Next to Normal Book

Prepare for a long review, folks.

This play is utterly...staggering. Mind-boggling. AMAZING. It's honestly quite hard for me to put into words, but I'll try. The characters in this are so complex it's hard to articulate. We'll start with the main character: Diana Goodman.

Diana "Di" Goodman is a loving wife and mother, trying to do the best for her family. She is utterly miserable, bored with her husband and her daughter who "though a genius, is a freak." Her son is a charming "little shit" who she loves very much. She is utterly dedicated to her son, Gabe, and dotes on him completely, letting him get away with anything, even staying out much too late. She is a "sexy, sharp" woman, who anyone could see was never quite made for the life of stay at home mother/housewife. She is someone that you could see traveling the world, or something equally great and adventurous. Not stuck in a suburban home all day, caring for an overachieving, angry daughter and a son who doesn't seem to know how much control he has over her. You can see that when she had Gabe, her wild life sort of stopped. She was not made for motherhood; more forced into it. But when she had Gabe "everything seemed to make sense." Her life began to revolve around the little boy. Much less so Natalie. Even though she is very unhappy, she tries to be the best wife/mother that she can...although being bipolar depressive and hallucinating her dead son certainly hinders that.


Next is Dan Goodman, her husband. He is a sweet, loving, harried man, who works a stereotypical office job. I would say that he views himself as the only thing that holds their fragile family together. He can't quite relate to his flighty wife anymore, but stays by her side through thick and thin. Another thing I think is that he sees her spiral into madness but almost subconsciously blocks it out, his unrelenting, even puppylike optimism not exactly allowing him to see it. He can't exactly relate to his daughter either, but he does try, constantly calling "Language!" whenever she swears. He is a thankless character, but heartbreakingly loyal and faithful. In the end, that is his downfall.


Then there is Natalie Goodman, their sixteen-year-old daughter. She does schoolwork frantically, always trying to be the best so that she can escape from her miserable life and graduate early. She is wise beyond her years, yet extremely childish in other ways. She holds in a lot of anger at her mother, for various things. She can't quite relate to her father, and she can't see her brother. A sweet boy named Henry continually tries to woo her, but she just can't cope with him, sending him away multiple times.

Henry is Natalie's boyfriend, who is like a young Dan. He's a sweet young man of seventeen. He's "lazy, a loner, a bit of a stoner..." ("A bit" is an understatement.) The happy stoner sees nothing wrong with the world, managing to be unintentionally insensitive several times when it comes to the issues with Diana. All he really wants is for Natalie to be happy.


And finally..."Gabe. Gabriel." (Fans of the musical with get that quote.) He is described as "Dashing. Gentle. Bright. Playful. Everything a mother, etc." He's a charming young man capable of being terrible (and yes, I just quotes "Les Miserables"). It is never quite told whether he is a ghost, a figment of Diana's and later Dan's imagination, or a real manifestation. He encourages Diana to do things that are harmful to her, going to far as to motivate Diana to slash her wrists in a suicide attempt. Though he can seem wicked and malevolent, you can tell Gabe cares about his mother. He wants her to be happy, and he wants to come away with him, even if it makes the play take such a dark turn. He encourages her to flush away her medicine at one point, as well. He's scared for Diana to get cured, maybe because he's afraid to go away. He also loves his father, even if he doesn't show it directly until the end of the play. At the very beginning, we see him ask "Why does he hate me?" To which Diana answers, "Because you're a little twat." A joke is made, and the question is forgotten. In the end though, Gabe redeems himself.



This musical is raw; real. It takes a subject no one else would dare touch and just...tears it wide open, exposing it for what it is. No musical since RENT has done this, in the words of the amazing Anthony Rapp. And I must say, it is true.