The El Paso Community College Theatre Ensemble's production of "Next to Normal"
Often hailed as one of the greatest musicals of the 21st century thus fare, Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey's Pulitzer Prize winning musical, Next to Normal, is a brilliant piece of musical theatre that is very emotionally heavy and heart wrenching. It is the story of a woman named Diana (played in this production by Rachel Robins), who is suffering from a worsening mental disorder and how it impacts the people in her family. Kitt and Yorkey truly created a beautiful show that is a testament to what is possible in storytelling. At the time the show opened on Broadway, it was one of the first musicals to deal with depression and mental illness of this degree (to my knowledge, I feel like that is incorrect) in a relatable and provocative way. The El Paso Community College Theatre Ensemble's near terrific production of Next to Normal is able to encapsulate the show in a way that is effective and tragically beautiful.
Brian Yorkey's book and lyrics, paired with Tom Kitt's music, is intelligent and incredibly well written. The score is stunning and the book is phenomenal. It really is no wonder that the show is one of nine musicals to have ever won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. There is no denying that the show's written material doesn't have very many issues (potentially none) and is one of the most well crafted musicals in recent memory. In fact, throughout the show, I found myself wondering how good the musical that beat Next to Normal for the Best Musical Tony Award, Billy Elliot the Musical (which I haven't seen), actually was in order for it to have beat the cutting-edge, Next to Normal. This thought is fascinating to me, given that later shows that have a very similar tone to Next to Normal have won the Tony Award for Best Musical, most notably, Fun Home.
The EPCC's production of Next to Normal hit an excellent stride and found its footing early on in the production. The cast was very talented and carried the show just as much as the impeccable book and score did. The production wasn't perfect, as there were certainly questionable moments, but for the most part it was greatly performed and had the audience feeling all of the emotions. Even having seen the show before, there were still chill inducing moments because it is such a compelling show that gives thoughtful insight into those coping with mental illness and how families react to it.
Director, Mike Backes, did quite an admirable job directing the show. I liked most of the fast paced blocking and I appreciated the way some of the the numbers moved, in addition to the energy that was behind the staging. The show was mostly directed very well. However, there were small moments in the blocking that I felt could have been done better. For example, I found that people walked on and offstage too often and some moments in the show were oddly placed on the stage. The scene changes were also rather choppy and at times, distracting. As a whole, the blocking was good, but there were more than a few moments that I felt could have been staged more effectively and efficiently. At the end of the show, there is a moment where Diana's son (played by Hugo Arreola) says to his father, Dan (played by Anthony Michael Stokes), the words, "Hi, Dad." In most productions of Next to Normal, this is one of the most poignant moments of the entire show, but in this production there was no time for it to sit since he ran offstage directly after saying the line, robbing the moment of its emotional intensity. Everything leading up to the moment was striking, except for the actual moment that the scene was leading up too. Something was missing. The rest of the show carried the perfect amount of emotional weight, but that moment in this production simply didn't work for me.
One more thing that didn't work for me was the fact that right after Arreola said "Hi, Dad", there was a blackout and the cast came onstage to take their bows. This confused me. I said, "Wait a second, isn't there a whole other song? That finale isn't exactly a song that can double as a curtain call song." Then I realized that the finale of the show, a song called "Light," was completely cut from the production. This bothered me for a few reasons. First of all, the song wraps up the entire show. It gives you an idea of what happens to the characters and it lets you know that somehow, everything will be fine for this family. Without the song, the show never truly wraps up and there is a large hole in the show without the presence of this song. I don't know if anyone who hasn't seen the show will feel the show is incomplete without the proper finale, but the fact that the song wasn't there was so glaring to me. Second of all, you just don't get to cut songs from Tony and Pulitzer Prize winning musicals. I don't see why you would want to fix what it is already nearly perfect. I don't see any good reason for the song to be missing, therefore it should be in the show. I was not happy by this change and I will probably be talking about the fact that the song wasn't featured for the next seven years. However, this did give me something fun to think about. Imagine all of your favorite musicals without the last scene. Some of them are funny.
The cast was excellent. Rachel Robins played the role of Diana with such a natural ease that reminded me of Julia K. Harriman, who I saw play Eliza in Hamilton earlier this year. Robins was exquisite in each of her numbers, but the one where she moved me the most was "I Miss The Mountains," which she performed perfectly. Robins is very young for the role, but it never bothered me throughout the show because of how gorgeously she played the multi-layered role, which is surely one of the most emotionally and physically demanding roles for a woman to play in musical theatre.
