Mental demons up close and personal in ‘Next to Normal’
CAMEO takes intimate audiences on emotional trip
Curtain has gone up for CAMEO’s rendition of “Next to Normal” featuring performances by (left to right) Tucker Boggs, Kirsten Forshew, Dan Polk and Meredith Stout. Photos by BUNNY OLDHAM
MEDINA – Family fragility at the hands of grief and pharmacology is exposed in remarkable fashion in CAMEO’s latest effort to keep bringing deep-themed shows to Medina.
The curtain went up July 14 for the pro-caliber community theater company’s current work, the Pulitzer- and Tony-winning musical “Next to Normal” by Brian Yorkey and Tom Kitt. It’s running every weekend this month at the Medina Performing Arts Center.
A small audience of family, friends and media gathered for the show’s final dress rehearsal July 13.
“It’s an emotional roller coaster with some really intense themes, even more intense in the second act,” CAMEO director of marketing Ryan Routh said during intermission. “This is definitely not a show for the faint of heart.”
And it’s certainly not a show intended for young audiences, either, as the show’s six players unearth each other’s deep-rooted pain while their ineffective coping mechanisms begin to unravel and a family unit implodes.
The story follows the Goodman family and places audience members, at times, within the schizophrenic episodes of mom Diana (Kirsten Forshew), as dad Dan (Dan Polk), daughter Natalie (Meredith Stout) and son Gabe (Tucker Boggs) attempt to keep Diana, and themselves, from falling apart entirely.
Outsiders from the family, Henry (Benson H. Anderson), a stoner schoolmate who fawns over Natalie, and Dr. Madden (Adam Vigneault), the physician treating Diana, help push the family toward their own dramatic revelations.
The show’s music – under the direction of Medina native Tom Bonezzi – is a bit more raw and rock-based than CAMEO’s previous efforts. The “in-the-round” format of this show is also unlike anything CAMEO has produced in its 14 seasons, technically speaking.
Instead of utilizing the 1,100-or-so seats of the Medina PAC, capacity is kept to less than 100. All seats are on the stage itself, the style of a black box theater, and intimately close to the players who shuffle in and out of scenes from every corner.
“Once it gets started, it’s just nonstop. Bang, bang, bang and it just keeps going,” director Colin McCord said. “It’s heavy.”
“Next to Normal” continues its run tonight and July 27, 28 and 29 at 8 p.m.; and tomorrow and July 30 at 4 p.m. at the Medina Performing Arts Center, 851 Weymouth Road, Medina.
Tickets are $20 for adults; $15 for students, seniors and military personnel. They are on sale now at www.cameo-medina.org.
The curtain went up July 14 for the pro-caliber community theater company’s current work, the Pulitzer- and Tony-winning musical “Next to Normal” by Brian Yorkey and Tom Kitt. It’s running every weekend this month at the Medina Performing Arts Center.
A small audience of family, friends and media gathered for the show’s final dress rehearsal July 13.
“It’s an emotional roller coaster with some really intense themes, even more intense in the second act,” CAMEO director of marketing Ryan Routh said during intermission. “This is definitely not a show for the faint of heart.”
And it’s certainly not a show intended for young audiences, either, as the show’s six players unearth each other’s deep-rooted pain while their ineffective coping mechanisms begin to unravel and a family unit implodes.
The story follows the Goodman family and places audience members, at times, within the schizophrenic episodes of mom Diana (Kirsten Forshew), as dad Dan (Dan Polk), daughter Natalie (Meredith Stout) and son Gabe (Tucker Boggs) attempt to keep Diana, and themselves, from falling apart entirely.
Outsiders from the family, Henry (Benson H. Anderson), a stoner schoolmate who fawns over Natalie, and Dr. Madden (Adam Vigneault), the physician treating Diana, help push the family toward their own dramatic revelations.
The show’s music – under the direction of Medina native Tom Bonezzi – is a bit more raw and rock-based than CAMEO’s previous efforts. The “in-the-round” format of this show is also unlike anything CAMEO has produced in its 14 seasons, technically speaking.
Instead of utilizing the 1,100-or-so seats of the Medina PAC, capacity is kept to less than 100. All seats are on the stage itself, the style of a black box theater, and intimately close to the players who shuffle in and out of scenes from every corner.
“Once it gets started, it’s just nonstop. Bang, bang, bang and it just keeps going,” director Colin McCord said. “It’s heavy.”
“Next to Normal” continues its run tonight and July 27, 28 and 29 at 8 p.m.; and tomorrow and July 30 at 4 p.m. at the Medina Performing Arts Center, 851 Weymouth Road, Medina.
Tickets are $20 for adults; $15 for students, seniors and military personnel. They are on sale now at www.cameo-medina.org.