Next to Normal 6/30/09 review (spoilers)

[Elphaba3]

Posted: 7/1/09 at 2:28am

Walking into the Booth felt like coming home. I checked the understudy board and it was blank. I was really happy to be seeing everyone again and to see Kyle for the first time. I was in seat BB109, which is just to the right of dead center.

Louis - He is so much more charismatic than last time and is clearly having fun with his roles. He was really on.

Adam - He is seriously so adorable. He seemed a lot more confident and made Henry completely real and believable. His chemistry with Jenn is the sweetest thing ever.

Kyle - I prefer Aaron, but Kyle was quite good. He has gorgeous blue eyes and looks angelic, which really works. I think he looks the part more than Aaron. But Kyle played Gabe as much more angelic and innocent than menacing. I missed Aaron's creepy smirks and seemingly effortless singing, though Kyle's singing was good too.

Jenn - I loved her the first time and she's only gotten better. She's so charismatic and beautiful, and her acting was deeper. She gave Natalie more vulnerability which made me feel for her even more. She's a very natural actress.

Bobby - He ripped out my heart and stomped on it. I appreciated his performance so much more this time because there are so many layers to it. His performance does tend to get overshadowed by Alice's, but that makes sense for the character. He was fighting back tears a lot and finally let them flow in I Am the One (Reprise). He was heavily sobbing. He was utterly destroyed. One thing I noticed was that last time I got the sense that Dan could see Gabe the whole time, but this time he clearly didn't see him until the end. I don't know if he actually physically saw him at all.

Alice - Where to begin? She owns the stage in a way that very few performers do. Her Diana was completely different from last time. She said every line differently. I love that she keeps changing it up. She's truly in the moment and baring her soul every second she's onstage. She started sobbing during I Am the One and literally didn't stop for the rest of the show. It was so intense. Her face was soaking wet pretty much the entire time. There are no words to describe what she does. I don't know how she does it, but she acts down to depths of her soul.

Now for some random notes in no particular order.

Louis had a good blooper. When Dr. Madden tells Diana that there's often a predisposition to illness and actual onset is triggered by a traumatic event, Louis completely spaced. He stumbled over the line several times and he was clearly lost. I kind of felt bad for him, but it was funny. Alice didn't break character at all. When Diana said she never knows what to say when she has to go over it, he said "neither do I."

Alice slipped in her socks toward the beginning and for a second I was worried she'd slide offstage.

The way Bobby glared at Jenn when she tried to show Alice the music box was intense. Bobby and Jenn were very believable in general as father and daughter. Their hug in Light was really sweet.

Alice didn't stand on the moving gurney during Didn't I See This Movie. Does she not do that anymore? She had trouble pushing herself back onto the gurney during A Light in the Dark. Bobby helped her up.

I didn't notice last time that Adam and Jenn hold their kiss during the dialogue before I Miss the Mountains. That must be a little awkward.

Last time I didn't notice the birthday cake for Natalie at the end. I loved it.

When Dr. Fine is blabbing, Alice at one point mouthed "he's cute!" She and Louis were talking off-mic during that scene when Natalie and Henry were talking.

Alice did a cute little hop a couple times toward the beginning.

Bobby did the book slam.

Alice slapped Bobby in the chest pretty hard during A Promise.

I love the way Bobby said "okay that's fair." He said it sadly instead of going for a laugh. I also love the way he yelled "there's nothing there!"

When Alice said "no" in response to "are you nervous," she sounded very nervous.

Now for my experience. Like last time, I was completely riveted from the first note to the last note. My attention didn't wander for a split second. The strange thing is that I kept waiting to cry but I didn't. I finally started during So Anyway and was a mess for the rest of the show. I was shaking, crying, hyperventilating, all that good stuff. I felt once again that things were shifting inside me and like last time, I walked out as a different person.

Until next time, I think that's it.