"Perfect for US": The NEXT TO NORMAL love thread!- Page 69

[Elke]

Posted: 9/2/10 at 3:15pm

The Norwegian production's set is different: http://tinyurl.com/3y8ffln Interesting, but I think I prefer to Broadway set though.

[MeggilyWeggily08]

Posted: 9/2/10 at 3:59pm

Wow, that's awesome. Would love to see that production in person. I think I prefer it to the Broadway set too.

[steven22]

Posted: 9/2/10 at 4:32pm

I really like that set. I can't decide which one I prefer though.

[BS]

Posted: 9/2/10 at 7:06pm

There are some videos with vocals on that page as well.

[BwayTday]

Posted: 9/2/10 at 7:20pm

I really like the set too. It looks super modern. I would have to see the lighting though because that is really makes the set great. The "I Miss the Mountains" sounds amazing.

[Elphaba3]

Posted: 9/18/10 at 9:51pm

I saw the show twice last weekend. My 7th and 8th times total, and my 1st and 2nd with the new cast. I honestly wasn't really expecting to like Marin because I'm so attached to Alice's portrayal, but I was so moved that I immediately got a ticket for the next night.

Louis was great. He's still into it and giving it his all.

Adam, as always, is too adorable for words. He doesn't change his performance that much, but he puts his heart into every performance and makes Henry a very lovable character.

I was happy to finally see Meghann after wanting to for over a year. Her Natalie is more outwardly vulnerable than Jenn's, but not as layered. Meghann has a beautiful voice and an excellent foundation for the character. I just wish she'd build on it more and really make it her own. I know she can do it. She's off to a beautiful start.

The more I see Kyle Dean, the more I miss Aaron. Kyle Dean is good, but that's it. I find his singing voice whiny, and he doesn't add anything special to the role. Aaron was such an intense presence and really fleshed out the character in a way that Kyle Dean doesn't. I'm not sure how I feel about the new ending to "I'm Alive." He hit it perfectly both times, but it doesn't really fit the show, IMO.

Jason was fantastic. I wouldn't say he adds anything new to the role, but his portrayal is spot-on. Very layered and heartbreaking. His Dan is stronger on the outside than Bobby's, but he does a wonderful job of showing Dan's inner turmoil. One thing I noticed is that he and Meghann have a really sweet father-daughter connection.

And then there's Marin. I'm glad to say I proved myself wrong and loved her. Though I felt a stronger connection to Alice's portrayal, I loves that Marin takes it in such a different direction. She completely makes it her own and makes it work because it's so authentic and real. It's clearly coming from deep inside her. She does a beautiful job of showing the endless depth and layers of Diana, and her commitment to the role is very apparent. She opens herself up and truly feels what Diana feels. That level of commitment is what's needed for this show, and she brings it. One thing I especially loved was her relationship with Gabe. She plays with the incestuous undertones and is clearly in love with her fantasy of her son. She acts like a giddy schoolgirl in the throes of her first crush when he's around. It's not creepy because he's not really there, and it's just her coping mechanism. I love how she buries her head in his baby blanket before "I Dreamed a Dance." Really, I love all the quirks she adds. I just wish she'd add more and allow herself to get a little crazier. This is one role where you can really let loose, and she definitely has it in her. It's interesting to note how much she cries. Alice had a constant stream of tears running down her face from "I Miss the Mountains" to the end. Marin cries even more (which I didn't think was humanly possible), but doesn't have nearly as many tears. Marin and Jason's real-life marriage works in their favor and they have very natural chemistry.

Alice will always be "my" Diana and the definitive Diana, IMO. But Marin is absolutely phenomenal in her own right, and I'm so grateful I got to see her twice. I'm also grateful I was able to separate the show from Alice, and fully appreciate for the first time just how brilliant the show is. I fell in love with it all over again and have an even deeper appreciation for everything it has given me.

[nexttotheheights]

Posted: 9/18/10 at 10:36pm

I think that the reason I like Marin so much is because she handles the comedy a little better than Alice. The new cast helped me understand the role of Gabe more and the dinamic between Marin and Jason is unbeatable.

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 10/18/10 at 6:40pm

For fans of Kyle Dean Massey, here's a story we did about him and what inspired him to make his 'It Gets Better' video for gay teens ...


AfterElton.com: Kyle Dean Massey, Broadway's 'Next' Big Thing Updated On: 10/18/10 at 06:40 PM

[dramamama611]

Posted: 10/18/10 at 6:47pm

I find that Alice was infinitely more funny than Marin is.

[GatorNY]

Posted: 10/18/10 at 8:22pm

Thanks for posting the link Waymon. I enjoyed the interview very much.

Updated On: 10/18/10 at 08:22 PM

[steven22]

Posted: 10/19/10 at 1:57pm

Kyle Dean is great!