Robins played very well alongside Anthony Michael Stokes' brilliantly reserved and distant (though those characteristics change as the show goes on) portrayal of Dan. Robins and Stokes worked best with each other when they were fighting, which brought an interesting dynamic to their relationship. Also delivering a rather nice performance was Nichole Hardgrove as Natalie, Diana's daughter, who did a suitable job embodying the invisible girl that Natalie is made out to be. Hardgrove did a very lovely job delivering "Superboy and the Invisible Girl," in addition to her other numbers.
Hugo Arreola was wonderful as Diana's son, Gabe, and was one of the most impressive parts of the show. Gabe is more or less the antagonist of the show and Arreola did an excellent job of capturing the unsettling nature of the role. In addition to this, his voice was remarkable and his number, "I'm Alive," was one of the true highlights of the show. Also in the cast at the performance I attended was Benjiman Ontiveros (Henry, Natalie's boyfriend), Nicholas Nieder (Dr. Fine), and Cristina Zermeno (Dr. Madden.), who all did exceptional jobs in their perspective roles.
I have never been a fan of using projections instead of actual set pieces, but when done well, I can somewhat appreciate them. In this show, the projections never really looked like anything against Dominic Pagano's scenic design, which was large in its simplicity. I think that the show would have benefited by completely axing the projections because seeing how off kilter and faded they were was just a distraction from everything else that was happening onstage. The show would have still worked very well if they just did it against the white walls and panels. Pagano's lighting design proficiently complemented his set and I feel the projections took away from that.
Even with its issues, the EPCC production was still a gratifying production of a phenomenal show. With or without the finale, it is still Next to Normal as we know it and it is worth seeing for the quality of the written material and the pleasurable performances of each member of the 7 person cast. Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey's musical is one of the most emotionally stirring musicals I have ever seen and this production is not a bad introduction to those who have not seen it. All in all, this was a satisfying theatrical experience and I'd recommend it to anyone. It is contemporary musical theatre at its finest and is sublime in many different ways. Go see it.
The El Paso Community College Production of Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey's NEXT TO NORMAL was directed by Mike Backes, Music Directed by Rick McDole, Designed by Dominic Pagano, and the cast consisted of:
Diana- RACHEL ROBINS
Gabe- HUGO ARREOLA
Dan- ANTHONY MICHAEL STOKES
Natalie- NICHOLE HARDGROVE
Henry/Dr. Fine- NICHOLAS NEIDER
Dr. Fine/Henry- BENJAMIN ONTIVEROS
Dr. Madden- CRISTINA ZERMENO
Performance Reviewed: July 14, 2018 (8:00 PM)
Brian Yorkey's book and lyrics, paired with Tom Kitt's music, is intelligent and incredibly well written. The score is stunning and the book is phenomenal. It really is no wonder that the show is one of nine musicals to have ever won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. There is no denying that the show's written material doesn't have very many issues (potentially none) and is one of the most well crafted musicals in recent memory. In fact, throughout the show, I found myself wondering how good the musical that beat Next to Normal for the Best Musical Tony Award, Billy Elliot the Musical (which I haven't seen), actually was in order for it to have beat the cutting-edge, Next to Normal. This thought is fascinating to me, given that later shows that have a very similar tone to Next to Normal have won the Tony Award for Best Musical, most notably, Fun Home.
The EPCC's production of Next to Normal hit an excellent stride and found its footing early on in the production. The cast was very talented and carried the show just as much as the impeccable book and score did. The production wasn't perfect, as there were certainly questionable moments, but for the most part it was greatly performed and had the audience feeling all of the emotions. Even having seen the show before, there were still chill inducing moments because it is such a compelling show that gives thoughtful insight into those coping with mental illness and how families react to it.
Director, Mike Backes, did quite an admirable job directing the show. I liked most of the fast paced blocking and I appreciated the way some of the the numbers moved, in addition to the energy that was behind the staging. The show was mostly directed very well. However, there were small moments in the blocking that I felt could have been done better. For example, I found that people walked on and offstage too often and some moments in the show were oddly placed on the stage. The scene changes were also rather choppy and at times, distracting. As a whole, the blocking was good, but there were more than a few moments that I felt could have been staged more effectively and efficiently. At the end of the show, there is a moment where Diana's son (played by Hugo Arreola) says to his father, Dan (played by Anthony Michael Stokes), the words, "Hi, Dad." In most productions of Next to Normal, this is one of the most poignant moments of the entire show, but in this production there was no time for it to sit since he ran offstage directly after saying the line, robbing the moment of its emotional intensity. Everything leading up to the moment was striking, except for the actual moment that the scene was leading up too. Something was missing. The rest of the show carried the perfect amount of emotional weight, but that moment in this production simply didn't work for me.
