Post Gazette: "For the Goodman family, life is anything but normal.
On the surface, Diana and Dan are a loving couple with a lovely family. Daughter Natalie is an accomplished pianist who's trying to secure admission to an Ivy League college.
Son Gabe is a hunky teen who's referred to by his sister as 'Superboy.'
But so much in 'Next to Normal,' which opens Tuesday at the Benedum as part of the PNC Broadway Series, dances on the edge of darkness.
2 comments:
Although the subject matter might be "disturbing," I didn't think the show was shocking at all to today's audiences (not that I'm trying to speak for every single audience member who has seen N2N). Her performance when I saw her in Los Angeles was a bit on the verge of embarrassing, due to the fact that her voice is pretty much gone from singing that pop score 8 shows a week. I do wonder how many performances Alice Ripley will actually go on, since I've been hearing that her standby has been filling in quite a bit.
I agree with Hiro that Next to Normal isn't so much disturbing as it is engaging. Most people I have spoken to thought the show was simply stunning. I would, however, venture to say that Alice Ripley distracts from the production's overall effect. Her vocal quality and health is one thing, thanks for bringing that one up Hiro, but the fact that another Broadway Deva was cast in a show to rake in money is another thing entirely. It has gotten to a point where if Liza Minnelli or Bernadette Peters are in shows that I can't even take the production seriously anymore. It's not even a question of if they can give a good performance, just that people will see the show if Liza or Alice is in it. It brings down the quality of the art.
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