Next To Normal WEST END - News & Discussion Thread- Page 9

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 5/12/25 at 10:18am

The timestamp isn’t bothering me, I’m just glad this exists 

[Alex Kulak2]

Posted: 5/12/25 at 10:27am

For me, it wasn't the censored dialogue necessarily, it was how obviously and sloppily dubbed they were. It's clear they just performed the show as is and added in the censorship in post. At least with Falsettos, they performed the censored version live, and it felt a lot more organic.

That problem aside, this is a really great production of a show that, frankly, we have to stop kidding around with and admit is the best musical of the 21st century. Caissie Levy as Diana is a revelation. The staging is also really smart, and feels a lot warmer and naturalistic than the scaffolding set we had in the original production.

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 5/12/25 at 10:38am

Obviously I’d prefer it uncensored, but the edit didn’t bother me as much as everyone else. I’m sure they did what they could.

[SteveSanders]

Posted: 5/12/25 at 11:30am

Alex Kulak2 said: "That problem aside, this is a really great production of a show that, frankly, we have to stop kidding around with and admit is the best musical of the 21st century."

I think is is a great show, but there are many others since 2000 that could stake a debatable claim to this honor.  Of course, the century also is still young.

 

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 5/12/25 at 11:38am

Alex Kulak2 said: "we have to stop kidding around with and admit is the best musical of the 21st century."

*Stares at you in Caroline telling Noah about where Jews go when they die. 

[Alex Kulak2]

Posted: 5/12/25 at 12:32pm

Jordan Catalano said: "Alex Kulak2 said: "we have to stop kidding around with and admit is the best musical of the 21st century."

*Stares at you in Caroline telling Noah about where Jews go when they die."

I consider Caroline or Change more of an opera than a musical, but if it's a musical, then call it a two-way tie.

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 5/12/25 at 12:36pm

Jordan Catalano said: "Alex Kulak2 said: "we have to stop kidding around with and admit is the best musical of the 21st century."

*Stares at you in Caroline telling Noah about where Jews go when they die."


Wild comment lol

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 5/12/25 at 12:49pm

So I caught the broadcast on PBS Friday night. When I first saw Next to Normal on tour with Alice Ripley, it was a lot for me to take in. Although since then, I really grew to appreciate it more through countless listens of the original cast recording and seeing a local production in my area. For a while, it’s been around the top of my wish list of stage musicals that should receive a feature film adaptation. If we never get one, I’ll at least be glad that this capture exists. Director Michael Longhurst not only pulls off some very cinematic staging, but he also brings out such emotionally enriching performances from his cast. Caissie Levy in particular makes for quite an astounding Diana Goodman. The camera work and editing are both excellently done.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 5/12/25 at 1:15pm

TotallyEffed said: "Jordan Catalano said: "Alex Kulak2 said: "we have to stop kidding around with and admit is the best musical of the 21st century."

*Stares at you in Caroline telling Noah about where Jews go when they die."


Wild comment lol"

Thanks. You know I try.  :)

[Rentaholic2]

Posted: 5/12/25 at 1:23pm

SteveSanders said: "Alex Kulak2 said: "That problem aside, this is a really great production of a show that, frankly, we have to stop kidding around with and admit is the best musical of the 21st century."

I think is is a great show, but there are many others since 2000 that could stake a debatable claim to this honor. Of course, the century also is still young.

"

This is now the only thing I want to talk about. 

[Georgeanddot2]

Posted: 5/12/25 at 1:25pm

I think Caroline, or Change, Grey Gardens, Fun Home, Spelling Bee, and A Strange Loop are all superior musicals from the 21st century.

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 5/12/25 at 1:37pm

Next to Normal is a masterpiece. My top ten of the century so far would also include Caroline, or Change, The Light in the Piazza, Matilda, Here We Are, A Strange Loop, Grey Gardens, and Hamilton.

[binau]

Posted: 5/12/25 at 2:09pm

I mean, those are all pretty amazing shows so it's hard to argue with it for the most part but I am SHOCKED to see 'here we are'. 

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 5/12/25 at 2:15pm

I absolutely loved it. I listen to the album often and I've only fallen more deeply in love with it!

[dramamama611]

Posted: 5/21/25 at 1:06pm

West End Cast Recording to be released 5/30! (Per Spotify/Tom Kitty's countdown.) 

 

Hope the link works!

Updated On: 5/21/25 at 01:06 PM

[binau]

Posted: 5/21/25 at 1:42pm

Wow! Was this recored in a studio? I hope so.

[steven22]

Posted: 5/21/25 at 2:25pm

binau said: "Wow! Was this recored in a studio? I hope so."

I really hope so too! I have a feeling it’s from the live performance filming, though. I hope I’m wrong. 

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 5/21/25 at 2:57pm

UK sure does love a cheap Live Cast Recording..

