Things to Do in Miami: Zoetic Stage’s “Next to Normal” at Arsht Center

The complicated interactions inside dysfunctional households have fueled nice dramas since historic instances. Hundreds of works by theater historical past’s best playwrights come to thoughts, however Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey’s Next to Normal is extraordinary.

So is Zoetic Stage’s new manufacturing of the rock-pop musical, which was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 2010, the 12 months Zoetic was launched. Since it started performing in its Carnival Studio Theater house at Miami’s Arsht Center, Zoetic has staged 37 exhibits — world premieres, performs, musicals, solo exhibits, and revues — in that point, profitable important acclaim, a loyal following, and dozens of Carbonell Awards.

But this thirty eighth present? Next to Normal is solely excellent, with each aspect combining to ship a powerhouse inventive and emotional expertise that manages to be each heartbreaking and exhilarating.

Kitt and Yorkey’s six-actor musical a couple of spouse and mom’s lengthy, deepening battle with bipolar dysfunction has had a number of wonderful main productions in South Florida — by Actors’ Playhouse in 2012, Slow Burn Theatre in 2013, and Measure for Measure/Infinite Abyss in 2018. Whether you could have or have not skilled the present earlier than, Zoetic’s Next to Normal is must-see theater for a lot of causes.

Artistic director Stuart Meltzer, whose program notes discuss with his late mom’s battle with bipolar dysfunction, brings a depth of understanding to staging the piece. Because of his private historical past, he intentionally hadn’t seen a manufacturing nor listened to the unique forged recording earlier than engaged on it for Zoetic.

Meltzer’s model is immersively intimate. Theatergoers seated within the first row are enveloped within the household’s conflicts and in these rarer moments when recollections or emotions conveyed in track turn into the catalysts for pleasure, wistfulness, and hope. The up-close staging alternative provides the viewers the sensation of dwelling every second in tandem with the actors.

Accompanied expressively by music director Caryl Fantel and 5 different musicians, the six performers are beautiful in each configuration — solos, duets, small teams, and the complete forged. Indeed, once they’re all singing collectively, it is mind-boggling that only a half-dozen actors are creating such an excellent sound.

Five-time Carbonell winner Jeni Hacker performs Diana Goodman, the girl whose bipolar dysfunction surfaced after a sudden, horrible loss almost 18 years earlier. Though a twist partway by means of the primary act reveals Diana’s main delusion, audiences need to expertise that shock firsthand, so we can’t spoil it right here.

As Diana, Hacker’s face is commonly etched with anguish or confusion, although her temper adjustments are quicksilver and all the time acceptable to the second. She is unequivocally among the many most expressive singer-actors within the area, a fact highlighted as she sings “I Miss the Mountains,” “I Dreamed a Dance,” “Didn’t I See This Movie?” and extra. Her Diana is one other triumph in a profession that has included such difficult roles as Fosca in Passion, Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd, and Helen in Fun Home.

Ben Sandomir performs Diana’s affected person, loyal and supportive husband, Dan, a person as long-suffering as his spouse. Alternating between frustration (“He’s Not Here”) and hope (“A Light within the Dark”), Sandomir finds the tamped-down exasperation and longing in his character.

Two teenagers filled with angst, insecurity, and rage additionally inhabit the Goodmans’ house.

Gabe (Nate Promkul), simply turning 18, chafes at his mom’s overprotective parenting and repays her, most frequently with surliness. Promkul, who was so memorable as Anthony Hope in Zoetic’s Sweeney Todd, has a robust voice completely suited to this present’s rating. In Next to Normal, his defiant “I’m Alive” and disturbingly persuasive “There’s a World” illustrate the good vary of his expertise.

Gabe’s 16-year-old sister Natalie (Gabi Gonzalez) is an instructional perfectionist and pianist. Her punishing work ethic is designed to get her forever-distracted mom to note her. She rages as she sings of the sibling establishment in “Superboy and the Invisible Girl,” then segues right into a type of partying-and-pills riot after she acquires a supportive boyfriend named Henry (Joseph Morell). Both actors have lovely voices, and their scenes collectively have the friction of battle and the sweetness of budding romance.

Robert Koutras performs a pair of therapists, including his robust voice to the combo. Dr. Fine (about whom Diana sings the lilting “My Psychopharmacologist and I”) juggles completely different drugs and doses till, lastly, Diana tells him, “I do not really feel like myself. I imply, I do not really feel something.” He replies chillingly, “Hm. Patient secure.”

After an impulsive resolution to flush her meds down the bathroom, Diana regresses, then goes to see a brand new therapist Dr. Madden (Koutras). He has been described as a “rock star” shrink, and the delusional Diana has flashes of seeing him that method as he awkwardly rips open his staid white coat to disclose leather-based and chains. It’s humorous for a minute, however quickly, pissed off by Diana’s lack of progress, Dr. Madden recommends electroconvulsive remedy (ECT), erasing an incredible chunk of her reminiscence.

Operating on the identical excessive inventive wavelength as Meltzer and the forged, the Next to Normal design workforce has outdone itself, artfully enhancing the present’s intimacy.

As you are taking your seat, you see a high-backed grey armchair resting on a black flooring with jagged white strains, just like the cracks from an earthquake. Black velvet drapes conceal a part of the taking part in space, however they’re rapidly pulled open to disclose the Goodman household’s home — which is the other way up. David Goldstein’s first set design for Zoetic is genius, a visible metaphor for the state of a household in torment.

Preston Bircher’s delicate lighting design displays the characters’ roller-coaster feelings, and when he bathes the home in a colorfully dappled, nearly psychedelic design, it displays Diana’s delusional psychological state.

Matt Corey’s sound design is perfection on this manufacturing. The phrases, the music, and the results are crystal clear, and chances are you’ll end up marveling on the intricacies of Yorkey’s ebook and lyrics.

Costume designer Marina Pareja attire the petite Hacker principally in blouses or lengthy sweaters and tank tops with denims, the suburban mother’s uniform. Sandomir’s Dan is an architect whose look is snug however skilled. The children’ highschool apparel is convincingly age-appropriate. Koutras’ smooth Docs make him appear to be a person filled with confidence — or himself.

In the world of musical theater, there are all types of exhibits. Some, as inventive and visually dazzling as they might be, supply nothing extra profound than leisure and escape, precisely what their audiences need. Next to Normal takes you on a far deeper journey that’s observant, generally painfully truthful, in the end transferring in a method that leaves you considering and feeling lengthy after you have gone house.

And within the case of Zoetic’s manufacturing, you may add “thrilling” as an outline. This is South Florida theater at its greatest.

– Christine Dolen, ArtburstMiami.com

Next to Normal. Through April 9, at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, 1300 Biscayne Blvd., Miami; 305-949-6722; arshtcenter.org. Tickets price $60 to $65. Performances happen 7:30 p.m. Wednesday by means of Saturday and three p.m. Sunday (no night present Wednesday, April 5, further matinee Saturday, April 8).