Next To Normal - Tumblr Posts
Is anyone into chatting and/or becoming mutes? Idk I did this a lot of Everskies and it was fun so if you are just take a look at my account to see if we have anything in common then text me :)
(You can also interact with this post so I know)
What if the the cut, the burn, the break????? Was never in my brain??? Or in my blood??? But in my soul???
Me when the cast at last comes off and then you find the break was always in another bone
What if the the cut, the burn, the break????? Was never in my brain??? Or in my blood??? But in my soul???
Jack Wolfe as Gabe Goodman
So I've had a few "Tell me everything!" responses to my recent post about the Donmar Warehouse's stunning new production of Next to Normal. Knowing the audience here, I'll narrow my focus to writing about what I know my fellow 'Six of Crows' fans will most want to hear - Jack's role as Gabe. I won't be recapping the show itself, as I assume most folks reading this will have listened to the soundtrack, read the script, or watched a Broadway bootleg. Or at least I hope so, because below you will find MAJOR SPOILERS for Next to Normal and specifically the Donmar's staging of it.
Gabe is introduced to us as the Goodman's teenage son, who seemingly has a close affectionate relationship with his mother, Diana, but frosty relationships with his father Dan and sister Natalie, neither of whom acknowledge his presence. About thirty minutes in we are shown exactly why. Diana brings out an 18th birthday cake when the family have Nat's boyfriend Henry over for dinner and it is revealed that today would have been Gabe's birthday...if he'd been alive. But Gabe died when he was a baby and Diana has only been imagining him growing up all these years.
Up until this point, Jack has been playing Gabe as a cheeky rebellious teenager, but when he slinks back on stage to blow out the candles on his cake, he becomes a much more ethereal and impish presence. In I Am The One, his expression transforms from sweet and devoted when singing to his mom, to menacing and malevolent when singing to his dad. Gabe manifests as different personas for each member of his family and it's thrilling to watch as Jack shifts between them all. When Natalie comes downstairs to sing Superboy and the Invisible Girl we see Gabe as the cocky conceited older sibling, who seems to revel in being their mother's favorite.
In her next therapy session, Diana is asked to speak about her son and this is when we get Gabe's showstopping I'm Alive solo. This number really did raise the roof. I'll admit when I saw videos of Jack singing it at Tom Kitt's concert, I was worried he wasn't giving the song the necessary attack. But on stage he goes absolutely full-throttle with it. He starts at the top of the stairs with a mic stand, looking like the frontman of a rock band, then he brings the mic down, roaming all over the floor. At one point in the song, Natalie and Dan have an argument and Gabe comes to stand between them, looking amused as he passes the mic between them. However Gabe starts to lose some of his swagger as Diana's doctor suggests that - as 18 is the age that children typically leave home - maybe Diana should think about her son this way and finally let him go.
In the next scene, Diana is in the kitchen, clearing out Gabe's things. She holds up a baby-grow and then starts playing a music box she used to use to help Gabe to sleep. Gabe comes down the stairs with a rucksack and duffle bag, like he's a kid being kicked out of the house by his parents. Diana can't seem to go through with it as she pulls him into a dance and they end up hugging with Gabe's head tucked under his mother's chin, like a needy child. This leads into There's a World, a hauntingly beautiful song with a very sinister undertone as we learn this is Gabe leading Diana towards a suicide attempt. This song and Catch Me I'm Falling are an excellent display of Jack's high range (he'd make a wonderful Orpheus in Hadestown - the UK production is coming next year, so...please??)
Following the suicide attempt, Diana is given shock therapy and consequently loses her memories of the last eighteen years. In the early part of Act 2 and for the song Aftershocks, Gabe is up in one of the upstairs rooms, like he's been locked in a cell - not gone, but no longer able to get to Diana. When Diana finds and plays Gabe's music box, there's this very chilling sight of Gabe's silhouette, his hands pressing to the screen, as he sings along to the melody. The lighting here is eerily reminiscent of a sonogram. When Diana regains her memory of her lost son, Gabe breaks free of the room, comes down the stairs to sing his I'm Alive (Reprise) from on top of the kitchen counter. After his wife's relapse, Dan crumbles to the floor, his back pressed to the kitchen counter. Gabe disappears behind the other side of the counter, and (I'm told, I couldn't see from my angle) he sits in the same position as Dan. They both stay like this for about 15mins while scenes with Diana, Nat and Henry take place.
As Diana leaves, Dan finally rises from the floor and begins singing his I am the One (Reprise). In other videos of this song that I have seen, Gabe is played quite aggressively, stalking around Dan, goading his father into acknowledging him. Jack does this scene very differently and effectively. He stays behind the counter, his eyes downcast, his manner meek as if quietly pleading for his father's attention. When Dan yells out "Why didn't you go with her?!" Gabe leaps up onto the counter and throws his arms around Dan, desperately clinging to him. When they get to the chorus, Dan turns round to face Gabe, gripping his arms. Then at the end, Dan staggers back and tearfully says his son's name for the first time. When Gabe responds with his "Hi Dad", Jack's face his full of shocked awe. He plays it like a child realizing the father he thought hated him, loved him all along. It's a devastating moment that had everyone in tears.
After the song, Dan reaches out a hand towards Gabe, but he stops as Natalie comes downstairs. Dan tells Nat her mother has left and Nat asks him - "So it's just me and you for now?" and there's a hesitation where Dan glances at Gabe, who is still sitting on the counter. When Dan finally answers yes, it's just the two of them, Gabe's expression is accepting, not resentful like earlier in the show. As he leaves to go upstairs, Gabe gently touches Nat's hand, almost like an apology. Natalie gives the slightest reaction, as if she is sensing something. It's a beautiful resolve to Gabe's role, and when he appears for the last time for his verse in Light, he no longer feels like a malevolent spirit, but more like this serene angel watching over his family as they all try to heal and go on with lives.
