Next to Normal

Oh yes, Alice Ripley deserved the Tony Award for Best Actress. She expresses a vulnerability and range of emotion rarely required in a performance. Next to Normal is the journey of Diana, a woman with severe and longstanding mental health issues. It's a study of the effect on her family.

The brilliance of Next to Normal is absolutely in the acting. Besides Ripley's riveting performance, Jennifer Damiano and J. Robert Spencer are exceptional as daughter and husband respectively, coping with Diana's delusions, suspecting they're the cause and, particularly in Natalie's (Damiano) case, afraid she's next. Kyle Dean Massey is also very strong as Diana's son Gabe, as is Louis Hobson as her therapist.

But in many ways, it's the work of Adam Chandler-Berat that stands out. As Natalie's boyfriend Henry, he's the outsider. He's us. Chandler-Berat doesn't get to play the wide range of emotion everyone else does. He captures the boyishness and innocence that any high school nerd/stoner might have for his first girl crush. But Henry is much more than that. As the person who must handle Natalie's own panic about becoming her mother, he is loyal and committed to supporting her. He is also recreating the father, a subtlety Chandler-Berat brings to his nuanced performance.

A new musical with a contemporary score is always welcome when it's done well, and Next to Normal certainly is. It breaks some new ground, though there are certainly moments in the score that evoke the similarly themed Falsettoland. In Falsettoland it was AIDS, here it's mental health. The point of both is that even amidst great tragedy, life goes on. We go on. Brian Yorkey and Tom Kitt capture this beautifully and painfully.

With all this greatness, why didn't I love Next to Normal? Well, because I was constantly distracted by the very weak staging of Michael Greif. Greif uses a three level set that is so deep, most seats have an obstructed view. Sit too close and you miss most of what's on the third level and much of what's on the second (that was me). Sit too far and you can't see the third level. A week later and my neck still hurts. (I remember a time when productions disclosed that you were purchasing seats with an obstructed view.) Greif has directed his actors well, but he's put them on a set that does things because it's Broadway and not because the play demands it. But mostly, he puts them on a set that leaves you saying over and over again, "dammit, i wonder what's happening."

Next to Normal was never the immersive experience it needed to be. I tried to justify the distractions by crediting Greif with some intentionality (it certainly is "alienation" well deployed), but in the end it stripped the play of it's most powerful emotion. Very good, yes. Great, not really.

What about those Tony's

A quick review of the Tony Awards. The show was very enjoyable, especially early on. There was an eloquence to the acceptance speeches that gave the show heart and meaning. A big shout out to both Johnny Gallagher and Billy Crudup who gave the show huge class and warmth right up front.

The performances were good. A Chorus Line needed more time. Company needed more people. Mary Poppins came off better than any of the other performances I've seen. Thanks for not doing "Supercal...ious" again. Christine Ebersole was fierce in "Revolutionary Costume for Today" from Grey Gardens and Audra was fiercer still 110 in the Shade. Curtains came off far better than it had on Regis and Kelly, but did they need to do "Show People" again? Is there another song in the show?

As for Spring Awakening, I'm thrilled they took home the awards they did--particularly thrilled for Johnny Gallagher--and very glad that the box office spiked this week. I just have to say the medley didn't work for me. After "Mother" the songs were poorly linked and it made no sense to do "Totally Fucked." ("We're so revolutionary on Broadway we got bleeped at the Tony's.) The performance also reminded me of those "What's wrong with this picture" puzzles I did as a kid where you had to figure out 10 things wrong with the copy of a picture from its original: 1. Jonathan Groff sang John Gallager's verse in "Bitch of Living," 2. Skylar Astin's lyric was changed, 3. The choreography for Jonathan was very different, etc., etc.

I had fun. I'll watch it again. In fact, usually I watch the performances a second and third time. This year, I might be inclined to watch some of the acceptance speeches.

Tony Award Weekend

The Tony Awards are here. The net is beginning to fill with peeps making their predictions. The boys at 365gay predict major wins for Spring Awakening and The Coast of Utopia, but there have been a few who've voiced support and confidence in Frost/Nixon. Everyone seems solidly behind Christine Ebersole and Frank Langella, with strong support for Raul Esparza and Julie White.

Check out Modern Fabulousity for a category by category analysis of the awards. I'm with ModFab on just about all of the will wins, except Dana Ivey for featured actress in a play. We diverge more when it comes to who should win in the categories.

I think Spring Awakening deserves the awards it will win, and I think it is the best musical of the year. I'm a fan of Grey Gardens, but it resonates mostly on an intellectual level.

Check out the official Tony Awards site. There's some delicious stuff there. And support the theater community on Sunday evening at 8. Check out my media box at the right for a song from Spring to get you in the mood.