Review: Round House’s ‘Next to Normal’ Is a Tricky Pill to Swallow
The chronic ailment in this production is its breakneck pacing, but dazzling design work, some great actors, and stans help heave it into the current decade.
By D.R. Lewis
February 7, 2024
This review originally appeared in Washington City Paper.
“What happens if the cut, the burn, the break was never in my brain, or in my blood, but in my soul?” Like the sharp edge of a surgical scalpel, this question cuts to the heart of Next to Normal, the Pulitzer Prize-winning musical playing in an uneven new production at Bethesda’s Round House Theatre through March 3. Over the course of its nearly two-and-a-half-hour run time, the rock musical asks hefty questions about the treatment of mental illness, the trial-and-error nature of pharmaceutical cocktails, and the continuance of care at the cost of compassion.
Next to Normal centers on middle-class married couple Diana (Tracy Lynn Olivera) and Dan Goodman (Kevin S. McAllister), their perfectionist teen daughter, Natalie (Sophia Early), and rebellious son, Gabe (Lucas Hinds Babcock). Diagnosed with bipolar disorder more than a dozen years earlier, Diana experiences hallucinations, manic episodes, and depression, pursuing various medical interventions to alleviate her symptoms. Working with a series of doctors, she tries medication regimens, talk therapy and, eventually, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). But as the treatments fail to deliver the promised outcomes, the characters grapple with how to hold themselves and their fractured family together.
Considered groundbreaking for its depiction of one family’s struggle with mental illness when it first premiered on Broadway in 2009 (following a tryout at D.C.’s Arena Stage in late 2008), Next to Normal takes the medical industry to task in both subtle and obvious ways. For instance, after being assured she would only lose a small amount of memory through the course of ECT, Diana finds that she’s lost more than a decade’s worth of remembrance. When pressed for answers, her doctor calmly asserts that these things can, on occasion, happen, offering little comfort as she tries to piece her shattered history back together. In another scene, as she frantically attempts to assert her humanity, the doctors objectify her with phony gentleness and insincere empathy. And in “My Psychopharmacologist and I,” book writer and lyricist Brian Yorkey and composer Tom Kitt rattle off the familiar roster of household-name drugs (and their nasty side effects) in a dreamy refrain. The ease with which the scientific-sounding names roll off the tongue is unsettling, especially knowing how the effects of overprescription continue to play out across the nation.
But now, 15 years after its premiere, Next to Normal feels acutely situated in a different America. While the opioid epidemic was still claiming lives during the show’s original run, no one could have predicted how COVID-19 would warp American trust in medicine that had previously been taken as a given. It would be unfair to say Next to Normal feels dated or somehow left behind, considering how much of the show holds up. But it now exhibits an uncomfortable tinge of quaintness that is at odds with its heavy subject matter.
It’s entirely possible that such quaintness is a symptom of the production, which never fully gels despite some strong performances and exceptional technical work. Most detrimentally, while it is obvious that Next to Normal should be Diana’s show, this production belongs to the men, who are superb in each of their roles.
Babcock displays his vocal power early on, with a keen ability to shape-shift between proxies of a rebellious teenager and an ever-devoted son. As Natalie’s bleeding heart boyfriend, Ben Clark’s Henry is refreshingly authentic. Clark leverages his own vocal technique to deliver a sweet but gloomy love letter to Natalie in “Perfect for You.” Playing two of Diana’s doctors, Calvin McCullough is deceptively trusting in his seeming levelheadedness, even as he constantly moves the goal posts when his proposed treatments fail to deliver advertised results.
And as Dan, McAllister is simply stunning. He completely embodies the character with the kind of stolid assurance that grounds the audience even as Diana’s behavior becomes more erratic. But the depth of his command becomes only more evident in the moments when his insistence on treatment gives way to increasingly traumatic measures, including ECT. McAllister’s composed, honest performance opens the door for Kitt and Yorkey to effectively ask one of their most challenging questions: “Which is worse, the symptom or the cure?”
Olivera does her best with tricky material and, to her credit, gains momentum as the show moves forward. Yorkey sacrifices early opportunities for character development in service of a major plot reveal, which would pose a challenge to any performer portraying Diana. Despite this, Olivera offers a strong showing in several solo turns, including “I Miss the Mountains” (Diana’s folk-inspired meditation on a medication overcorrection that has left her emotionally numb) and “You Don’t Know” (a tense tongue-lashing about the unseen emotional toll of her illness).
But the chronic ailment in this production is its breakneck pacing, which overwhelms the action and undermines the story’s potency. It’s not that the audience needs the time to breathe—the play does. Too many moments that beg for a few extra beats of consideration are blown past, particularly in the first act. Against the continuous stream of raucous, upbeat numbers, the most effective moment in the show comes late when a silent, smoldering McAllister weeps quietly to himself. The umph of the moment comes from his deeply affecting performance, sure, but also from the sheer starkness of the unfamiliar quiet. One wonders, where had such an ebb and flow been all along? I missed the mountains.
Even so, the strength of the dazzling design work may be enough to distract audiences from such shortcomings. Director Alan Paul and his team of designers work exceptionally hard to heave Next to Normal into this era, particularly in their use of projections and realtime video capture, which is projected onto the set (designed exquisitely by Nicholas Hussong). Scene designer Wilson Chin’s chic, bilevel set functions as both the Goodman household and a window into Diana’s mind. A large circular cutout at the top of a flight of stairs opens and closes like an eye, as if to signal the divide between Diana’s inner and outer reality, and leaving the audience to constantly wonder: Are we in or are we out? Sherrice Mojgani’s lighting design leans deeply in to moody blues and purples, often cut with bright, electrified slices of neon piping. And costume designer Helen Q. Huang offers functional, nondescript attire that tags the Goodmans as an everyday middle-class family.
Under the direction of music director Chris Youstra, the six-piece band sounds surprisingly full (with support from sound designer Ken Travis), even from their station behind a window in Chin’s set. And choreographer Eamon Foley’s musical staging arises naturally from the music and blends nicely with Paul’s scene work.
The strength of its various components indicate yet-to-be-unlocked potential for this production of Next to Normal. Perhaps with the benefit of time, even in its short run, the pieces will come together to form a stronger whole. Regardless, Next to Normal, like so many of its peer rock musicals (think Spring Awakening and Rent) has a deep, devoted following of fans who came of age during the show’s initial run. I have no doubt that such devotees will relish the opportunity to hear its songs live once again. But for those who lack such a preexisting condition, this pill may just prove too hard to swallow.
Next to Normal, book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey, music by Tom Kitt, and directed by Alan Paul, runs through March 3 at Round House Theatre. roundhousetheatre.org. $46–$88.
The cast of Next to Normal at Round House Theatre; Credit: Margot Schulman Photography