“To me, Next to Normal is like an independent film,” writes the musical’s director, Michael Greif, in his liner notes to the original Broadway cast album, and that’s a good way to think about this small-scaled show (six actors, seven musicians) that began Off-Broadway and, in truth, is closer to the kind of serious work that Off-Broadway produces rather than the lighter, larger fare that tends to play on Broadway in the early 21st century, or that, by analogy, is closer to the kind of low-budget independent film that is first seen at the Sundance Film Festival than to a big-budget Hollywood movie that opens in thousands of theaters. Actually, though, there is a place for both. Usually, you can still find one of those Sundance-type movies playing in one (small) theater of a multiplex on most weekends, just as you can still find one musical on Broadway that isn’t aimed at children or tourists for whom English is a second language. Recent examples include Light in the Piazza and Spring Awakening, and like them, Next to Normal captured the Tony Award for best score. The indie film-like story is a contemporary examination of an American family in which a trauma has unbalanced the mind of the mother, leading to encounters with the prescription drugs and therapy that characterize current medical treatment for mental illness. Brian Yorkey, who wrote the book and lyrics, tells the story in vernacular language, and composer Tom Kitt sets the words to guitar-driven pop/rock in a style that’s been familiar since the late ’60s; it’s Tommy one minute and James Taylor’s greatest hits the next. The acoustic guitars and lilting piano themes come out when the singers are expressing sensitive feelings, and when they get angry the electric guitars play aggressive power chords and the drums pound. Both moods occur frequently, as the family attempts to work through its troubles. Alice Ripley (also a Tony winner for the show) leads a good cast that might have been a bit more varied vocally. (Did all four male actors have to be similar-sounding tenors? On disc, it’s confusing.) Like many independent films, Next to Normal is largely a downbeat character study although, unlike most independent films, it ends with a hopeful, anthemic song, “Light,” which isn’t necessarily justified by the conclusion of the plot, but might be needed to send the audience out with a bit of optimism. This is not the show (or the score) for people looking for something to see after Mary Poppins and Shrek (to name two musicals on Broadway at the same time). But for musical theater fans hoping for some degree of intellectual heft and emotional maturity, it’s a must-see. – William Ruhlmann
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