Next to Normal, or in 2013, Normal

Being the first musical I’ve ever read, Next to Normal was not a bad way to start. Full of mental illness and a dysfunctional family, this piece of work really appealed to me. In regards to Hornby’s elements, a significant choice Brian Yorkey made early on that worked in favor of the script was having Diana be the first one to break in song. This choice helps set up whose story this is, who is the one to watch, who the audience will see struggle the most, etc. The first line of her song is “They’re the perfect loving fam’ly, so adoring…” (Yorkey 8) accompanied by a somewhat somber melody. Because this is the first line of song Diana sings, the audience gets a sense that this is a play about the protagonist vs. the world, which isn’t incorrect to say in regards to this play. In addition to setting up the protagonist, the contrast between the “happy” lyrics of that first song and the accompanying sad melody sets up, at least it for me, some idea that there is something a little off with this character of Diana.

Another Hornby element, the intentional use of tempo can be found in the song “who’s crazy/my psychpharmacologist and i.” This is the first time in the play that the audience learns about the relationship between Diana and Doctor Fine, much less that she has a psychiatric doctor. By the time in the plot that the audience finds all this out, Diana has clearly been seeing this doctor for quite some time. The song, although interjected with non-singing parts, has an increasingly fast tempo. This kind of tempo gives the feel of increasing anxiety, which, in her failing attempts to feel normal, Diana is feeling as well. Kitt does an excellent job with creating the quickening tempo filled with ebbs and flows.