Next to Normal

Hello all you lovely people out there!

It's Monday, school is kind of busy and I feel dragged down by fatigue and the fact that the weather can't decide whether it'll be winter-y or summer-y.
Why am I telling you this? Well, today I want to show you a musical that NEVER FAILS TO CHEER ME UP (yes, that needed to be in capslock) despite the serious topics it discusses. I never mentioned it on my list over my favorite musicals, but it should've been on it.

Original Broadway cast of Next to Normal

I'm talking about ... Next to Normal; a clever, clever musical with books and lyrics written by Brian Yorkey and music by Tom Kitt. Through 37 extremely well-written and catchy song it tells the story of a dysfunctional family. The parents Diana and Dan lost their son 16 years ago and it has taken a great toll on both of them, and especially Diana who now suffers from bipolar disorder. Trying to fix what's left they get the daughter Natalie, but she is suffering from the fact that the son, Gabriel, never left. The ghost of him is always there in the house making sure that they, and especially Diana, will never forget him.

Next to Normal speaks up about a lot of different and serious topics that I haven't stumbled upon in a musical before. Bipolar disorders, how you deal with loss and grief, drug abuse and how you should approach modern psychiatry and the ethics concerning that; these are all part of our society and it's great having a musical that can convey these to the audience and make them question it but also educate them.

Alice Ripley as Diana Goodman

The gallery of persons in the musical consist of the Goodman family; Dan, Diana, Nathalie and Gabriel, the psychiatrists Dr. Fine and Dr. Madden and Nathalies boyfriend Henry, and while a lot of musicals have a huge cast, I don't think the story of Next to Normal would be the same without the simplicity it consists of. It is the raw emotions that drives the story and whether it's a rock-song, a soft ballad or a simply melody waving through the audience it moves you and there's always a song that fits your mood, thus bringing me full circle. It never fails to cheer me up.

Also, can we take a moment and appreciate the fantastic set-design? Simply and yet so expressive the three niveaus complete with staircases serve as house, school, psychiatry etc. Such a clever choice that fits the musical!

Set of Next to Normal

Eventhough there's 37 songs on the soundtrack and the story are told pretty much through song throughout the whole thing you never get bored. The songs are so nuanced that you will always notice new things when listening and it's just wonderful.

So yes, this is definitely one of my favorites as well and if you want, you can watch Aaron Tveit (Gabriel), Alice Ripley (Diana) and J. Robert Spencer (Dan) perform one of the most popular songs from the show at the Tony awards. It's definitely worth a watch! Just saying!

I hope you've had a wonderful weekend and see you all next Monday. 

I'll go back to listening to my soundtrack and crying a bit over how perfect everything is! ;)