Next to Normal is more than just the best Broadway musical written about a suburban mom living with mental illness. It’s also a show with a great score that tells its story well. When I listen to the cast recording, these are the songs I have to repeat before I move on.
“I Miss the Mountains” – In this deceptively gentle solo, Diana laments the sterile haze of medicine-induced stability. Though she knows how chaotic and damaging it can be in her life, she longs for the extremes that sweep over her when her illness isn’t held back.
Best line: “Mountains make you crazy - / Here it’s safe and sound. / My mind is somewhere hazy - / My feet are on the ground. / Everything is balanced here / And on an even keel. / Everything is perfect - / Nothing’s real…”
“I Am the One” – I almost paired this song with “You Don’t Know,” which precedes it and segues directly into it. Anyway, “I Am the One” finds Dan responding to his wife’s accusations in the previous song that he can never understand what it’s like to be at the mercy of your own mind. However, though Dan hasn’t experienced her pain, he can’t help reminding her that he’s been there every step of the way to help her carry it.
Best line: “Are you bleeding? / Are you bruised, / Are you broken? / And does it help you to know / That so am I?”
“Superboy and the Invisible Girl” – This one might be my favorite of all. It was one of the first I ever heard, so there’s a sentimental aspect to it, but I just love the theme: Natalie’s bubbling-up frustration at always being passed over in favor of Gabe, the absent golden boy with whom she can’t compete. It’s raw, fierce, and gorgeous.
Best line: “Superboy and the Invisible Girl… / Son of steel and daughter of air. / He’s a hero, a lover, a prince - / She’s not there.”
“I’m Alive” – I love this song. It’s such a catchy earbug, but at the same time, the lyrics are so grim and unsettling. It’s great on its own but even better in the context of the show, where we see the specter that infects the entire house. Just a really interesting piece of theatre.
Best line: “I am more than memory - / I am what might be, / I am mystery. / You know me - / So show me.”
“Light” – This had to be a hard show to end, but Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey did well with this finale. It’s bittersweet, melancholy at times, but it’s also tinged with hope. It’s the song of people who, though they stumble in the night, know that the morning will come if they can just hold on. Really beautiful.
Best line: “The price of love is loss, / But still we pay: / We love anyway.”
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