NEXT TO NORMAL Reviews

[BustopherPhantom]

Posted: 2/13/08 at 6:59pm

Talkin' Broadway is Negative:

Put away the Xanax - there's a more-effective cure for the ills of modern living. This one isn't about what goes into your body, but rather what comes out of it. If you find yourself flustered by the prospect of attending your daughter's piano recital or even getting out of bed in the morning, the tonic you're looking for is good, old-fashioned song. Release your frustrations in a tidal wave of screeching vocals, and relief is just around the corner.

Not convinced? Then Next to Normal, the new musical by Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey at Second Stage, is not for you. Its leaps of faith in extolling the virtues and dangers of mental therapies familial, medical, and shock are every bit as dramatic as the leaps of intervals that so openly characterize the throat-stretching score. But while this forcefulness makes the show one of the most energetic since the kinetic feast of Jersey Boys, it doesn't endear you to the people trapped at its center - or, indeed, do much to prove they're real people at all.

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The only thing given room to breathe is Kitt's outstanding rock-folk music, which Kitt orchestrated with Michael Starobin to string-heavy perfection and is thrillingly played by Mary-Mitchell Campbell's six-piece ensemble. The tunes here equal and often surpass those Kitt provided for his short-lived 2006 adaptation of High Fidelity, but assume the sadder, starker strains of the darker subject matter. The strumming of a guitar or the dull beating of drums transforms into an accelerated heartbeat, a crushing violin solo charts a fall from the heights of giddiness, a burst of synthesizers drag you into the urgent surge of the senses spiraling out of control.

Kitt's compositions are unpredictable and unforgettable, striking at the soul and arousing passions in ways the rest of Next to Normal does not, but can't surmount a book, lyrics, and overall look dedicated to tired, tedious convention. "I don't feel like myself," Diana tells a doctor checking up on her latest pill regimen. "I mean, I don't feel anything." With everything but Kitt's music, that's a dilemma you understand all too well.

http://www.talkinbroadway.com/ob/02_13_08.html

[snl89]

Posted: 2/13/08 at 7:10pm

..eek. That worries me a little. But, we shall have to wait and see what the others have to say! I'm not loosing faith just because of one not-so-great review! :)

honestly, I wouldn't care about reviews at ALL except that they may or may not determine whether or not there will be a Broadway transfer.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 2/13/08 at 7:12pm

Matthew Murray's review worries you? I wouldn't be too concerned. His dislike of this piece was a foregone conclusion. It's not his cup of tea at all. I'm frankly surprised he liked the score as much as he did.

[snl89]

Posted: 2/13/08 at 7:17pm

^haha, well I don't really follow reviews or reviewers too much, so I'm just going strictly off the review itself. And it doesn't REALLY worry me, I just don't like negative reviews for shows I like haha

Updated On: 2/13/08 at 07:17 PM

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 2/13/08 at 7:20pm

Well, he doesn't exactly have a cup of tea. He's not really indicative of what other people will say.

[jordangirl]

Posted: 2/13/08 at 7:20pm

I'm with you snl. Personally I don't put much stock in reviewers. For me, the review that matters to me is my own. Whether I like it or not. In some cases I agree with them, but in a lot of others I don't.

The transfer is what I'm concerned with in this case.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 2/13/08 at 7:38pm

Associated Press is fairly positive:

"Not exactly a feel-good show, but the production, which opened Wednesday at off-Broadway's Second Stage Theatre, gives composer Tom Kitt (whose last major outing was the under-appreciated music for Broadway's short-lived "High Fidelity") a chance to demonstrate his considerable skill at writing theatrical rock.

The score, with pungent lyrics by Brian Yorkey, pulses with emotion and the uniformly strong cast, headed by Alice Ripley and Brian d'Arcy James, meets every vocal challenge — and then some.

Ripley, who exudes an appealing vulnerability, portrays the bipolar wife of d'Arcy James, one of those stalwart performers who sings and acts with easy charm.

Next to Normal" may focus on mental illness but is also about family. It's here where the show stalls in sketchiness. The lives of these people call out for elaboration, but, in Yorkey's book, they exist with only a minimum of generic back story. Too bad, because Ripley and d'Arcy James are such fine performers, they could handle anything the writers throw at them.

Oddly, the daughter is the most fully developed person on stage, and Damiano makes the most of her more fleshed-out character."

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/02/14/arts/Theater-Next-to-Normal.php

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 2/13/08 at 8:16pm

Next to Positive from Variety

"It's always gratifying to see creatives pushing the musical in new directions by embracing unconventional subject matter, and "Next to Normal" is a step up in terms of originality, ambition and artistry from Kitt's commercially ill-fated, faux-hipster confection "High Fidelity."

But while "Normal" is always engrossing, the frustration of the show's musical storytelling seems amplified by its chosen focus. The imperfect, trial-and-error nature inherent in the treatment of chronic depression perhaps inevitably injects a note of irresolution.

Overall, Kitt's songs too often build only to peter out or veer off in awkward transitions and musically inorganic directions, and the stylistic mix frequently bears little relation in tone to what's happening with the characters. Yorkey's lyrics also disappoint, ladling on cloying pop-psych banalities ("It only hurts when I hide," "Catch me, I'm falling," "Please hear me calling") that add to the impression we're in a sticky musicalization of a Lifetime movie.

