Next to Normal at Bank of America Theatre | Theater review

Last year’s surprise Pulitzer winner, Kitt and Yorkey’s Broadway rock-musical portrait of mental illness and its effects on a suburban family remains powerful in this touring production, which notably brings Tony-winning original star Ripley with it. Ripley’s raw, lived-in depiction of a housewife suffering from an extreme case of bipolar disorder has only deepened since I saw her in the role in New York; her Diana is haunted, frustrated, confused, oblivious, funny and wholly empathetic as she goes through a succession of therapists, drug regimens and electroconvulsive therapy.

Ripley’s voice, sad to say, has gone raw in all the wrong ways. Three years with this vocally demanding role have  seemingly taken a toll on her instrument, and it’s jarring to hear her scratch and claw her way up to notes she now has trouble reaching. But she still acts the hell out of the part, and Greif’s typically slick production holds up well around her. Asa Somers is appealingly empathetic as Diana’s exhausted but loyal husband, Dan, and Emma Hunton and Preston Sadleir are outstanding as Diana’s neglected teenage daughter and her would-be boyfriend. Curt Hansen, though a little stiff with Sergio Trujillo’s choreography, brings an interesting note of malevolence to Diana’s idealized son Gabe. Kitt’s catchy, cohesive score will stick with you, even if the dim view of psychotherapy and medicine taken by Yorkey’s book sticks in your craw.