“It’s intense!”
That was a typical audience reaction at a recent performance of “Next To Normal” at the Riverside Center for the Performing Arts. The Pulitzer-winning musical from 2008 tells the story of a family going through a mental health crisis, navigating life with a mother and wife who has bipolar disorder.
The audience feels as though they are eavesdropping on intimate and uncomfortable family conversations. Moments of humor and a lively musical score help temper the otherwise-serious subject. The lead couple played by real-life husband and wife Andrew Foote and Adrianne Hick bring their marital chemistry into their performances to great effect.
IF YOU GO
“Next To Normal” Riverside Center for the Performing Arts, runs until Aug 3rd. Tickets are $65-92.
The play is mostly sung, so each member of the six-person cast gets highlights and solos that shine. The music covers a variety of moods from typical modern musical numbers to more rocking songs, all backed by a versatile six-piece band led by musical director Carson Eubank.
Hick delivers a convincing emotional performance as Diana, the mother dealing with bipolar disorder. She was careful to research her character and the condition in preparing for the role.
Adrienne Hick plays Diana and Mason Blaine portrays Gabe in ‘Next to Normal’.
“I talked to some professionals,” Hick said. “I’ve read some incredible books. I myself struggle with some of my own depression/anxiety issues. While it’s not as severe of an illness as bipolar I can understand what it feels like.
“When you’re playing a role like this you have to do the research because you want to honor the text and you want to honor the character who has this illness. This is an illness, this is not something that is just ‘oh this person’s very sad’ or something like that. It’s an illness that many millions of people deal with.”
Foote, who plays Diane’s husband Dan, also collaborated in preparing for the demanding role of a spouse in a difficult situation.
“Doing this with my wife, we work together for four or five hours a day in rehearsal, and then we can have a conversation three hours later that just might pop up over dinner and say ‘Hey let’s talk about that moment in the show here’,” he said.
“I’ve done some heavy musicals in my life, heavy dramatic pieces. I was thinking in rehearsal yesterday there were places I went when we were running a few scenes where it’s taken me to emotional places that I’ve never gone to on stage which was surprising to me.”
Madison Cox turns in a moving performance as the 17-year-old daughter Natalie, a gifted musician preparing for college but also struggling with her own anxiety as well as her mother’s illness. Her character is torn between caring for her mother and self-preservation. Her duet with Diana near the end of the play reconciles their relationship and the expectations for how they can move forward.
Mason Blaine plays Gabe that Diane and Dan lost as an infant, who haunts Diane’s consciousness as an imagined grown son. His featured song “I’m Alive” is powerful and haunting.
Ben Ribler plays Natalie’s boyfriend Henry, who develops during the play from a casual stoner to an important support for Natalie during her struggles with her mother.
Ben Ribler and Madison Cox in ‘Next to Normal’.
Adian Chapman plays the role of psychiatrist Dr. Madden, who has a humorous scene with his first session with Diane where she imagines him as a belting rock star in their normal conversation. He also effectively conveys the different approaches to treating bipolar disorder and the uncertainty in the medical community about the efficacy of medication, therapy, and electroconvulsive therapy.
Hick was excited to tell this story with a female director, Penny Ayn Maas.
“We’ve never worked with her before and she’s wonderful,” she said. “It’s very cool to have a woman director. It’s not about womens issues or anything like that, but as the woman who is the matriarch of the family and the person going through the illness in the show in addition to being a mother and a wife and all the things that women go through, it’s cool to have a woman director who can see it through those eyes.”
“Next To Normal” does not have a tidy storybook ending, which is fitting for a play about a disease with no cure. It does, however, conclude with a feeling of optimism despite the challenges faced by the family.
“It’s somewhat ambiguous, kind of like life,” Hick said. “I think our job as storytellers is to make sure that we’re telling the story truthfully and presenting it to the audience in a way that everyone’s going to take something that’s personal to them.”
As a bonus for the audience, Riverside is bringing in mental health experts and advocates each Thursday before the show to lead a talk about related issues. The session on July 3 featured Antoine Gaye, brother of famed soul singer Marvin Gaye, who gave a moving talk about both his brother’s struggles and his mother, who suffers with mental health disease and was hospitalized when Antoine was a child.
Other speakers include: Jacqueline Kobuchi and Katie Barnes from Rappahannock Community Services Board on July 10; Hailey Jobin from Mental Health America Fredericksburg on July 17; Dr. Stinar from the Fredericksburg Christian Health Center on July 24th; and professional firefighter Randy Feltner on July 31. These talks start about an hour before the show while audience members are dining.
