it to Broadway.  I'd like to help get it there so that it can continue to be a source of compassion, education, and healing.  It has the potential to better the lives of so many different people, in the same way that “RENT” did (it’s not a coincidence that Michael Greif is director for both). 

This is the most incredible thing I've ever seen on stage and I've been fortunate to have seen a lot over 15 years.  While this show is about someone with bipolar disorder, it has something for everyone.  If there’s anything you’re needing in your life (understanding, community, a safe space, etc.), you’ll find it here in the beating, bleeding, and brave heart of this little musical.  For example:


~if you've ever wondered what the word "normal" means and who the hell gets to decide that,

~if you've ever felt like an outsider or a freak (I do) because you're gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender/intersex, or Deaf/hard-of-hearing, or a minority because of your race, or discriminated against because of your gender or body size or age… if you’re feeling different in any way that your life is made difficult by this often harsh society… you’ll find something in “Next to Normal” that speaks to you.

~if you're a teenager who's just trying to keep your head above water and your chin up but no one gets you, you’ll see yourself in this show.

~if you have concerns about the mass of medications prescribed in this country: Feeling a bit sad?  Let's medicate you, here's a blue pill! Feeling a bit anxious?  Here's a red pill!  Feeling alive (also known as feeling a bit sad or a bit anxious)?  Here's a green pill!

~if you have any kind of chronic physical illness or are close to someone who does, because while this show is about mental illness, there are so many parallels,

~if you've grieved a painful loss (of a loved one, a friendship, the loss of your sanity at some point, etc.), this show gives you a safe place to cry, among others who understand,

~and, there are other layers to the show, as well, e.g. exploring the fact that suburbia, while shiny and ideal on the surface, often belies a dark undercurrent.


Finally, while everything above sounds really serious, I have to say this show is also funny as hell!  And it's, again, a safe space where I found myself laughing about things that don't, at first, seem like things you should laugh about - but these are those frustrating and unfair things in life that you can't do anything about, so all you can do is laugh about this stuff… and so, this musical is also a prime example of the healing power of laughter.

“Next to Normal” is something I’ve “put on the shelf” along with the rest of my arsenal against a terribly difficult disease: medication, therapy, friends, books, activism, and openness.  Perhaps you can mine its power, too.

More people than you may realize are touched by this issue, and healing can start by bravely speaking of it together.


With worlds of gratitude,
Lisa K.


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