I saw Next To Normal (Broadway) on 07/12/10. Overall, I'd say it was a 5-star rating. I'd summarize it by saying “Why We Go to the Theatre”

I had a n extraordinary time.

Why Do We Go to the Theatre?

We go to the theatre to be entertained, to be moved, to be transported. We go to learn, to wonder, to (hopefully) think. They say that theatre holds a mirror up to nature. NEXT TO NORMAL is a mirror both terrifyingly cracked and brutally clear.

Standing beneath the marquee of NEXT TO NORMAL on a return visit of several, I noticed the quote from THE WASHINGTON POST: “The future of American musicals.” That’s wrong—or not wholly right. This is not just the future of American musicals—this is the future of American theatre. Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey have more akin to Tennessee Williams than Jerry Herman or even Stephen Sondheim. NEXT TO NORMAL is the STREETCAR of this generation. Madness and humanity are inexorably intertwined; these are not archetypes or caricatures: these are fully-realized human beings—confused, self-deluding, sometimes frightening and always engaging. For all that they are, we welcome them and embrace the time we spend in their presence. We see ourselves in them, for good and otherwise.

If this is our STREETCAR, then Michael Grief is the Kazan. His direction is seamless and unobtrusive yet ever-present. This is a play that reminds us that life is messy. That endings are not necessarily closure and what closure there is can be painful. That growth comes hard and honesty can often be sledgehammer. And in all this, the show is delightful—even in the darkest moments, humor is found. There is love, family … life.

Not to take anything away for the glorious music. It has been a longtime since a score let the characters sing for themselves. There is never a time that we feel the composers are false to the individual voices. The musicality takes the story and storytelling to a whole new level. The extraordinary cast, helmed by Alice Ripley, gives new meaning to ensemble. The designs (scenic, costume, lighting) are both sparse and powerful, always guiding the action but never intrusive.

NEXT TO NORMAL is a play that doesn’t ask to be seen again: it demands it. With each visit, the production becomes more vivid, more layered, more affective.

That is a long answer to why we go to the theatre. Here’s the short one: NEXT TO NORMAL.