Wednesday, July 8, 2015
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By PATRICK MULVIHILL
News staff writer
CAST Theater’s summer play is anything
but ordinary — “Next to Normal” covers
the dark terrain of mental disorder and
family dysfunction, but treads with humor
and tenderness.
The musical opens at the Columbia Cen-
ter for the Arts Friday.
Director Mark Steighner described that
play as “not purely escapist fantasy, but
rooted in reality.”
“I chose ‘Next to Normal’ for a number of
reasons: it is an extremely well written
piece with interesting, varied music and a
theme to which nearly everyone can relate,
which is that behind the facade of normal-
cy, every family has challenges and there is
no ‘normal,’” said Steighner.
“Next to Normal,” with story and lyrics
by Brian Yorkey and music by Tom Kitt,
won three TONY Awards in 2009, including
Best Musical Score and the 2010 Pulitzer
Prize. It was also chosen as “one of the
year’s ten best shows” by critics around the
country, including The Los Angeles Times,
The Washington Post, Rolling Stone and
The New York Times.
At six members, the cast is small. The
staging and costume design are fairly mini-
mal, mirroring a typical suburban setting.
“It is physically and conceptually a good
fit for the Columbia Center Theatre, which
is challenging when trying to stage large
scale musicals,” said Steighner.
Despite its small physical scope, Yorkey’s
play is emotionally complex. It juggles playful
humor with biting commentaries on family
dysfunction, and the inability of the main-
stream health industry to offer a remedy.
Emily Vawter plays Diana Goodman, a
stay-at-home mom whose best friend is her
medicine cabinet — she has been struggling
with bipolar disorder for 16 years, and even
the act of making sandwiches for breakfast
is a battle.
Peter Tappert plays her husband, Dan,
whose intentions are good, but are dwarfed
by the challenges his family faces.
“Although the subject matter is serious,
it is handled with a great deal of humor,”
said Steighner. “It’s not that the writers
make light of mental illness, but that they
show characters dealing with their chal-
lenges with a sense of irony and humor, the
way many people do.”
Music is crucial to the production, and
runs continuously throughout — often
when characters are speaking, as an under-
current. Actors will be mic’d up, singing
over a live five-piece band which includes a
cello, electric guitar, bass, drums and piano.
Steighner said the musical has been de-
scribed as a “rock opera,” but he feels that
title is inaccurate. The play blends influ-
ences of rock, pop and traditional stage
tunes, but it tells its story with large por-
tions of dialogue as well as song.
The play is no easy undertaking, but
Steighner described the cast as “hard-work-
ing” and “totally dedicated to making the
show a success.
“For me, it has been fun working with a
small cast for a change, especially a cast of
generally experienced actors who know how
to do their own research and character
work,” said Steighner.
The play opens at 7:30 p.m. Friday at 215
Cascade Ave in downtown Hood River. For
more information, go to
www.columbiaarts.org/performances/next-
to-normal.
OUT OF BODY de-
scribes Diana Good-
man’s (Emily Vawter)
frame of mind as she
sings from a raised
stage overlooking her
own medical opera-
tion. Dr. Madden (Joe
Garoutte) and his as-
sistant (Duncan
Krummel) check her
vital signs. At right,
Gabe
Goodman
haunts his mother
while his sister, Natal-
ie (Arianna Blood-
good) comforts her.
Bottom right, the cast
sings the finale song,
“Light,” about find-
ing solace amid life’s
extremes. “Sons and
daughters, husbands,
wives … can fight
that fight. There will
be light,” sings the
cast.
Photos by
Partrick Mulvihill
TICKETS AND TIMES
“Next to Normal,” by Brian Yorkey and Tom Kitt; directed by Mark Steighner.
Shows are July 10, 11, 17, 18, 23, 24, and 25 at 7:30 p.m.; July 19 at 2 p.m.
Tickets: $18 for adults, $15 for students and seniors 62+, and $12 for groups of 10 or more.
Tickets are available online below, at Waucoma Bookstore, and in the gallery
at Columbia Center for the Arts, 215 Cascade Ave in downtown Hood River.
DIANA AND DAN, husband and wife, work together to recover memories Diana lost after an opera-
tion. Right, a five-piece band lead by director Mark Steighner provides the score and accompaniment
for the musical. The songs blend elements of rock, pop and traditional stage tunes.