A: Is for art that imatates life

Millions of people have bipolar disorder. It used to be called manic depression and for those who have it, their lives and those around them are like an emotional roller coaster. One minute bliss and in a split second it descends everyone into a cataclysmic hell. Thus the subject of "Next to Normal" a rock musical playing on Broadway right now. Dark and edgy, Diana (Tony Award winning performance by Alice Ripely) wreaks havoc on her family's life. Her unreality starts off in the euphoric stage, blissfully telling her daughter she's about to have sex and descends into the manic as she makes sandwiches on the floor. You see this has been going on for years and is just another episode in the day of her life and for those she shares it with.

The cast is remarkable. Starting with Alice Ripley who peals Diana's glitches like a onion ripe and ready to explode. Dan (J. Robert Spencer) is the long suffering husband who even in the end loses or is he finally set free. Natalie (Jennifer Damiano)Dan and Diana's 16 year old daughter is a younger version of Diana and through her, we she the signs of this disorder starting. Louis Hobson as the doctors in Diana's life and Adam Chandler-Berat as Natalie's boyfriend also give standout performances but it is Gabe (Aaron Tveit), who gives a performance that all one can say, is here is the start of a star. He reveals the manipulative side of this disorder with cunning glee. He is manic to a tee.

The show is nearly completely sung and here in lies the problem of why this isn't a great musical and it should be. The actors emotions explode through the music but there is not one complete song. When explaining to my friend, a moment after the first act, we went to look for the songs titles and there are none. No music listed to reference to and therefore unforgettable. Brian Yorkey's lyrics and the book are so strong and realistic that it makes up for a score that in a word, lacks. Tom Kitt needs to study William Finn who has taken subjects that are not so simple and makes them tangible and singable. At the end of the show I actually felt I had been screamed at the whole way through. if the music was suppose to represent unsuppressed anger, then it did what it was suppose to do, but in the words of Sondheim "That's just not a hummable melody."

Director Michael Greif's (RENT) makes us understand the frenetic race all of these characters feel within and paces it so the audience, has gone through years of therapy in two hours. The ticket price alone is worth the cost of psychotherapy and is quicker and much less painless. After Diana goes through pills, suicide attempts and Electric Shock Therapy she tells her daughter, no more and the audience breaks out into a collective sob. You see more than a few of us had parents like this or relatives or friends and the number of casualties that lie in this wake are astounding. Even the end, (which I will not reveal) is truthful. This is a disorder that leaves wounds to those it touches and finally it is here, like it or not for the world to see. Go see this musical it could just heal you and that is a F.A.C.T.

Next to Normal
Open run. Booth Theatre, 222 W. 45th St. (betw. 8th & 9th Aves.),$25-$115.