Next to Normal at the Masquerade Theatre

The Masquerade Theatre selected an appropriate piece to acknowledge September as Suicide Awareness Month. The company is presenting Tom Kitt’s and Brian Yorkey’s Pulitzer Prize winning exploration of mental illness Next to Normal at their Riverside, NJ Studio. Your correspondent attended the opening night performance on the evening of Friday, September 22^nd.

Community theatre provides audiences with opportunities to attend Broadway shows in their own neighborhoods. For this show, the Masquerade Theatre brought Broadway to South Jersey.

            This run’s Vocal Director and piano accompanist, Jonathan Rose, has performed in several Broadway shows, including Next to Normal. Rose also contributed his talents to Masquerade’s production of The Fantasticks in December of 2022.

            In keeping with Masquerade’s tradition for innovation, Director Megan Knowlton Balne displayed immense creativity with blocking. Fully employing the studio’s space, Balne placed the piano in one corner of the theater. She added three different sets (designed by Scott Reynolds) in the room’s other corners. This allowed the performers to sing from each location. The positioning created a chorus effect.

            A set-up like this could have easily sounded like a cacophony of people shouting from the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Instead, the room’s acoustics allowed for the right amount of reverb. The actors projected their voices above the music and clearly enough for the audience to understand the words. One must compliment this achievement as an actual piano, not an electronic keyboard with volume control, played with them.     

            The actors also performed from the middle of the room. Director Balne arranged the seating into two rows on each side. This allowed the story’s action to take place in other settings. It also gave the audience the chance to see the actors up close.

            Kitt and Yorkey crafted a difficult piece to perform. It explored the uncomfortable topics of mental illness, suicide and drug abuse. The death of an infant served as the catalyst for all of this. Because of these factors, the narrative showed the steady dissolution of a family. To add to the dramatic challenges, the authors wrote this story as a musical.

            It takes a special kind of performer to confront the myriad adversities this piece offers.

            Jennifer Weir played the lead role of Diana. Currently the vocal director for Masquerade’s Lights Up student production series, Weir captured the music’s pathos through sublime vocal skills.

Angst beleaguered Diana. Weir expressed the how the character’s illness affected her through numbers such as the lugubrious lament “I Miss the Mountains.” She still found the remaining hope in the character’s soul through her duet with Scott Reynolds “A Light in the Dark.”

Scott Reynolds delivered a powerful performance as Diana’s husband, Dan. Reynolds used the appropriate facial expressions to show the character’s sorrow, anxiety and both warranted and unwarranted optimism. Reynolds illustrated these feelings through the emotion applied to the vocals.

Perhaps, Diana’s daughter Natalie (Courtney Bundens) suffered the most because of her mother’s condition. Bundens’ disgruntled delivery displayed the character’s sense of abandonment. The performer’s strong vocals reflected Natalie’s anger. Bundens depiction of Natalie’s increasing dependence on drugs also showed the eerie similarity between mother and daughter.

Matthew Moorhead’s performance as Natalie’s stoner boyfriend, Gabe, served as an excellent contrast to Bunden’s resentment. Moorhead’s convincing performance of a mellower figure and supportive confidant allowed Bundens to fully develop Natalie’s complex personality. The two combined for a spectacular catharsis when Natalie confessed her fear of becoming like her mother.

Jake Hufner entertained through a haunting performance of Diana’s son Gabe. Greg Hedler enhanced the show through an energetic interpretation of the “rock star” psychiatrist Dr. Madden.

As expected, Masquerade Theatre Managing Director Tommy Balne’s creative use of the smart lights heightened the performance. Balne’s use of the blues, whites and yellows created the illusion of a sunny day inside the theater. The reds brought about a aura of terror and madness.    

            Connor Twigg and Michael Krowicki served as a phenomenal stage crew. They set up and struck multiple sets in the center aisle. The did so quickly without delaying the performance.     

            In the playbill, Director Balne wrote of a hope that audiences would leave the theater “enlightened and inspired.” The passion and skill that the cast members brought to Next to Normal ensured that those in attendance would feel better for the experience.

            Next to Normal runs through September 30^th at the Masquerade Theatre.

***FULL DISCLOSURE: The next show on the Masquerade Theatre’s stage, The Victim, is a play I wrote. The performance dates are October 13, October 14 and October 15. Several people mentioned in my review of Next to Normal are participating in that show, as well. Megan Knowlton Balne is directing. Jennifer Weir, Connor Twigg and Michael Krowicki are performing.