Sam Papier, Deonte Allen, Elizabeth Bouton Summerer, Ben Hess, Nico Fisher and Elliott Plunkett (Photo by Gloria Famirez Plunkett)
Reviewed by G. Bruce Smith
Kentwood Players
Through June 6
RECOMMENDED
(Clockwise from upper right) Ben Hess, Sam Papier, Nico Fisher, Elliott Plunkett, Deonte Allen, Elizabeth Bouton Summerer (Photo by Gloria Famirez Plunkett)
Next to Normal is the Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning rock musical that deals with the mental health struggles of a suburban mother and its effects on her family. The current production at Kentwood Players showcases an accomplished ensemble, with excellent singing and acting skills.
The musical (book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey and music by Tom Kitt) follows Diana (Elizabeth Bouton-Summerer) as she undertakes virtually all forms of mental health treatment — from a regimen of drugs to psychotherapy without meds to a controversial and risky procedure. Aside from bipolar disorder, Diana also has delusions around a tragedy that occurred to the family 17 years prior. None of the treatments is successful, and at one point Diana goes to a very dark place, but does her best to soldier on.
Meanwhile, her husband Dan (Ben Hess) struggles to do what he thinks is best for his wife, while aware of the price he pays as her spouse. In one of the musical numbers, he sings, “Mine is a slower suicide.” And teen daughter Natalie (Nico Fisher), a high-achieving pianist with dreams of going to Yale School of Music, chucks those hopes under the pressure of what’s happening at home. However, she does have the love and support of boyfriend Henry (Elliott Plunkett), who helps her through the difficult times. Rounding out the cast of characters is teenager Gabe (Sam Papier), who is not whom he initially seems to be.
Despite the serious subject matter, Normal is not without humor. For example, in the song “Who’s Crazy/My Psychopharmcologist and I,” there is the line, “These are a few of my favorite pills.” (Think Sound of Music.)
Normal (backed up by a five-member band), is challenging to perform, but it’s equally challenging for audiences. The story is told through 38 songs, with hardly any spoken dialogue. The complexities of the narrative are revealed through the lyrics, but it’s easy to miss some of these complexities because lyrics (at least the way they are written in Normal) are more difficult to follow than spoken dialogue. This is particularly true for many of the numbers where the singing by two or more characters overlaps.
But the cast, under the direction of Kirk Larson and musical direction of Catherine Rahm, rises to the challenge. Particularly notable is Bouton-Summerer as Diana, who captures the many manifestations of mental illness and the accompanying, sometimes devastating, emotions they engender.
Also worth noting is Shawn Summerer’s set design. It’s very simple — what you might expect in a community theater — but the designer has made the interesting choice of creating jagged set pieces that help evoke the unsettledness of the narrative.
Kentwood Players, 8301 Hindry Ave., L.A.; Fri.-Sat., 8 pm, Sat., 2 pm; thru June 6. kentwoodplayers.org. Running time: two hours and 30 minutes with an intermission.