[broadwayjim42]

Posted: 10/19/10 at 3:15pm

I don't know if it sounds odd or not, but I find Louis Hobson's voice very soothing.

[steven22]

Posted: 10/19/10 at 3:28pm

I think Louis is very underrated and that he would make a great Dan!

[JillianSch]

Posted: 10/27/10 at 11:47pm

I agree with you!! Louis has a strong voice and is a great actor.

[rmusic11322]

Posted: 11/20/10 at 8:04pm

I saw the show today. It's been a few months and it was nice to see the new cast. Adam and Kyle are still doing well with their roles. Louis was very funny with his beginning lines and held it out well through the rest of the show. Meghann was fantasic as Natalie. Such a pure, light voice and her breakdown in "Maybe (Next To Normal)" was very touch. Jason and Marin were the obviously the stars. Great chemistry - duh! Marin gave such a deep performance that really made me feel what Diana was feeling and Jason's "mad-singing" voice is amazingly terrifying. So sad to see this show go. Glad that I saw it one more time before it did.

[Elphaba3]

Posted: 11/20/10 at 8:42pm

I saw next to normal for the 9th, 10th, and 11th time last weekend. Sunday night was my final time seeing it on Broadway. I don't really know where to start, so first I'll talk about the actors and then I'll summarize the specific shows.

Louis Hobson - Three more solid performances from him. I like how he has adjusted his performance to match Marin's. He works with her really well. Not much else to say.

Adam Chanler-Berat - His performance changes very little, but I don't mind at all because he gives it his all every time. I just love watching him.

Meghann Fahy - Flawless. Absolute perfection. I really liked her in September, but I realize looking back that those were off-shows for her. She made me truly understand Natalie for the first time. The layers and dimensions she gave her were so subtle and real. Meghann's Natalie is not an angry brat. She's a tortured soul who really wants and tries to be happy. She has much more softness and vulnerability. When she gets angry, it comes from a very real and understandable place. I love that she's happy and giggly when she's with Henry. She makes Natalie so much more believable as a real person by bringing out the different sides to her personality. Something else I love about Meghann is her phenomenal chemistry with Marin and Jason. They are completely believable as a real family. The way she jerks back when Jason reaches out to her reminds me of me and my dad. He drives her nuts, but the love is there. "Maybe" was heartbreaking because you see how much she loves and wants her mother. She's relieved when she finally lets her guard down and lets Diana in. Her chemistry with Adam has also improved a lot. They make the sweetest couple ever. I could go on about Meghann, but you get the picture.

MacKenzie Mauzy - I was disappointed to see her name on the board because it meant I wouldn't be seeing the full "family" for my last show. I'd heard mixed things about her, and unfortunately I didn't like her Natalie at all. She was the complete opposite of Meghann. She portrayed Natalie as VERY angry and one-note. She was just angry. Nothing else. No other dimensions or layers to her personality. Her Natalie was such a brat that I actually wanted to slap her. I felt no sympathy for her whatsoever. Another thing I noticed was that her body was very tense the entire time. That could have been a good character choice if she'd done it differently, but it didn't work. MacKenzie is a talented girl, but I just don't think this is the right role for her.

Kyle Dean Massey - He really kicked it up a notch. I'd always thought he was good, but bland. Now I can finally see why people love his Gabe so much. I still prefer Aaron (especially vocally), but Kyle Dean's sweeter portrayal worked beautifully with Marin's Diana. He's able to maintain the softness he brings to the role while finally bringing the creepiness and charisma he'd been lacking. I was very impressed.

Jason Danieley - Also much improved from last time. He still didn't leave a big impression on me have the emotional impact as Bobby, but he seemed a lot more comfortable in the role. What I liked most about his performance was his chemistry with Marin and Meghann. It added so much to the show.

Marin Mazzie - I don't even know what to say. She did the impossible. She gave what I consider to be a better performance than Alice's. I loved Marin in September, but my main complaint was that she wasn't crazy enough. Ladies and gentlemen, she has brought the crazy. Does she have the same emotional depth, layers, and subtlety I fell in love with? No. She has more. Infinitely more. Plus she completely makes the role her own and adds her own quirks. There really is no way to describe Marin's Diana. You have to see her for yourself. A lot of her performance was very uncomfortable for me to watch because it was so real. During "I Am the One," she was literally convulsing from head to toe. She reminded me so much of myself that it really scared me at times. The look on her face at the end of Act 1 almost made me physically ill because it brought back some very uncomfortable memories. It was good though. It was therapeutic for to see what I look like when I'm like that. It was eye-opening. Though she's added her own brand of craziness, she doesn't go overboard with it, and her Diana is multi-dimensional. She's not just crazy. She's a normal person who is going through the worst hell imaginable and she has some quirks. The way she bares her soul almost shouldn't be humanly possible, but somehow it is. I can't thank Marin enough for how much her portrayal of Diana is helping me through my own healing process.

