Not Your Normal Musical

Mental illness may not seem like a ripe subject for a musical, but at least as far back as Sondheim’s “Anyone Can Whistle” in 1965, artists have found rich material and compelling stories about it to tell on stage. “Dear Evan Hansen” is a spectacular recent example, but one of the most successful and beloved musicals on this theme is 2009’s “Next to Normal,” the story of Diana Goodman, who lives with bipolar disorder, and the family living under the shadow of her illness.

In its current incarnation at the Center for Performing Arts at Rhinebeck, “Next to Normal” is a gut-wrenching depiction of how a family tears itself apart to accommodate, support, help and avoid mental illness and the person caught in its grip, set to a propulsive rock-inflected score.

When the show opens, Diana is in her kitchen at 4 a.m., teasing her son, who has been out all night, and comforting her daughter who is obsessing over her mountains of homework.  As morning comes, she spins through the kitchen making lunches, but soon the sandwiches are everywhere and it’s clear she’s in a manic state, so her husband, Dan, whisks her to a psychiatrist, who pulls out his prescription pad. 

Successive rounds of medications dull Diana’s mania but also her ability to feel anything, and she rebels, dumping her meds, egged on by her son. The resulting relapse sends the whole family into a tailspin.

The strong cast is led by the spectacular Maria Hickey as Diana, who etches Diana’s confusion and pain, her ecstatic high and numb lows, with her gorgeous singing voice. Equally powerful as 16-year-old Natalie, Cheyenne See lays bare a daughter’s resentment, neediness and resiliency. Emily Woolever, as two different psychiatrists, and Wendell Scherer, as the son who preoccupies Diana’s thoughts, both shine brightly, though Scherer’s lovely singing voice (heard so often on the Rhinebeck stage) was muted, perhaps due to a poorly tuned head mike.

The men in this show are largely a supporting cast to the strong women: As Dan, the husband who has sublimated his own feelings to support his wife, Jim Nurre is all repressed anguish with a fragile veneer of hopeful optimism. Natalie’s stoner boyfriend is played by PJ Kraus with both sweetness and strength.

Director Kevin Archambault makes good use of the limited stage at the Center. The set consists mostly of a kitchen table and chairs, surrounded by platforms and stairs to create the different settings.  It’s appropriately claustrophobic for a show that’s in part about a couple trapped in a marriage entered into too young.  Always ambitious, Archambault has staged many challenging plays at Rhinebeck, and if his special effects are occasionally over the top, he doesn’t shy away from the intense emotional heart of scenes like the song “You Don’t Know / I am the One,” in which Diana is torn between the distraught pleadings of her husband and the voices in her head. 

The band deserves special mention. “Next to Normal” has a very small ensemble, just six musicians, but as led by music director and conductor Matthew Woolever, they sound much bigger and absolutely perfect. They are placed on stage and can be seen throughout the show, but never distract.  

“Next to Normal” isn’t an easy show to watch – theater-goers on both sides of me were weeping.  It acknowledges that there may not be any happy endings when a family is as damaged and traumatized as the Goodmans. But the ending, on a note of forgiveness and hope, offers a slim but strong dose of comfort for anyone going through a personal struggle.

“Next To Normal” runs through Jan. 28 at the Center for Performing Arts, 661 Route 308, Rhinebeck, N.Y. Call 845-876-3080 or go to www.centerforperformingarts.org.