Next to Normal: Victorian Amateur Premiere for Fab Nobs
Next to Normal is anything but, as it straps audiences in for a rollercoaster ride through the devastating effects of mental illness on a seemingly normal family. To get to the ending of the triple Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winning musical means making an emotional investment as an audience member. With music by Tom Kitt and lyrics by Brian Yorkey, the musical has been acclaimed for its poignant dramatisation of mental illness.
Fab Nobs Theatre (Bayswater, Vic.) will stage the Victorian Amateur Premiere of Next to Normal from June 15 – 30.
Diana Goodman (Lizzie Matjacic) is an ordinary wife and mother, who undergoes various treatments for her bipolar disorder. The audience goes with her as she struggles to function as part of a “normal” family and to communicate her experiences with her husband, Dan (Jonathan Guthrie-Jones). Meanwhile, her over-achieving daughter, Natalie (Kate Warner), keeps you wondering whether she is in the early stages of her own battle with mental illness or simply coping with a life that is certainly not normal. She seeks solace in her schoolwork and music, where she is romanced by classmate Henry (Matt Allen).
For Director Nick Kong, Next to Normal is “to be considered as one of the most compelling and raw modern music theatre pieces of our generation. The musical’s view on drugs, grief and relationships is unflinching. However, the most complex theme and strongest message from the piece is that of love. That love has no boundaries, it draws people together and it also has the power to drive them apart. It is this multifaceted subject matter that drove my desire to direct the piece. To create the piece was vital that we gathered a cast who are not only amazing singers but who are also grounded within their acting craft. The emotion drives the piece so we really need to find thinking actors – people who were willing to put in the hard yards and evolve the writing on the page to believable characters.”
The unflinching commentary on society’s desire to “fix it all” is summed up as Diana sings of her post-ECT treatment (The Break), and asks “what happens if the cut, the burn, the break, was never in my brain, or in my blood – but in my soul?”
Next to Normal has its fair share of wrenching moments, but they are rooted in the mundane, everyday experience, mirroring the confusion, the fear and the emotional turmoil of the millions of families dealing with this journey each day. “The show breaks all the ‘rules’ of music theatre making it one of the most exhilarating pieces of theatre you will see in a long time” says Kong.
The modern score creates a musical language that strives to find honesty and ultimately immerses you into the heart of the piece. Next to Normal boasts a powerful rock musical score that captures the highs and lows of family’s journey through the mental health system.
Next to Normal plays at The Fab Factory, Bayswater from 15 – 30 June, 2012.
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