I almost did not watch Next to Normal. I had no intention to watch it but I was shopping with my friend Tom when he went to purchase the tickets at the Bank of America Theatre. Since my friends raved about this show, I was curious enough to buy one ticket for myself. Plus my friends were saying that Alice Ripley (the original broadway cast) will be reprising her role as Diana in the touring production here in Chicago.
The night came when we finally saw the show. And true enough, it did not live up to the hype that I heard from my friends. First, Alice Ripley's voice was annoying and not pleasant at all. I could not sympathize to her character because I got too distracted by her voice. The story itself about some mentally ill woman and her family did not strike a chord in my heart. I dunno, I just do not care much about the crazies. And the melody of most of the songs were not catchy too.
I am not saying the show was not without its good points. I did find 3 of the male cast to be yummy. And they were very obliging when we saw them later at the stage door. And I was a little sympathetic to the husband (Dan) of the crazy woman. I get his angst. I also did like 2 of the songs in the show namely "I'm Alive" and "I am the one". The set arrangement of 3 levels was ingenious although if you are seated in the nose bleed section, some scenes have obstructed views.
I give this show 3 out of 5 stars. Not the 5 stars I was expecting.
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