Next to Normal is more than just
the best Broadway musical written about a suburban mom living with mental
illness. It’s also a show with a great
score that tells its story well. When I
listen to the cast recording, these are the songs I have to repeat before I
move on.
“I Miss the Mountains” – In this
deceptively gentle solo, Diana laments the sterile haze of medicine-induced stability. Though she knows how chaotic and damaging it
can be in her life, she longs for the extremes that sweep over her when her
illness isn’t held back.
Best
line: “Mountains make you crazy - / Here
it’s safe and sound. / My mind is somewhere hazy - / My feet are on the ground.
/ Everything is balanced here / And on an even keel. / Everything is perfect -
/ Nothing’s real…”
“I Am the One” – I almost paired
this song with “You Don’t Know,” which precedes it and segues directly into
it. Anyway, “I Am the One” finds Dan
responding to his wife’s accusations in the previous song that he can never
understand what it’s like to be at the mercy of your own mind. However, though Dan hasn’t experienced her
pain, he can’t help reminding her that he’s been there every step of the way to
help her carry it.
Best
line: “Are you bleeding? / Are you
bruised, / Are you broken? / And does it help you to know / That so am I?”
“Superboy and the Invisible Girl” – This one might be
my favorite of all. It was one of the
first I ever heard, so there’s a sentimental aspect to it, but I just love the
theme: Natalie’s bubbling-up frustration
at always being passed over in favor of Gabe, the absent golden boy with whom
she can’t compete. It’s raw, fierce, and
gorgeous.
Best
line: “Superboy and the Invisible Girl…
/ Son of steel and daughter of air. / He’s a hero, a lover, a prince - / She’s
not there.”
“I’m Alive” – I love this song. It’s such a catchy earbug, but at the same
time, the lyrics are so grim and unsettling.
It’s great on its own but even better in the context of the show, where
we see the specter that infects the entire house. Just a really interesting piece of theatre.
Best
line: “I am more than memory - / I am
what might be, / I am mystery. / You know me - / So show me.”
“Light” – This had to be a hard show to end,
but Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey did well with this finale. It’s bittersweet, melancholy at times, but it’s
also tinged with hope. It’s the song of
people who, though they stumble in the night, know that the morning will come
if they can just hold on. Really
beautiful.
Best
line: “The price of love is loss, / But
still we pay: / We love anyway.”
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