NEXT TO NORMAL Revisited - Some Spoilers

I saw the final version of NEXT TO NORMAL, on Broadway, this afternoon, after having seen it at Second Stage a year ago.

Disclaimer: I am going to share some thoughts on what I saw today compared to what I saw a year ago. After reading my initial post, if people want to engage in a discussion, that would be wonderful. That is the purpose of this board. But if people want to begin to personally attack ME, I ask them to send me a private message, and do so in that form. I want to discuss a show currently playing on Broadway, on a Broadway message board. I would not like to be attacked personally or called names for my opinion on the musical being discussed. That is not the purpose of this message board.

So, onto the show. The reservations I had after seeing the Off-Broadway version pretty much remain, with one exception. I am glad that the song "Feeling Electric," a mad scientist type number demonstrating the main character as she undergoes electro-convulsive therapy, has been cut, as I found this to be the most offensive, stigmatizing number in the show. I'm thrilled that it's gone, and I give the creative team credit for getting rid of it. Sadly, too many other inaccuracies remain in this musical about a very serious human health issue, mental illness.

The entire second act of NEXT TO NORMAL is based around the fact that the main character, Diana, has lost her memory as a result of having undergone electro-convulsive therapy.

In reality, when a person undergoes ECT, an after effect can be some short term memory loss, but this show takes it over the bridge. NEVER does anyone who has undergone ECT forget their own home, their own family members' names, their LONG-TERM memory (their past). NEVER does ANY memory loss, let alone at this extent, last TWO WEEKS.

The authors of this show have taken a very serious subject matter and handled it carelessly. The main character has some unknown mental illness. From all of the possibilities NAMED throughout the show, it could be bipolar disorder, depression, or schizophrenia. But what the doctor and the family feel was the cause of this illness, a traumatic event in this character's life, it's almost too clear that what this character SHOULD have been diagnosed with is post-traumatic stress disorder. The entire storyline is based around this particular event and how it led to this illness. But not once is PTSD mentioned.

We see the character tell her doctor that she doesn't "feel anything" after having gone through series of medication regimens. He then lists her as "stable" into his notes recorder. The idea here is to give the impression that taking medication for mental illness makes you feel numb, a misconception today that prevents people who might think they are suffering from mental illness from seeking treatment. She proceeds to flush her prescriptions down the toilet.

We see her daughter steal prescriptions from her mother at one point, and carelessly taking HANDFULS of Risperdal, Xanax, and Valium (do the authors even know what these drugs do?) -- a regimen that in reality would send her to an emergency room -- but she just acts a little uneasy, then eventually stops them all at once, and is fine again at once.

I enjoyed the score last year, but this time it just comes off as derivative and lacking in any uniqueness.

Alice Ripley acts the HELL out of her role, that's for sure, but it's almost as if she doesn't even know what to do except for cry and cry and cry and shift her face into a different configuration every minute, probably because she hasn't been very well informed about what is going on with this woman (the audience certainly never finds out much).

The rest of the cast is just fine. They're all basically bystanders in what could have been a groundbreaking musical about mental illness, an issue that is prominent in U.S. society, but is handled with such an extreme lack of knowledge on the topics it swims through here. Offensive, inaccurate, and stigmatizing material about a monumentally serious human health issue.

And one last reminder: if you would like to discuss this show, please let's discuss the show. If you want to personally attack me or call me names, please do so by PM.

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I stand corrected.

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n reality, when a person undergoes ECT, an after effect can be some short term memory loss, but this show takes it over the bridge. NEVER does anyone who has undergone ECT forget their own home, their own family members' names, their LONG-TERM memory (their past). NEVER does ANY memory loss, let alone at this extent, last TWO WEEKS.


That's an awfully robust statement to make, considering that according to a recent study, "Four memory tests of personal or public events were administered before ECT, shortly after the fifth treatment, one week after completion of treatment, and about seven months later. The results indicated that ECT can initially disrupt recall of events that occurred many years previously, but recovery of these memories was virtually complete by seven months after treatment." (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7458573)

Seeing as how the show ends two weeks after Diana comes home from the hospital, we don't really know if/when she gets the memories back. In just the bits we see in act 2, she does in fact recover many of them.

We see her daughter steal prescriptions from her mother at one point, and carelessly taking HANDFULS of Risperdal, Xanax, and Valium (do the authors even know what these drugs do?) -- a regimen that in reality would send her to an emergency room -- but she just acts a little uneasy, then eventually stops them all at once, and is fine again at once.

The only drug she takes is Xanax. She's flipping through the pills, looking for the one she wants.

We see the character tell her doctor that she doesn't "feel anything" after having gone through series of medication regimens. He then lists her as "stable" into his notes recorder. The idea here is to give the impression that taking medication for mental illness makes you feel numb, a misconception today that prevents people who might think they are suffering from mental illness from seeking treatment.

Nowhere in the text is her going off her meds considered a good thing. The show never condones such activities.

Potential Side Effects for Prozac:
Nausea, drowsiness, dizziness, anxiety, trouble sleeping, loss of appetite, weakness, tiredness, sweating, or yawning may occur. If any of these effects persist or worsen, tell your doctor promptly.

