The everyday routine of Diana Goodman revolves around pharmaceuticals.
She takes prescription pills with breakfast, lunch and dinner; she downs anti-depressants and swallows cocktails of medications to deal with a dizzying menu of mental issues. She’s bipolar, she’s delusional, she’s stuck in a deep sadness that’s rooted in a deeper trauma. And things only get worse from there.
Goodman, the lead character in the Pulitzer Prize-winning musical “Next to Normal,” offers audiences an unsettling and cautionary case study. The show by Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey juggles larger themes of family, love and loss, but mental illness and modern medicine take a lead role here, lurking behind every line and every plot twist. It’s an unsettling and difficult show, a drama that offers no neat happy ending and no easy solutions. But the Ignite Theatre company’s current production at the Aurora Fox theater treats even the most uncomfortable undercurrents with a moving degree of sensitivity and clarity. Indeed, the troupe’s final show of the 2012 season shows an impressive degree and depth and maturity, thanks to impressive lead performances, thoughtful direction and strong stage design.
The story is an in-depth look at a mental collapse. At the outset of the show, Diana Goodman (played by Margie Lamb) is already at the end of her rope. As she tries to be the loyal wife to her husband Dan (Zach Stailey) and an attentive mother to her daughter Natalie (Madison Kitchen), her mental stability is in free fall. She’s haunted by visions of her dead son Gabe (Casey Andree), despite a stiff regimen of drugs and psychotherapy. Her mental downfall speeds up once she decides to flush her pills down the toilet. Despite the best efforts of a new doctor (David Kincannon) to treat the roots of her sickness, Diana descends further and further. Suicide and electro-convulsive therapy come into play in a story that never shies away from darkness.
The show’s heart-rending realism isn’t its only challenge. Along with Diana’s struggles, the production includes a demanding score by Tom Kitt, music that takes cues from modern rock musicals, classical piano pieces and traditional Broadway balladry.
The Ignite show manages to balance all of these strains well, and it’s really no wonder. The show that first debuted off-Broadway in 2008 and hit Denver on its national tour in 2011 has had a deep impact on director Keith Rabin Jr., who’s also Ignite’s executive artistic director. Rabin has said that he took inspiration from the show for the name and mission of the Aurora-based company. Specifically, Rabin has said the show’s closing tune “Light,” along with its underlying message of inspiration and perseverence, gave the company its title and its creative mission.
In other words, it’s a show that’s close to the heart of the Ignite Theatre company, and that much is clear in this heart-rending production. Musical director Jason Tyler Vaughn gets to the heart of the score with a six-piece ensemble, and Mike Uhlenkamp’s set makes full use of the Fox’s main stage.
The cast is the linch pin in this piece, and the Ignite troupe offers plenty of dynamic and memorable moments. Most notably, Margie Lamb is a constant powerhouse in the lead role of Diana Goodman. Lamb, who played the role in a critically acclaimed run of the show at the Midtown Arts Center in Fort Collins, brings an expertise and sensitivity to the role of Diana, a character that could easily fall into the realm of caricature in the wrong hands. Her skill with the music is just as compelling – Lamb’s vocal delivery on songs like “Who’s Crazy/My Psychopharmochologist” is spot-on.
Just as impressive is Madison Kitchen’s performance as Natalie, a conflicted teenager who’s watched her mother descend deeper and deeper into madness. Kitchen, a sophomore at the Denver School of the Arts, flips between her roles as overachieving high school student, tortured daughter and a conflicted girlfriend with an ease that seems beyond her years.
The rest of the cast don’t always shine as brightly, but the performances never lack for energy. As the phantom of Diana’s dead son, Andree delivers some memorable moments, as does Stailey as a father struggling to keep his family together. Alejandro Rolan, who plays Natalie’s boyfriend Henry, gives some of the musical’s strongest vocal performances in tunes like “Hey.”
The strong cast and strong direction find the heart of a difficult show, a production that could easily feel unreal in the wrong hands. The Ignite company has never been short on creative ambition, and it’s tackled plenty of challenging pieces in the past, with varying degrees of success. Here, the company’s very personal connection to the material clearly shows. Through a keen eye to detail and a fidelity to every moment, the troupe has wrapped up its 2012 season on a moving note.
THREE AND A HALF STARS OUT OF FOUR
Reach reporter Adam Goldstein at agoldstein@aurorasentinel.com or 720-449-9707
Adam, A very impressive performance indeed. Nice call.