Next To Normal

Sydney's loss was NTC's gain when the professional NSW premiere of this Tony and Pulitzer prize winning rock musical folded prior it's proposed opening in September 2012. Given its critical reception and comparisons to Rent this reviewer was especially keen to see if it lived up to the hype.

Popularly referred to as 'The Crazy Lady Musical', Next to Normal is the exploration of a woman's decline into bipolar disorder as a result of unbearable grief – and the impact her illness has on her family.

Far be it for me to quibble with awards judges but I felt the libretto could use some judicious tweaking. Certain plot points seem a bit laboured while the darker dramatic elements didn't quite reach critical mass for mine.

Staging a full-blown rock opus in the restricting confines of NTC's home venue was an audacious move to say the least. As director, Carl Young states in the programme, “The musical is written for a multi-layered set in a much bigger venue than ours”. This is putting it mildly.

While it's billed as a rock musical – the dialogue is minimal, it's more of a rock opera. Due to the confined space, the band was sequestered backstage, which proved a detriment to sound quality and definitely affected the clarity of some of the bigger ensemble numbers. The songs which showcased individual performances the best were those which required minimal accompaniment.

Which is not to say the musical direction was deficient – far from it. Given that the conductor wasn't visible to the cast – the tightness of some ensemble numbers was still quite impressive. Regardless, a rock band needs breathing space and perfect sound levels for clarity; not to mention that  'yeah!' factor.

All production criticisms can be attributed to venue restrictions. Thanks to efficient direction, minimalist set design and polished performances by an incredibly hard-working ensemble (there were a lot of songs to learn for only six performances) this production was still engaging and emotionally affecting. Anyone who has suffered loss will feel their buttons being pushed.

The same production in a bigger venue with the calibre of sound and lighting facilities that the material required and this show would have blown me away. As it was, I was merely very impressed.

Rose Cooper

Images: Meinda Latsos.