rOcKS @ 'Next to Normal'

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 3/27/09 at 9:13pm

It's intermission. Better than ever. Still not perfect, but it's fantastic. Ripley better win the Tony.

[AndAllThatJazz22]

Posted: 3/27/09 at 9:18pm

Sounds coolio. I have a few questions for your full review

1. How full is the theatre?
2. Does Ripley have the shorter hair (like in DC)
3. Are their lots of younger audience members?

[CSonBroadway]

Posted: 3/27/09 at 9:18pm

Can't wait to read the whole review!

[PiraguaGuy2]

Posted: 3/27/09 at 9:20pm

...Understudies...? =)

[alliez92092]

Posted: 3/27/09 at 9:40pm

It's the first preview, I doubt any understudies are on.

Can't wait to hear more!

[steven22]

Posted: 3/27/09 at 9:43pm

Thanks..I'm excited to read your full review

[PiraguaGuy2]

Posted: 3/27/09 at 9:57pm

allie, I mean I'd like to know who the understudies are.

[alliez92092]

Posted: 3/27/09 at 10:08pm

Oh sorry. The understudies are Michael Berry (Dan/Dr. Madden), Jessica Phillips (Diana), Meghann Fahy (Natalie) and Tim Young (Gabe/Henry). Michael Berry went on Dan and Dr. Madden in DC, Jessica Phillips was part of the Second Stage production and went on once, Tim Young went on a few times as Gabe in DC but I don't think he went on as Henry, and Meghann hasn't gone on yet.

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 3/27/09 at 10:36pm

I'm thrilled Jessica Phillips is back with the show, I saw her go on during previews at Second Stage, and she was fantastic.

[taylorPHENOMENON2]

Posted: 3/27/09 at 10:40pm

I'm so excited to hear more!

[jaystarr]

Posted: 3/27/09 at 10:40pm

Is the set exactly the same as 2ST?

J*

[TheBoyDownstairs]

Posted: 3/27/09 at 10:53pm

The theater was very full. It wasnt 100%. I was in one of the boxes and could see a few seats open in the orchestra and a few in the mezzanine.

[steven22]

Posted: 3/27/09 at 11:11pm

tell us more please

[defyingravity11]

Posted: 3/27/09 at 11:25pm

I loved it! Saw it at Second Stage and it has improved immensly. The audience was absolutely eletric. Haha! Bad joke... I loved most of the changes (from what I've heard, there are a few changes from the Arena version). I'm definately going back a few times!

[KingKong]

Posted: 3/27/09 at 11:25pm

mezz was almost 100% full, literally less than 10 empty seats (plus 2 more as the people sitting on my right left at intermission). Couldn't see the orch.

my one complaint was that the show was over amplified. My ears hurt a few times.

Show was great, audience was great. A few SMALL changes from DC, nothing drastic. the third level of the set is back as full size.

[TheBoyDownstairs]

Posted: 3/27/09 at 11:28pm

I thought it was over amplified as well, but I wasnt sure if it was just because I was in the boxes and right next to a speaker.

Can't wait to see it again.

[KingKong]

Posted: 3/27/09 at 11:38pm

I was in the middle of the mezz (e 106) and felt like i had speakers on either side my head.

[Atrias]

Posted: 3/27/09 at 11:58pm

What were the changes from D.C. like? Lyric changes and such?

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 3/28/09 at 12:04am

I'll be home in a few to post a full review and answer your questions.

But wow. I've been following the show for years. And it breaks my heart to think that it won't last on Broadway (realistically, there's just no way this will be a hit. I hope I'm wrong.). Ripley has the Tony in the bag. This will be a four star review from me. Liked the first act a lot but that second act...phew. The second act blew me away. So touching, so amazing, so beautiful.

Get your tickets. This is the best new musical I've seen this year. And you all know how I loved BILLY ELLIOT.

[KingKong]

Posted: 3/28/09 at 12:09am

Natalie's first sung lines in Just Another Day are different. there are a few other things. nothing drastic at all.

[steven22]

Posted: 3/28/09 at 12:11am

I hope you are wrong (Wickedrocks)

[Atrias]

Posted: 3/28/09 at 12:12am

Weird. Those first lines seem to have been changed a bunch.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 3/28/09 at 12:23am

Just back....

WOW.

The show is in far better shape than it ever was at Second Stage. This has got to be one of the most exciting, fresh new shows I have ever seen. I was blown away by the entire thing tonight. There was an intensity tonight that was not present in the 2nd Stage performance.

