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AUGUST 8-14, 2021 WHAT'S UP! 3 COVER STORY 'Next To Normal' Drama confronts mental illness BECCA MARTIN-BROWN NWA Democrat-Gazette N ext to Normal," writes New York Times theater critic Ben Brantley, "does not … qualify as your standard feel-good musical. Instead this portrait of a manic-depressive mother and the people she loves and damages is something much more: a feel- everything musical, which asks you, with operatic force, to discover the liberation in knowing where it hurts." Although the show, which won the 2009 Tony Award for Best Original Score, is rich with music by composer Tom Kitt and lyricist Brian Yorkey, that's not why it won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Or why "an incredibly professional and talented bunch of human beings" came together in Northwest Arkansas to present it without a theater, without any money and without even a name for their company. "It is impossible to quantify the impact that telling a story like 'Next to Normal' will have on this community and all those who can come into contact with it," says Taylor Dolan, the play's director and one of the founders of the "Next to Normal Project." Selling even 50 seats for each of eight shows will touch 400 people, according to her math, and one in four Americans has a mental health disorder, according to the National Alliance for Mental Illness. "So 100 out of those 400 people are going to see parts of their story on stage, being told unashamedly and without judgment," Dolan continues. "One hundred out of 400 people are going to see that their experiences are valid, and that getting help is a sign of strength, not weakness. For me, that is reason enough to put on this production, but let's keep going. "Let's say that those 400 people each tell one person in their lives about this show, about the revelations concerning the negative impact of our societal stigmas, about the beautiful singing and raw emotion — all of a sudden, the story has reached 800 people. The numbers could go on and on! You can see how, very quickly, theater has the potential to start ripples of change." Dolan also has a personal stake in the story. She was first introduced to "Next to Normal" the same time she was diagnosed with anxiety and depression. "Hearing the songs in this show made me realize that my feelings and struggles were valid." The plot involves a suburban family that is, on the surface, perfectly normal. Dad's an architect. Mom does all the prescribed mom things. And the son and daughter are described as bright, wise-cracking teens. But Mom has been battling bipolar disorder — sometimes called manic depression — for most of two decades, and "next to normal" is as close as she can get. Sarah Nickerson, most recently seen as the Witch in the Arts Center of the Ozarks production of "Into the Woods," plays Diana Goodman, the mom. "Diana really runs the gamut of emotions," she says of her character. "It's a challenging role for a woman- of-a-certain-age, which I am always "I hope the show gives the audience permission to talk about mental health in a way that they've maybe not felt they could before," says Sarah Nickerson about "Next to Normal." "Above all, I hope the audience will look for new ways to love each other and themselves. That's what the show is about." (Courtesy Photo/Alex Andrews) See Normal Page 4 FAQ 'Next to Normal' WHEN — 7 p.m. Aug. 12-14; 3 p.m. Aug. 15; 7 p.m. Aug. 19-21; 3 p.m. Aug. 22 WHERE — CACHE 214, 214 S. Main St. in Springdale (the space formerly known as ACO) COST — $20 TICKETS — tinyurl.com/ N2N-theplay FYI — Rounding out the cast are Sydney Schnurbusch as Natalie and Jacob Andrews as Henry. Kailey Miller Erwin is music director.