One more thing that didn't work for me was the fact that right after Arreola said "Hi, Dad", there was a blackout and the cast came onstage to take their bows. This confused me. I said, "Wait a second, isn't there a whole other song? That finale isn't exactly a song that can double as a curtain call song." Then I realized that the finale of the show, a song called "Light," was completely cut from the production. This bothered me for a few reasons. First of all, the song wraps up the entire show. It gives you an idea of what happens to the characters and it lets you know that somehow, everything will be fine for this family. Without the song, the show never truly wraps up and there is a large hole in the show without the presence of this song. I don't know if anyone who hasn't seen the show will feel the show is incomplete without the proper finale, but the fact that the song wasn't there was so glaring to me. Second of all, you just don't get to cut songs from Tony and Pulitzer Prize winning musicals. I don't see why you would want to fix what it is already nearly perfect. I don't see any good reason for the song to be missing, therefore it should be in the show. I was not happy by this change and I will probably be talking about the fact that the song wasn't featured for the next seven years. However, this did give me something fun to think about. Imagine all of your favorite musicals without the last scene. Some of them are funny.
The cast was excellent. Rachel Robins played the role of Diana with such a natural ease that reminded me of Julia K. Harriman, who I saw play Eliza in Hamilton earlier this year. Robins was exquisite in each of her numbers, but the one where she moved me the most was "I Miss The Mountains," which she performed perfectly. Robins is very young for the role, but it never bothered me throughout the show because of how gorgeously she played the multi-layered role, which is surely one of the most emotionally and physically demanding roles for a woman to play in musical theatre.
Robins played very well alongside Anthony Michael Stokes' brilliantly reserved and distant (though those characteristics change as the show goes on) portrayal of Dan. Robins and Stokes worked best with each other when they were fighting, which brought an interesting dynamic to their relationship. Also delivering a rather nice performance was Nichole Hardgrove as Natalie, Diana's daughter, who did a suitable job embodying the invisible girl that Natalie is made out to be. Hardgrove did a very lovely job delivering "Superboy and the Invisible Girl," in addition to her other numbers.
Hugo Arreola was wonderful as Diana's son, Gabe, and was one of the most impressive parts of the show. Gabe is more or less the antagonist of the show and Arreola did an excellent job of capturing the unsettling nature of the role. In addition to this, his voice was remarkable and his number, "I'm Alive," was one of the true highlights of the show. Also in the cast at the performance I attended was Benjiman Ontiveros (Henry, Natalie's boyfriend), Nicholas Nieder (Dr. Fine), and Cristina Zermeno (Dr. Madden.), who all did exceptional jobs in their perspective roles.
I have never been a fan of using projections instead of actual set pieces, but when done well, I can somewhat appreciate them. In this show, the projections never really looked like anything against Dominic Pagano's scenic design, which was large in its simplicity. I think that the show would have benefited by completely axing the projections because seeing how off kilter and faded they were was just a distraction from everything else that was happening onstage. The show would have still worked very well if they just did it against the white walls and panels. Pagano's lighting design proficiently complemented his set and I feel the projections took away from that.
Even with its issues, the EPCC production was still a gratifying production of a phenomenal show. With or without the finale, it is still Next to Normal as we know it and it is worth seeing for the quality of the written material and the pleasurable performances of each member of the 7 person cast. Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey's musical is one of the most emotionally stirring musicals I have ever seen and this production is not a bad introduction to those who have not seen it. All in all, this was a satisfying theatrical experience and I'd recommend it to anyone. It is contemporary musical theatre at its finest and is sublime in many different ways. Go see it.
 | ||||
The El Paso Community College Production of Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey's NEXT TO NORMAL was directed by Mike Backes, Music Directed by Rick McDole, Designed by Dominic Pagano, and the cast consisted of:
Diana- RACHEL ROBINS
Gabe- HUGO ARREOLA
Dan- ANTHONY MICHAEL STOKES
Natalie- NICHOLE HARDGROVE
Henry/Dr. Fine- NICHOLAS NEIDER
Dr. Fine/Henry- BENJAMIN ONTIVEROS
Dr. Madden- CRISTINA ZERMENO
Performance Reviewed: July 14, 2018 (8:00 PM)
Comments
Post a Comment