Anyone seen NEXT TO NORMAL tonite? — Page 3

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I don't remember her coming back. But regardless, it certainly didn't have that happy let's all hug the dead baby ending that made me roll my eyes. That was a joke.

No demos as far as I know, but there are plenty of illegal recordings from when it played at NYMF.

SPOILER ALERT


Diana leaves Dan, and Natalie OD's. She wakes up in the hospital, where Dr. Madden has been called in as she was a cutter at one point and is on suicide watch. The two spat, and he tells her that life sucks but it beats the alternative. Meanwhile, Dan is coping with Diana's departure and begins to see Gabriel. Unable to cope with being alone after all he's done, Gabriel spurs Dan on to kill himself. Natalie comes home at the crucial moment and stops him. Dan informs her that Diana has left, and we find out that Dr. Madden's narrations throughout the show have been about Dan all along - he is seeking treatment to deal with being left by his wife.

I loved that ending. Can anyone elaborate anymore on the new ending?

Also, sweeney, you're blocked from pms.

"THAT was a powerful ending."

It most certainly was. Why mess with such a great thing?!?!

As a side note, is anyone "friends" with the myspace page? I could have sworn that the name that it was under was "Next to Normal" but now it has been changed to "Feeling Electric?" Am I going crazy? It did used to say "Next to Normal," right?

umm emcee, it's better for it to be 3 hours long and AMAZING than for it to be 2 and a half and mediocre.

Haven't read all the reviews, skipped spoilers...

EXCITED to see this tonight!

Umm,

1. It's not mediocre. I agree that the ending needs work and most of my issues with it were in the second act, but mediocrity it is not.

2. Most people don't want to sit through something that is positively epic.

3. Someone asked why mess with it. That's one reason why. They're not at their final point of arrival yet. There's no reason to assume it's not going to change from where it was last night -- and hopefully, improve. Until it freezes, consider it a work in progress.

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Updated On: 1/17/08 at 07:05 PM

I don't think powerful has to equal every character attempting suicide. While you want the piece to be moving and emotionally charged, it can't be so bogged down that there is no light at the end of the tunnel. Who wants to see something that has no possibility for hope?

Most of the problems I had were in the staging of the final number, which can be easily changed. I'm not worried.

My problem with the ending is actually its potential to be confusing.

If you would like to continue to make yourself miserable by assuming it's not being worked on and is never going to be fixed, be my guest. I certainly trust the powers that be to realize that it's a problem.

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"The point is that it DOES end with hope - Diana has her freedom and begins coming to terms with the past, Natalie finally gets the attention she needs, and Dan is getting help for the issues he put aside in attempting to care for Diana."

Yes, and every one of those things is still in Next to Normal as it now appears.

1. Diana leaves. She now has freedom.
2. Diana leaves. Natalie can now get attention from Dan that she deserves, as he will not be so wrapped up in Diana's drama. She is also able to sustain a relationship with Henry and doesn't have to be embarrassed to bring her boyfriend to her house.
3. Dan can go into therapy and deal with everything he has repressed for the past 16 years, as well as Diana leaving him.

Updated On: 1/17/08 at 07:32 PM

"I don't think powerful has to equal every character attempting suicide. While you want the piece to be moving and emotionally charged, it can't be so bogged down that there is no light at the end of the tunnel. Who wants to see something that has no possibility for hope?"

UptownGirl, did you see Feeling Electric? Because there most certainly was a sense of hope at the end. And it all absolutely worked and it was an incredibly powerful evening of theatre. I have only openly sobbed at three musicals this decade: Elegies, Caroline or Change and Feeling Electric. I think it's amazing when a musical can evoke that kind of emotional response. Rent did that to me as well, and it has for many others. And Rent is relentless in its emotion for the whole second half of the second act, just like Feeling Electric was, and it's been running for how many years now? People DO like to be moved in the theatre. They like emotionally charged stories. It can be cathartic. It upsets me to hear that the show that I found so powerful may have been castrated in a misguided attempt to make it more into what the creative team and/or producers think "the people" want. I hope that they haven't destroyed what made the show special in an effort to "please everyone."

exedore,

Actually I thought "So Many Ways to Die" should have been one of the first songs to go. I think that was a good choice.