Potential Side Effects for Paxil:
Nausea, drowsiness, dizziness, trouble sleeping, loss of appetite, weakness, tiredness, dry mouth, sweating, yawning, or headache may occur. If any of these effects persist or worsen, tell your doctor promptly

Potential Side Effects for Xanax:
Drowsiness or dizziness may occur. If any of these effects persist or worsen, notify your doctor or pharmacist promptly.

Potential Side Effects for Zoloft:
Nausea, dizziness, dry mouth, loss of appetite, increased sweating, drowsiness, diarrhea, upset stomach, or trouble sleeping may occur. If any of these effects persist or worsen, notify your doctor or pharmacist promptly

I could certainly see where it would not be a stetch to call a number of those side effects above as "numbing."

it's almost as if she doesn't even know what to do except for cry and cry and cry and shift her face into a different configuration every minute, probably because she hasn't been very well informed about what is going on with this woman (the audience certainly never finds out much).

How much more information do you want? Her life story? It's a two hour musical, not a medical documentary on the Discovery Health.

But if people want to begin to personally attack ME, I ask them to send me a private message, and do so in that form. I want to discuss a show currently playing on Broadway, on a Broadway message board. I would not like to be attacked personally or called names for my opinion on the musical being discussed. That is not the purpose of this message board.

This sentiment is appreciated, but really, come on. You attack people on here all the time. It's ok for you to give it out, but not take it in? That's a huge double standard to set.

Updated On: 4/11/09 at 08:10 PM

I definitley understand where you're coming from in objecting to the way mental illness is treated and the degree to which the effects of ECT are seemingly too severe. Then again, it is a musical and there are many shows that would seem to blow things out of proportion for artistic effect. I don't know that that necessarily makes it right, as this is a very sensitive and important subject, but I think it kind of explains the writing in the musical. As far as I'm concerned, I don't necessarily go to a show expecting to see things played out exactly as they would in real life. I understand that no matter how realistic or educational it may be, the show is still a form of entertainment.

As has been discussed in other threads, one good thing about even presenting this subject matter in a musical is the increased awareness of it and getting more people to engage in conversation about it.

In the end though, everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

are mermaids real? can lions talk?....?..come on....

I haven't seen the show, but just from listening to the recording, I can tell that Diana can't be schizophrenic. She doesn't have flat affect, autistic interactions, anhedonia (well, aside from the kind caused by depression), any of the cognitive or verbal problems, etc. It's hard to describe, but you can tell if someone is schizophrenic beyond the psychosis. Diana acts bipolar, not schizophrenic. I could see major depression with psychotic features, but then there'd be no mania as described in "I Miss the Mountains." I could also see PTSD, definitely. But I think she was bipolar and predisposed to it genetically; then the trauma made the disorder manifest itself.

As for ECT: it is possible to have memory loss like that, but for the show to immediately jump to the worst case scenario strikes me as a little manipulative. But I've argued this before, so I know others disagree. Just saying how I feel.

Won't comment on anything else because I haven't seen the show. I love diagnosis, so wanted to chime in about that more than anything.

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Updated On: 4/11/09 at 11:31 PM

"Alice Ripley acts the HELL out of her role, that's for sure, but it's almost as if she doesn't even know what to do except for cry and cry and cry and shift her face into a different configuration every minute, probably because she hasn't been very well informed about what is going on with this woman (the audience certainly never finds out much). "

Exactly. I couldn't figure out a way to say it. It seems all she does is cry. Thankfully her bad voice can pass for being sad and emotional. It seemed as if she was just as confused with the character as I was.

Theatre is NOT reality. It is a heightened representation of reality.

We see the character tell her doctor that she doesn't "feel anything" after having gone through series of medication regimens. He then lists her as "stable" into his notes recorder. The idea here is to give the impression that taking medication for mental illness makes you feel numb, a misconception today that prevents people who might think they are suffering from mental illness from seeking treatment. She proceeds to flush her prescriptions down the toilet.

BS. The idea her is to give the impression that Dr. Fine is a ****ty doctor and that for Diana (like for some people in the real world), the medication makes her numb.

It doesn't really make him a bad doctor. The question is, what's worse, emotional numbness or bipolar symptoms.

And to go "Stable" after she tells him that is, just like the ECT thing, an exaggeration.

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Updated On: 4/12/09 at 12:00 AM

She seems confused with her character because she goes from absurdist comedy ("My husbands waiting in the car" with a deadpan to the audience) to melodramatic-obviously-staged swiping of the plates from the table ("You Don't Know"). And yeah, her voice is hard to listen to.

Well, can I just say that was certainly the most fascinating Next to Normal review I have read.

and during "My Psycho...." she's singing a song about how her visits to the doctor are like a secret romance.


People choose not to think, clearly.

I dunno, I think the lives of people with mental illness are dramatic enough that they don't need to exaggerate treatment side effects to come up with good twists and turns.

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Updated On: 4/12/09 at 12:50 AM