Each cast member is fantastic in their own way, and all have phenomenal voices. Jennifer Damiano does a fine job with a difficult role. Louis Hobson makes for a much more engaging (and less over the top) doctor than Asa Sommers did. Bobby Spencer plays a re-imagined Dan very well- Dan is a much more active character now, much more of a protagonist. They're all fantastic.

The standouts in this incredible company, however, are Aaron Tveit and of course Alice Ripley, who had better win the Tony this year. Tveit nails his role, right down to the way he moves about the stage. He's got a fantastic voice that's powerful, strong, and very clear. His diction was fantastic. He completely inhabited the role, and it's nice to see him play a role worthy of his considerable talents (after being wasted in Wicked).

And then there's the divine Ms. Ripley, who is giving one of those landmark performances. She was so intense- you could feel her pain, see it in her face. Her voice was stronger than I've ever heard it before. I Miss the Mountains was heartbreaking. Then there's the wide-eyed, glazed over look she has in her eyes for much of the show- she is completely inhabiting this character every minute she's onstage.

As a unit, this cast is truly one of a kind. The voices are all so powerful, and the chemistry between the cast is great. Their work as a cohesive unit is sensational.

I loved the changes they've made to the show, particularly the end of act 1. Also, the second feels a lot tighter than it did at 2nd Stage, where I think it dragged a bit. They've cleaned it up nicely.

I guess the barometer of how much I liked this is that I am going back two more times already.

Finally, to answer the inevitable....
-house was very full. a couple of empty seats in the back of the side orchestra
- show ended at 10:26

One last finally, I was blown away tonight. The show renewed my faith in the new American musical.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 3/28/09 at 12:27am

I can't remember the last time I felt like this after a show.

I just felt like I'd seen such greatness on the stage at the Booth tonight. And a story that really impacted me. If you'll recall, I liked the show at 2ST but had my reservations. I thought the second act dragged and there were moments of contrivance in the score. Not anymore.

The score is FANTASTIC. This is the rightful winner of the Best Score Tony. I've heard 9 TO 5's and like it, and I loved BILLY's but this score is just so brilliant. When it needs to rock out, it does. When it needs to be quiet and intimate (which is a lot of the time...if people go in thinking this is going to be like a rock concert, they will be letdown) it is...and both work wonderfully. The lyrics are gorgeous and so perfect. The new additions to the score are VERY welcome and the omissions of certain songs from 2ST were clearly in the show's best interest.

The book is wonderful as well. Clearly the writers did a lot more research about the illnesses they show covers. The book is great. Not as great as the score, but still. The characters are all clearly defined and the story is told at a suitable pace.

The performances. Sheesh. What a quintet of performers. Louis Hobson is strong (a definite improvement over Somers), Jennifer Damiano has done wonders with a complicated role, Adam Chanler Berat is adorable and very endearing, Aaron Tveit brought the house down with I'M ALIVE (still a bit too jumpy for me...but what a voice), and while he's not as good as D'Arcy James, J. Robert Spencer really impressed me.

But the show is Alice Ripley's. This just might be the best performance onstage since Ebersole in GREY GARDENS. I'm not going to harp on it, but what this woman does with Diana is simply mind-boggling. That Tony is hers. What a performance. Just unbelievably good.

Michael Greif's direction is much better than it was at 2ST. He seems a lot more comfortable with the tiered set. In fact, this may be his best directorial work yet. Loved the sets, loved the lights, the band sounded kick-ass.

There are flaws. I thought the first act was great but a bit uneven (not sure who to blame here) and the second act COULD benefit from a little trimming but not very much. That second act just tore my heart out.

I hope this show finds an audience. But interestingly enough, I think what will kill it is that second act. It's too dark, too intimate, too complicated, and not showy enough for the average Jane and Joe to get it or appreciate it. God, do I hope I'm wrong though. I just feel like during this recession, there's no way this can be a hit. But I hope I'm wrong.

It won't win the Tony for Best Musical; but it deserves it. And the nay-sayers, give it a chance. It's much better than SPRING AWAKENING (which I'll admit after my years of calling it a masterpiece, has flaws) and RENT. It's deeper, it's better-written, and it features a lead performance that will go down in musical theater history.

In a word, this show is thrilling. It gives me hope for the original American musical.

**** out of ****


Updated On: 3/28/09 at 12:27 AM

[steven22]

Posted: 3/28/09 at 12:32am

WickedRocks...why don't you think this could win Best Musical?

Spring Awakening and Rent and were amazing musicals that deserved to win their respective tonys...so why can't N2N win also?..I haven't seen a lot of the new shows this season..haven't seen N2N yet either ( have tickets for April)...but I'm confused with what you're saying