Diana (Jeni Hacker) tries to communicate with her husband, Dan (Ben Sandomir) (Photos by Justin Namon)
In Zoetic Stage’s nearly flawless production of the empathy-building musical, “Next to Normal,” a depressed Diana Goodman forcefully points at her husband as she sings the song, “You Don’t Know.”
You get the feeling that Diana (Jeni Hacker) is so frustrated with her husband, Dan (Ben Sandomir) that she wouldn’t mind ramming her finger through his chest.
Diana (Jeni Hacker) comforts her son, Gabe (Nate Promkul) while her doctor (Robert Koutras) looks on in the distance. (Photo by Justin Namon)
Neither Dan, nor anyone else, can claim to know how bad Diana’s mental illness is making her feel, she essentially sings in the song. However, we can listen to those suffering from mental health issues to show we care. In addition, we can experience the unflinchingly honest, yet compassionate, and touching “Next to Normal.” It allows us much more than a glimpse into Diana’s heart and soul.
Zoetic’s production runs through April 9 in the intimate Carnival Studio Theatre at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County.
The company’s mounting of the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning musical “Next to Normal” is among its finest work.
Under Stuart Meltzer’s sensitive, detail-oriented direction, a first-rate cast portrays the musical’s well-drawn characters with impressive naturalism. Whether these actors express their characters’ emotions with force or subtlety, (they do both equally well), they are always believable.
Dan (Ben Sandomir) kneels by his wife, Diana (Jeni Hacker) while Gabe (Nate Promkul) haunts in the distance. (Photo by Justin Namon)
“Next to Normal” ventures into the kind of grim, complicated subject matter that we have repeatedly seen the late great Stephen Sondheim tackle. Indeed, lyricist and librettist Brian Yorkey, as well as composer Tom Kitt, touch on bereavement, and the toll mental illness takes on patients and those closest to them. Desired feelings, such as a sense of normalcy, can become such a seemingly foreign notion that you no longer know what it means. Therefore, you might settle, as the musical’s characters do, for a life “next to normal.”
While “Next to Normal” is often dark, its creators included humor. Without it, the musical would be unbearably depressing. Furthermore, the lighter moments demonstrate that when you are dealing with something as serious and potentially traumatic as mental illness, the ability to smile and laugh is critical to surviving each day.
The plot revolves around a modern-day, suburban family where everyone has to deal with their mother Diana's combination of bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and manic depression.
She and the family have suffered a loss and now Dan, the father, tries to hold the family together, including the Goodmans’ teenage daughter, Natalie (Gabi Gonzalez) who, along with dealing with typical teen concerns, must cope with her ill mother.
Diana's doctor (Robert Koutras) makes a point to his patient (Jeni Hacker). (Photo by Justin Namon)
Her brother, Gabe, (Nate Promkul) reveals his own insecurities. This character is enigmatic. On the one hand, he can be gentle, sweet, and comforting. But he also haunts Diana. Indeed, his tormenting lyrics in the intense song “I’m Alive” suggest how severely Diana’s condition is affecting her.
I am flame and I am fire
I am destruction, decay, and desire
I'll hurt you
I'll heal you
I'm your wish, your dream come true
And I am your darkest nightmare too
I've shown you
I own you
As Gabe, Promkul, in a multi-faceted performance, sings the lyrics in a taunting manner and a loud, sharp voice. Frankly, Promkul’s Gabe looks and sounds like a bully at times such as these.
Contrastingly, he's also able to sink into the depths of helpless boy during another scene.
As Diana, Hacker’s expressive voice, face, and eyes take on vivid expressions of weariness, concentration, confusion, overwhelm, helplessness, terror, and sadness. And Hacker, sometimes placing her hand on her head to suggest that she is overwhelmed, segues seamlessly from one emotion to another.
In fact, the multi-award-winning, veteran actor, hardly a stranger to Zoetic Stage, delivers another award-winning performance. Indeed, Hacker deftly combines subtlety and intensity while remaining believable throughout.
The set for the Goodman home appears upside down, symbolically suggesting that Diana's illness has figuratively turned their lives upside down, photos by Justin Namon.
In an equally strong performance, Gonzalez, sometimes spewing sarcasm, imbues Natalie with convincing exasperation as she tries to live the life of a normal teenage girl while having to deal with a life turned upside down.
While watching and listening to her, we get the sense that Gonzalez’s Natalie feels helpless and overwhelmed as she searches for a respite from her painful life. Gonzalez demonstrates strong chemistry with Joseph Morell, who sincerely portrays Natalie’s sympathetic and romantic boyfriend, Henry.
As Diana’s husband and Natalie’s father, Dan, Sandomir, sometimes kneeling beside Hacker, is a consistent force as Dan with a seemingly endless supply of compassion for and patience with his ailing wife. However, Dan is only human, and he sometimes loses his patience. As Sandomir skillfully portrays Dan, the character’s bout of anger comes on suddenly, but the actor hardly gives a hint that he's about to explode; it appears to happen naturally.
In yet another strong performance, Robert Koutras lends Diana’s doctor compassion, honesty, and a strong determination to help her. He leans toward Diana, looks straight at her, and listens to her. In short, Koutras’s Dr. Madden, who sometimes places a supportive hand on Dan’s shoulder, is the kind of sincere and caring physician we all wished we had caring for us.
The aforementioned supportive gesture is the kind of detail with which Meltzer directs this production. He smartly stages it. For instance, characters often stand atop a piece of furniture or even atop the structure that represents the Goodman home.
Positioning the performers on high points and lower points symbolically suggests the highs and lows that Diana feels at various times due to her illness.
Part of David Goldstein’s clever set design includes a maze-like drawing or outline on the stage. Appropriately, it includes high points and low points. Also, the drawing stops at certain points and goes off in a different direction. There is an unpredictability to the maze-like outline, just as Diana’s topsy-turvy life is unpredictable.
The main set piece is a structure that resembles a real house. It appears upside down, a visual metaphor for the Goodman’s lives.
Often during the musical, more than one character sings different lyrics at the same time. This suggests a sense of chaos that has taken over Diana’s mind.
Speaking of music, “Next to Normal’s” songs are markedly different. Some, with sad, minor keys and chords, nicely communicate a sense of hopelessness. Other, brighter songs convey optimism and indomitability.
While the actors sing, live music accompanies them without drowning out the performers.
Also, behind the scenes, Preston Bircher’s lighting design varies in intensity, depending on a scene’s mood. At one point, blinking lights create an appropriately disorienting effect.
Zoetic Stage's takes us on an emotional journey, brings much-needed attention to mental health, and proves why "Next to Normal" is a vital musical.
Zoetic Stage’s production of “Next to Normal” continues through April 9 in the Carnival Studio Theater at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, 1300 Biscayne Blvd. in downtown Miami. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday. There is no evening show on Wednesday, April 5, while there is an additional matinee on Saturday, April 8. Tickets cost $60 and $65. For more information, call (305) 949-6722 or go to arshtcenter.org.
