Michael Berry on for Dan in NtN tonight (6/16)

Who else was out tonight?

2/3 of the original cast would be 4 people out.

Hah whoops...I meant 1/3.

Kyle Dean Massey was pretty good. He still needs time to grow in to the role but he has a really nice voice. He does look older than 18, though. His chemistry with Alice was really great.

Yikes.

Why is this show unable to find competent understudies? Phillips, and now Berry, are both duds.

Hopefully Meghann Fahy is better next week.

I really think that Michael needs to be replaced. I saw his Dan a little over a month ago (Bobby's scheduled absence) and was DISAPPOINTED and saw his Doctors at Arena and was UNDERWHELMED.

As I've said before, this is no longer a regional theater production and can no longer have regional theater-quality understudies. Michael just doesn't cut it for such a layered role.

They're all terrible.

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adamgreer, Do you know what day shes performaning?

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They really should have recast the understudies when they moved to Broadway. They could have gotten Broadway caliber people to cover these very meaty roles.

I understand financially why they double up and have one understudy cover Gabe/Henry and another cover Dan/Drs. Fine and Madden, but that's kind of a problem. Each set of characters is a completely different "type" and the actors are bound to be better in one role than the other. Tim Young's Gabe sounds frightful, but I bet his Henry is pretty good, for example.

ETA: Meghann will be Natalie June 25, I am told. Actually, the person who told me has already posted in this thread.

Updated On: 6/16/09 at 10:37 PM

^Good point, adamgreer. Never thought about how different the roles are that person covers.

Another thing about Michael, he just didn't have much presence. Bobby's Dan is a weak person, but he still has a strength about him. Michael is just sort of...there. I kept thinking there's no way Diana would EVER date/marry Michael's Dan.

I should probably add that Michael didn't completely ruin the show for me. Yes he struggled with the part and I would much rather see Bobby, but the rest of the cast was able to carry both Michael and the show. I'm sure the people behind me (who thought Dan was the son, and Kyle Dean was the understudy...) enjoyed the show just as well.

Updated On: 6/16/09 at 10:41 PM

His voice, though decent early on (he seemed to be losing it towards the end), is just totally wrong for the score.

It sounded like the "Les Miz" version of "N2N" !!!

He had absolutely no chemistry with Alice... at all !!!

its a shame that adamgreer has become the be-all and end-all on alice ripley's understudy on these boards.

i havent seen her, but i know a few who saw her and absolutely loved her. so its not all that simple.

and based on that youtube, her acting looks awkward but her voice sounds fantastic, if that matters.

I saw 'Next to Normal' tonight and it definitely made me appreciate Bobby Spencer so much more than i originally did. First of all, I thought Michael Berry looked too old for the part. I was in the Mezz but it looked like he had gray hair. He came in late on a song and totally butchered the end of 'A Light in the Dark'. Also, the chemistry between Michael and Alice was far off. Michael was starting and ending notes before Alice Ripley was. It felt in the tense moments that he was almost trying TOO hard. Aside from Michael, I thought the show was amazing. This is my first time seeing it without Aaron and i am very impressed with Kyle's performance. He sang and acted the part very well. They chose a perfect temporary replacement for Gabe. He was not comfortable with some of the staging in Act I, but that type of thing comes with comfort in a role. Overall, I thought the show was good tonight.

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Updated On: 6/16/09 at 11:54 PM