Review: Engrossing NEXT TO NORMAL at Pico Playhouse

Next to Normal/book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey/music by Tom Kitt/directed by Thomas James O'Leary/Triage Productions and SRO Productions at Pico Playhouse/through September 25

Bipolar disease most often occurs in women, creating abnormal behavior patterns, and usually treated with drugs. In the Pulitzer Prize winning Next to Normal, the problem is presented via a wife and mother, Diana (Michelle Lane). Her behavior shows extreme mental instability, and the effects on her husband Dan (Nick Sarando) and teen daughter Natalie (Isa Briones) cause a serious rift in their ongoing relationships. Eventually a heartfelt loss from the past unravels that is at the core of the woman's suffering. Structured in a most unusual way, Next to Normal is akin to a rock opera, but it is not completely sung; there is intermittent dialogue. The most emotional moments, though, come through song, so the music by Tom Kitt and book by Brian Yorkey flow together smoothly, and with the three tiered open set and loosely structured staging, what occurs is an unparalleled musical drama. Now in the intimate space of the Pico Playhouse, the complex drama unfolds crystal clear with fine direction from Thomas James O'Leary and a marvelously skilled ensemble, all of whom sing and act their socks off.

Back in the 70s A Chorus Line broke tradition with its atypical structure. Was it a musical or a drama? Most argued: a combination of both. Next to Normal is similar, setting new standards...and there is nothing to compare it to. What composer Tom Kitt and lyricist Brian Yorkey have achieved is something unique, phenomenal and amazing. When the songs can present and explain the argument and then move you more than the dialogue, the results go way beyond normal expectations. And it is not only Diana's condition that takes center stage. Natalie has a hard time involving herself in a dating relationship with Henry, a fellow musician (Blaine Miller); Dan cannot reach his own feelings strongly enough concerning the loss of their son Gabe (Harrison Meloeny). His presence is unusual in that he died within the first year of his life yet we see him moving around the set as if he were Natalie's teenage sibling. His form, as we come to find out, is only in Diana's mind. Her deep-seated problem is that she has never been able to let him go. And, when she consults a physician and a therapist (both played by Randal Miles), she is instantly attracted to the handsome- therapist, further complicating the fragility of her unstable marriage to Dan.

Director O'Leary's free-spirited and very active staging make the piece click, and the cast are all marvelously attuned. Lane as Diana brings an energetic force that will not quit. She never crumples through her turmoil, remaining a fiercely strong woman at every stage. Briones as Natalie is completely engaging and likable throughout. Natalie is headstrong yet fragile, and, with what Briones brings to the role, it is hard not to feel sorry for her, as she experiences her mother's crisis as well as her own coming.of.age. Sarando has his best moments as Dan toward the end when he learns to be a proper parent to the son he never really knew as well as to his daughter. Meloeny is physically agile as he literally floats through the aisles and around the three levels of the stage. Burdened by pure hurt and anxiety, he is the spirit that cannot rest, as he longs uselessly to be seen and loved. Miller is affable as Henry, and Miles makes a charming therapist. His doctor is more wrapped up in the faulty prognosis and medicine than in his patient's true healing.

This is a play that will repel some, but engage most with intelligence and feeling. Those who turn their backs on reality will like it least. And after all, how is it possible to talk medecine and disease and produce an an entertaining play? Well, Yorkey and Kitt manage to do just that. They also leave you with a message of hope: stay open and fair at all costs in your reactions to everyone's predicament. That is the first step toward change, the real progress.

PHOTO CREDIT: John Dlugolecki

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