Diane’s world looks different and although it seems like an ordinary day, she is on the brink.

One would never know what Sherée Marcelle as Diane is going through at first glance.  It seems a typical day in the lives of The Goodman family as they roam around the house, caught up in an average school morning.  The mundane and stressful routines do not hint of what is in store for Diane during the bustling and humorous number, Just Another Day.  However, this particular day will be different and it will affect everyone around her.

Astutely directed and symbolically choreographed by Pascale Florestal with excellent musical direction by Katie Bickford, Central Square Theater co-produced by Front Porch Arts Collective continues the Pulitzer Prize-winning and multiple Tony Award-winning rock musical, next to normal live and in person at Central Square Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts through Sunday, June 30.  This fascinating production contains adult themes and is approximately two hours and 20 minutes with one intermission.  Click here for more information and for tickets.

With significant Easter eggs floating above Erik D. Diaz’s meaningful and multi-tiered set connected notably by a spiral staircase and a central door, most of the scenes take place inside the Goodman household with the exception of the living room that doubles as an office space.  Mark Clark Wonson’s evocative lighting pulses and radiates on this production’s veering emotional journey and Kiara Escalera’s vibrant costumes often complement each other in stripes, patterns and shades between Anthony Pires Jr. as Dan and Marcelle and most notably in shades of blue later depicted between Cortlandt Barrett as Natalie and Dashawn McClinton as Henry.

Next to normal is a well paced and revealing musical journey about a troubled family who hides it well.  It delves into dysfunction and disorders with a bittersweet and relatable gusto and Brian Yorkey’s thought provoking script with dynamic and captivating music by Tom Kitt work together to unravel the nature of Diane’s illness and how each character is affected in Diane’s struggle.  I have seen quite a few great performances lately, but helmed by Sherée Marcelle as Diane, this is a powerhouse.  Each one of the next to normal cast delivers compelling performances with the vocal chops to prove it while conscientiously revealing their unique way of managing the complexity of their lives.

With glassy eyed confusion and shaking fingers, Sherée Marcelle as Diane is overwhelmed by her life.  Marcelle evokes the anxiousness, disillusionment, trauma, and the submersion Diane faces as bipolar and her yearning vocals unleash the suffering she endures living in her head searching for relief in I Miss the Mountains.  Marcelle is amazing as Diane who feels trapped wherever she is.  Numb or overdrive where reaching for normal never feels quite right. 

The catchy and dark satirical parody, Who’s Crazy / My Psychopharmacologist and I paints and infuses humor into a reeling picture of her battle while also providing a peek into how this affects those around her like her concerned grounded husband portrayed charismatically and sympathetically by Pires Jr. as Dan whose patience is quickly unraveling in his search for answers.  Ricardo “Ricky” Holguin in a dual role is hilarious as a deadpan doctor, wild, then later poignant full of compassion and concern. 

Pires Jr. and Marcelle is an enthralling pair mastering complex and rhythmic harmonies as well as visceral emotions with zeal and intensity.  In one of the production’s lighter moments and next to normal contains as much humor as it does drama, Pires Jr. nails the giddy and quick-paced number It’s Gonna Be Good  in helpless wonder and perfect harmony with the rest of the cast. 

Cortlandt Barrett’s impressive vocals expel a painful cadence as the struggling, often neglected and perfectionist daughter, Natalie.  Barrett and Marcelle share their frames of mind in Wish I Were Here and with the cast in an absorbing Make Up Your Mind/Catch Me I’m Falling. Barrett also shares warm chemistry with Dashawn McClinton as persistent and earnest Henry who is instantly lovable in an intriguing rendition of Perfect for You.  Diego Cintrón is lively and memorable, especially in an eerie rendition of There’s a World and with Marcelle and Barrett for a poignant and revealing rendition of Superboy and the Invisible Girl.  

Next to Normal has a few bombshell revelations and the production not only paints an authentic and educational picture of mental illness, but love’s carefree but oftentimes arduous journey with humor, heart and hope.  Mental illness makes it difficult to escape from inside one’s head so it shuts people out.   As the daughter of a person with depression, it was eye-opening to see a reflection of these challenges within the family and to witness someone so well loved struggling for the strength to see beyond the pain and find the other side.

Astutely directed and symbolically choreographed by Pascale Florestal with excellent musical direction by Katie Bickford, Central Square Theater co-produced by Front Porch Arts Collective continues the multiple Tony Award-winning rock musical, next to normal live and in person at Central Square Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts through Sunday, June 30.  This fascinating production contains adult themes and is approximately two hours and 20 minutes with one intermission.  Click here for more information and for tickets.