'Next to Normal' braves tough subject matter

The musical “Next to Normal” has repeatedly defied steep odds.

Even members of the musical's creative team and its touring cast acknowledge that this show, the winner of the Pulitzer Prize and three Tony Awards, has succeeded beyond their wildest expectations.

The first potential strike against “Next to Normal” — coming to Chicago's Bank of America Theatre — is its subject matter. It's about a woman named Diana Goodman coping with severe bipolar disorder and her family. Not exactly a story to sing about, is it?

“While it sounds like a very unlikely topic for a musical, it also provides a great opportunity to explore some very deep and intense personal levels of feeling,” said Brian Yorkey, a playwright and lyricist who with composer Tom Kitt won a 2009 Tony Award for their pop-rock score to “Next to Normal.”

“This is a story about people who spend most of their lives at extremes of emotion, so it made sense for them to sing most of the time.”

The other factor that almost made “Next to Normal” a noble failure was the mixed-to-negative critical reception that greeted the show when it debuted off-Broadway at New York's Second Stage Theatre in 2008. But the musical received a second life when the creative team was later invited to retool the show for a regional run at the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C.

“It's been a real privilege to be able to stick with this show for so long,” Yorkey said. “Most shows that don't hit a home run out of the gate don't get the second or third chance that we got.”

Indeed, the heavily revamped “Next to Normal” received rave reviews at the Arena Stage and soon transferred to Broadway, becoming a critical and box office hit at the intimate Booth Theatre for more than 725 performances.

Now on a national tour, “Next to Normal” is still a risky proposition for skeptical audiences despite all of its accolades.

“This is not your grandfather's musical,” said Asa Somers, an actor who originated the role of the Doctor off-Broadway and is now playing Diana's long-suffering husband, Dan, on tour. “This is going to take you deep down to the lowest lows and deliver you back into the light at the end.”

Somers is very complimentary of the tour cast, particularly his co-star Alice Ripley who is taking the uncommon step of recreating her Tony Award-winning role as Diana for the road.

“Alice brings a fire and intensity to the role,” Somers said. “It's just unparalleled and so audiences are really responding to that.”

While Somers said all audiences should be able to relate to “Next to Normal,” with familiar inter-family relationships and conflicts depicted onstage, the show has a particular relevance for those who have been affected by or related to someone with mental disorders.

At the stage door in San Diego after a show, Somers was approached by a man who appeared to be in his 50s. He told Somers that “his wife was more or less Diana and he was basically Dan,” the actor recalled.

“He started to weep and I didn't know what to do, so I reached out and hugged him and he hugged me back,” Somers said. “It was very encouraging. I have no control over the pieces I take as an actor, so it's seldom that you get to be a part of something that is not only a brilliant piece of theater, but is also an important work of, I don't know, education art?”

<b>“Next to Normal”</b>

<b>Location:</b> Bank of America Theatre, 18 W. Monroe St., Chicago, (800) 775-2000 or broadwayinchicago.com

<b>Showtimes:</b> Tuesday, April 26, through Sunday, May 8: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and on May 1 (8 p.m. on April 26); 8 p.m. Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday (and May 4).

<b>Tickets:</b> $37-$125