Now for the actual shows.

November 13 matinee - I think this was the best of all 11 N2N shows I've seen. I couldn't get over how much the "family" had improved, especially Marin and Meghann. Everyone was at their very best. I sobbed nonstop from "Psychopharmacologist" to the end of Act 1. The most I've ever cried at any show. I didn't cry as much in Act 2 because I was already so drained.

As I was eating dinner at Junior's between shows, I was still so drained from the matinee that I didn't think I could do it again that night. I seriously considered heading over to the Winter Garden to see Lisa Brescia in Mamma Mia instead, but I didn't because I didn't want to waste the ticket I already had.

November 13 evening - As soon as the show started, I knew I'd made the right decision. I didn't cry nearly as much, but it didn't affect me any less. I was feeling it all and soaking it all in. It was another flawless show from a nearly flawless cast. This was the show where I finally admitted to myself that I prefer Marin's Diana to Alice's (though I still adore Alice and always will), and that the closing cast is even more meaningful to me than the original cast.

November 14 evening - My heart sank when I saw that Meghann was out. Not just because I wanted to see the whole family for my last show, but also because Meghann is so damn perfect. But it was last show, so I made the most of it. Because I didn't like MacKenzie, I wasn't as into it as usual. The whole thing felt a little off. Marin and Jason had to pull back slightly because MacKenzie didn't give them as much to work with. The other reason I wasn't as into it was because I couldn't deal with it being my last show. I subconsciously numbed myself. Still, it was a great show and I took it all in. I didn't cry at all until the end of "Maybe," when I completely lost it. The thing that actually hit me hardest was "Hey #3/Perfect for You (Reprise)." Knowing I'd never again hear Adam's "hey" was like a fist in my gut. Kyle Dean cried during "I Am the One (Reprise)," which I'd never seen him do before. By the end of the show, I was convulsing almost as hard as Marin was before. And that was it. It was over.

But it's not really over. I'm seeing the tour a few times in March (yay Alice!) and even when that's over, next to normal will always be inside me. It has helped me find myself in a way that nothing else has. For that, I am forever grateful. Thank you, Brian Yorkey and Tom Kitt.

[steven22]

Posted: 11/20/10 at 8:54pm

I think I'm doing lotto Monday night and will hopefully win and then I have tickets for the final performance. Sad to see this go. I love this show.

[LoveAndLight]

Posted: 12/2/10 at 3:44pm

Cast has been better than ever lately. I disagree with Elphaba, I think that MacKenzie added some layers to Natalie that I always understood, but that Meghann and Jenn never totally put out there. She's not my favorite either, but I think she's pretty solid in the role.

Does anyone know of any shows or career plans any of the cast has set for after the closing or of any events and such?

[TJ2]

Posted: 1/2/11 at 11:40am

I can't say for sure, but based on the post on her Facebook page (which is public), I think Catherine Porter is Diana today:

"..and, so, today at 3pm, I shall be shot out of a cannon!"

[steven22]

Posted: 1/2/11 at 4:38pm

Catherine is on today. Wish there was an evening show!

[HummingAlong]

Posted: 1/2/11 at 6:26pm

LoveAndLight -

I know Kyle Dean is going into Wicked as Fiyero (Broadway)
Adam will be doing Peter and the Starcatcher (or something like that) as Peter.

I think that's all that's public knowledge at this point. I hope that Kerrigan-Lowdermilk's "The Unauthorized Biography of Samantha Brown" gets some traction and that Meghann goes into that...she's on their demo recordings and sounds wonderful! It seems to be a role similar to Natalie, though, and it'd be nice to see her do something a bit different. Also, I'd LOVE to see Jason and Marin do something else together. I'm in love with their chemistry on stage.

[chellie]

Posted: 1/2/11 at 6:38pm

Does anyone know of any shows or career plans any of the cast has set for after the closing or of any events and such?

What's funny is that someone on Tumblr actually made a chart to answer that very question: http://fyeah-nexttonormal.tumblr.com/post/2557478116/before-during-and-after-next-to-normal-broadway

[rmusic11322]

Posted: 1/2/11 at 7:30pm

"The Norwegian production's set is different..."

Their set looks like the Goodmans live in a mansion.

[HummingAlong]

Posted: 1/2/11 at 7:39pm

rmusic - I always thought of the Goodman's house as quite large and very modern, even though the picture on all the marketing is a tiny little white-picket-fence house...

When Dan talks about "all this glass and wood", and since they both went to school for architecture, I picture that they have a nicely sized house with lots of modern lines. Also, early in Act 1, Henry is taken with the house, so I always figured that it must be impressive in some way.

[rmusic11322]

Posted: 1/2/11 at 7:49pm

Maybe it's just the size of the Booth and the all of the pictures on the marketing that throws it off.