A bold musical based on the themes of family and mental illness finds a home at the ADC theatre!
Next To Normal is a Tony Award-Winning rock musical. The show follows Diana Goodman and her family, as she lives her suburban life. However, Diana lives with Bipolar disorder and is conflicted by her past. As she slowly develops more symptoms, Diana struggles to connect with her family. Next To Normal has an incredible score by Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey: giving a very unique sound. The Pied Pipers are an amateur theatre group based in Cambridge. Their productions are consistently outstanding, especially Pippin last Spring.
The set is created to make it look like an everyday living room: bringing you into the sense everything is ‘normal’. The lighting is well utilised for the different rock songs. Overall, the production was phenomenal! Next to Normal is very emotionally heavy and this production was able to capture this perfectly. In terms of acting, everyone did a brilliant performance and showed the emotion of each scene authentically. Toby Walden plays Henry and Michael Broom plays Dr Madden. Both actors were able to add to the characters on stage: helping progress the story really well. As well as this, they had great voices and were able to use these well!
Oliver Oxley plays Gabe, the son of Dan and Diana. Oxley played Pippin last year in Pippin and was beyond impressive with his talent. The same energy and embodiment of the character retunes in Next To Normal. Oxley’s rendition of ‘I’m Alive’ was fantastic and the emotion he showed in his performance was captivating. Elin Gregory plays Natalie, the daughter of Dan and Diana who is suffering from her own mental health. Gregory was fantastic in Hadestown: Teen Edition and continues to be a force to be reckoned with. Gregory and Oxley’s version of ‘Superboy and the Invisible Girl’ was powerful and great to listen too! Steve Nicholson plays Dan, the husband to Diana. Nicholson was amazing in Fun Home, and has incredible vocals in the show too: as well as strong acting. His dynamic alongside all of the family was outstanding! Vikki Jones plays Diana, the main driving force of this narrative. Jones has been phenomenal is previous shows we’ve seen her in, including Jesus Christ Superstar and Unfolding. Jones’ vocals are insanely strong and show such control: being able to make each word emotionally powerful. Jones’ rendition of ‘I Miss the Mountains’ was incredibly strong and the emotions shown in her acting was phenomenal!
Another phenomenal performance by the Pied Pipers! I’m looking forward to We Will Rock You in September!
Max
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