Adopting the hard-driving directorial style that became his trademark with "Rent," Greif splashes the action across all three levels of Wendland's set with vigorous muscularity. But he leans too hard on Damiano's and Tveit's characters to amp up the raw urgency missing from the songs. Adam Chanler-Berat is given more room to breathe as Natalie's persistent boyfriend, and Somers has a nice mellow authority as Diana's doctors.

But the beating heart of the musical and the chief reason it remains absorbing is the emotional integrity both Ripley and d'Arcy James bring to their characters. These two accomplished Broadway vets can make even the most unformed songs seem whole. Despite an obvious tickle in her throat giving her a slight croakiness at the first press perf, Ripley's vocals brim with sweetness and sorrow. And d'Arcy James' interpretive ability to uncover hidden nuances in a song makes his character's arc the most intensely felt journey of the show."

http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117936202.html?categoryid=33&cs=1&nid=2562

[carolineorchange]

Posted: 2/13/08 at 9:05pm

thanks for these! It's nice that Tom Kitt is getting recognition. It is the best part of the show. The first time I saw the show and had mixed feeling on it, but when I saw it again, I loved it.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 2/13/08 at 10:04pm

I'm really curious about Brantley's.

[broadwayfan7]

Posted: 2/13/08 at 10:13pm

Looking forward to seeing this show! Thanks for the reviews!

[WaltSummersPI]

Posted: 2/13/08 at 10:14pm

Is it definitely going to be a Brantley review?

[jordangirl]

Posted: 2/13/08 at 10:15pm

Foster said he was at the first press review night on Saturday. I don't know what the guy looks like, so I can't confirm or deny.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 2/13/08 at 10:21pm

Yeah, he was there.

[jaystarr]

Posted: 2/13/08 at 10:22pm

This is Ben Brantley


I was fortunate to meet Big Ben at Cyrano de Bergerac's matinee.. he is a nice guy!

[jordangirl]

Posted: 2/13/08 at 10:24pm

Ah, ok. Thanks Jaystarr!

Yeah...I think I remember seeing him walk past me.

Updated On: 2/13/08 at 10:24 PM

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 2/13/08 at 10:25pm

Heh, you met him? This is a story I think I want to hear. Please do tell.

[B3TA07]

Posted: 2/13/08 at 10:35pm

You know, from the right angle, he's not that bad looking. Unfortunately that angle is hard to find.

[blaxx]

Posted: 2/13/08 at 10:56pm

Any more reviews?

[carnimiriel]

Posted: 2/13/08 at 11:15pm

NY Times seems generally positive.

http://theater2.nytimes.com/2008/02/14/theater/reviews/14normal.html

But Mr. Kitt’s music, far superior to his score for the recent Broadway clunker “High Fidelity,” has a seared sweetness that evokes layers of conflicted feelings, particularly of warring anger and love. And he takes advantage of the regulation blueprint book to create sharp geometric counterpoints among the characters in song.

Ms. Ripley (“Side Show,” “The Dead”) and Mr. d’Arcy James (“Titanic,” “The Sweet Smell of Success”) do their best work to date here. Ms. Ripley reveals a gleaming sardonic side that captures Diana’s wry detachment from herself while never trivializing the hurt and bewilderment at her core. Mr. d’Arcy James, in excellent voice, summons an embattled strength that makes Dan the show’s true emotional anchor. Both performances stay with you, and they only get better in memory.

At one point a numbed Diana sings about how much she misses the dizzy highs of her nonmedicated state. They justify, she says, the contrasting plunges into darkness. Whether all theatergoers will feel the same about the ups and downs of “Next to Normal” is questionable. But the highs are definitely there to be savored.

[blaxx]

Posted: 2/13/08 at 11:19pm

That sounds like Brantley has taken his happy pills lately, I think he might be in love

[Liverpool]

Posted: 2/13/08 at 11:20pm

well they look pretty good (except ATC but then again who gives a **** about their review cause that guy NEVER likes anything)

[BustopherPhantom]

Posted: 2/13/08 at 11:20pm

Newark Star-Ledger is Mixed-to-Negative:

Industry buzz speculates the new musical that opened tonight at Second Stage Theatre aims for Broadway, but it's unlikely mainstream customers will buy into this bitterly sad saga of a suburban mom who loses her mind.

Sure, there's room for tragical musicals on Broadway, but the middle-aged madness tuned up here proves to be scarcely so sexy as the teen traumas "Spring Awakening" packs. This show's first act finale depicting a woman experiencing shock treatment may well jolt many a patron into bolting.

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A six-member cast is excellent, but Ripley and Damiano give especially heartbreaking and beautifully-sung performances as wound-up mother and wounded daughter.

Designer Mark Wendland's black metal set grimly suggests a tri-level stack of cages, lit mostly in gloomy shadows or searing-hot brightness by Kevin Adams. Director Michael Greif's incisive staging at times gets mercilessly harsh. Perhaps that's the best way to present this uncompromising study in psychosis, but such showmanship sure is hard to enjoy.

http://www.nj.com/entertainment/arts/index.ssf/2008/02/next_to_normal_is_too_much_to.html

[jaystarr]

Posted: 2/13/08 at 11:23pm

So is this means a probable Broadway transfer? Its good we got tixs already.

J*

[snl89]

Posted: 2/13/08 at 11:30pm

HOLY KLDSFKLJSDF *freaks out*


okay, aside from the WONDERFUL, incredibly positive Brantley review. The SLIDESHOW. I am like... in need of screencaps of every one of those pictures. right now. haha


but yeah. um. THANK THE LORD this better mean a Broadway transfer!