[MagicalMusical]

Posted: 5/21/25 at 4:10pm

TotallyEffed said: "Next to Normal is a masterpiece. My top ten of the century so far would also includeCaroline, or Change, The Light in the Piazza, Matilda, Here We Are, A Strange Loop, Grey Gardens, and Hamilton."

I wanted to quote this because this PBS capture is my first time seeing or hearing the entirety of Next to Normal, and I, too, think it is a masterpiece. Now, sometimes I felt like it was super sad thing right after super sad thing or super sad/angry song right after super sad/angry song and sometimes it was...a lot, but I'm surprised this didn't win Best Book or Best Musical. The events that happen and the writing is so good. Of course, I didn't see Billy Elliot so maybe that did deserve the Tony, I would not know. At least Next won Best Score and the music was able to be thrilling and pretty. The characters were so well-written with the dad being an asshole but also sympathetic and complex, as was the daughter, invisible, yet finding time to lead her own life, yet afraid she'd end up like her mother. Though the girl playing her always looked like she was just crying or was about to cry, whenever she wasn't crying. All the time. And of course Diana was incredibly well-written and a fully realized person. The acting was tremendous, and all the crying really hit me in the feels when sometimes musical crying is hard to do that. Caissie should win an Olivier for this if she didn't (can anyone help me on this?). When she regains memories of her son, toward the end, wow it really almost made me cry. Anyway, I also quoted TotallyEffed's message because he called this a masterpiece and he also did name Light in the Piazza which I just read about it in the recent thread about it here, and it sounds like a masterpiece as well. Anyway, are we going to be able to get this recording on home videos someday? And whatever happened to that Merrily recording...?

Thank you guys for letting me know this recording of Next to Normal even exists so I could see an amazing production of this fantastic show.

Updated On: 5/21/25 at 04:10 PM

[Georgeanddot2]

Posted: 5/21/25 at 10:21pm

^There's a Light in the Piazza proshot on YouTube I think. Great musical. Gorgeous score.

[ggersten]

Posted: 5/21/25 at 10:26pm

Levy did not win the Olivier Award for Next to Normal. Scherzinger won it for Sunset Blvd. 

Next to Normal also was nominated for Best New Musical (having never been on the West End before) but Operation Mincemeat won the Olivier. 

Jack Wolfe (son) was nominated for Best Featured Actor in a Musical - but Olivier was won by Jak Malone for Operation Mincemeat.

Eleanor Worthington-Cox was nominated for Best Featured Actress in a Musical - but the Oliver went to Amy Trigg for The Little Big Things. 

There were videos of the cast in a recording studio before the transfer - but it was never clear whether they recorded the full show or were just promotional clips. 

 

[MagicalMusical]

Posted: 5/22/25 at 9:34am

Thank you oh so much Georgeanddot2 and ggersten! You were both perfectly helpful! I found a Piazza proshot, will watch it soon, and so great to know about who won the Oliviers. I guess I should have expected Scherzinger to win, after everything I have heard about her! Operation Mincemeat I must admit I do not know much about...just watched "Dear Bill" which was sad and interesting. And gay. I didn't know it had that in it. Maybe I should look more into it.

[bear88]

Posted: 5/28/25 at 3:22am

Chiming in to say that was a terrific production. Caissie Levy, Eleanor Worthington-Cox and Jack Wolfe were definitely standouts. The only time I saw this musical live was a very good community production in my area, and I was struck by the fact that the West End design resembled that small show more than the Broadway production (or at least the clips I have seen).

Next to Normal both feels like a product of its time, for better and for worse, but a particularly adult and frequently jarring example of it. The scene with the music box has upset me both times I have seen it. Levy and Worthington-Cox really do seem like mother and daughter in this show, giving their scenes an emotional wallop. The conclusion is well directed and makes a key element of the relationship between father and son more clear. 

The show’s refusal to tie things up neatly at the end ends it on the right note, even if the last song - however lovely - is just a little too sappy for me. But perhaps the audience could use a break.

 

Updated On: 5/28/25 at 03:22 AM

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 5/28/25 at 6:43am

MagicalMusical said: "Thank you oh so muchGeorgeanddot2and ggersten! You were both perfectly helpful! I found a Piazza proshot, will watch it soon, and so great to know about who won the Oliviers. I guess I should have expected Scherzinger to win, after everything I have heard about her! Operation Mincemeat I must admit I do not know much about...just watched "Dear Bill" which was sad and interesting. And gay. I didn't know it had that in it. Maybe I should look more into it."

“Dear Bill” is not a gay story. Jak Malone is a non-binary performer and is playing a woman in that moment (they all play multiple characters).

[DaisyHilton2]

Posted: 5/28/25 at 9:26am

FYI Jak Malone is not non-binary. His pronouns are he/him: https://www.instagram.com/jakmalone_/