This is honestly a star-making performance from Jack as a young musical theatre actor. And as much as I want Jack and the other Crows actors to be off filming their spinoff show once the strikes are resolved, I also feel strongly that Jack belongs on the stage. Between his acting, his presence and his vocals, he's sure to be a performer in demand in the West End. Here's hoping there's award nominations to come. He's deserving of them.
I NEED TO BE SEDATED SOMEBODY SEDATE ME RIGHT NOW
📸 theatrewithv (ig)
I am not Okay
"every day is just another and another and another I will hold it all together we're the perfect loving family"
NEXT TO NORMAL || Donmar Warehouse (2023)
jack wolfe as gabe goodman in next to normal at donmar warehouse
I am what you want me to be And I'm your worst fear, you'll find it in me
Next To Normal - Donmar Warehouse - September, 2023
Taper: @lasagnatrades
Jack Wolfe is one of the best Gabe's I've ever seen and one of the most adorable
Stars: Caissie Levy, Jamie Parker, Jack Wolfe, Eleanor Worthington-Cox, Jack Ofrecio, Trevor Dion Nicholas
next to normal stan’s come get ur juice!!
Jack Wolfe performing the song I'm Alive from the musical Next to Normal.
Such beauty and talent in a single wonderful package. It's almost unfair at that point.
So Next to Normal is my favorite musical (shocker I know) I only recently discovered that there’s a Riverdale episode that uses the soundtrack. Intrigued, I watched it despite not having watched Riverdale in years out of curiosity. Overall, I think I have very mixed feelings on the episode.
To start, the main reason I like it is because it brings more attention to (imo) one of the most underrated musicals in musical theatre. But overall, I didn’t like it. I felt like the creators completely misinterpreted the musical and it’s meaning.
The general plot of the episode revolves around one of the main character’s sisters dying and her mom being unable to come to terms with her death. For me at least, this strays so far from the original source material. The musical is about grief, yes, but I view grief as not being the actual antagonist of the show. The antagonist is Diana’s mental illness, while her and Dan’s grief over losing their son was the catalyst for her poor mental health. This is further shown by the fact that Gabe died 16 years ago. They are still grieving, yes, but this grief was the cause of both of their representations of reactions to mental illnesses: Diana becoming completely engrossed her son’s loss that she is unable to see the daughter they still have, and Dan who is so determined to erase Gabe’s existence that he refuses to let either of them grieve.
Second, the episode completely erases Dan and Natalie, who I feel actual have the more interesting character storylines in the show. The show means to show how Diana’s mental illness affects her entire family, not just her, and how Gabe’s absence is felt by the entire family including his sister who never met him. Gabe’s memory is what leads her to drug use, literally (Gabe puts Diana’s drugs into Natalie’s path which starts her spiral).
Lastly, the ending. I love the idea that “love conquers all” I really do. But the whole point of the show is that it doesn’t. Diana and Dan love each other at the end of the show, she literally states as much. But their love for each other will not let them heal. Love cannot heal all when love is used as a distraction from what needs to be healed. But the episode completely overwrites this, saying that love can fix their relationship and their grief.
Idk this is just my take and since I have literally no friends who know this musical I’m curious to hear what other people think.
These lyrics hit me so fucking hard
"And you find some way to survive / And you find out you don't have to be happy at all, / To be happy you're alive."
All my life I was trying to be happy. Do things and have coping mechanisms to try and force myself to be happy. But maybe it doesn't have to be that way. Maybe being alive... is enough for now. Will I ever be truly happy again? I don't know. But I am alive. That counts for something right?
Pia Douwes and Maya Hakvoort in the same roles
Note1: I couldn't find pics of Maya as Velma and Milady, so I have to leave that to everyone's imagination
Note2: while they played the same character in 3 musketiere, the productions were not the same, they were different musicals by different writers/composers, based on the same story. Unfortunately I couldn't find much information about the St. Gallen one with Maya from 2000
Note3: just to make it clear, I didn't make this post to compare them to each other (apparently people like to do that, at least in the comment section of YouTube), I love both of them very much and I think they're both freaking talented and stunning
Deaf West Next to Normal
-when Michael Arden was talking about how he got the idea of doing Spring Awakening w Deaf West he said that he liked adding another layer to the miscommunication that was already happening in the show. The characters weren’t just not communicating bc of the time period but also bc ASL wasn’t being used so the Deaf characters weren’t getting info and such
-w n2n it would kinda be the same thing but instead of there being a difficulty of the hearing parents/adults to understand their Deaf kids it would be Deaf parents struggling to understand their hearing kid
-both Dan and Dianne would be Deaf but Natalie would be hearing. They feel like they are from two different worlds, not only separated because of Dianne’s mental illness but also bc their cultures, hearing culture and Deaf culture, are very different.
-Natalie’s favorite thing in the world is piano but her parents will never be able to hear her play or understand why it is so important to her
-Gabe is also Deaf in the show, meaning he has a Deaf actor but also a voicing counter part. This brings more depth towards Dianne’s romanticism of him, she pictures him as the ideal Deaf son. They would be the perfect family, all being able to communicate and understand each other.
-the psycho-pharmacologist is hearing and has an interpreter, which might explain why the therapy isn’t working- some things are lost in translation
-Henry is Deaf and his signing is very poetic and visual. I picture his voicing actor playing acoustic guitar idk why
-the staging would be amazinggggg in I’m alive Gabe’s voice would stay with Dianne, who would be sitting in a chair center stage. Gabe would move around the stage w very wild and chaotic signs while his voice would hold Dianne hostage in the chair forcing her to watch him and understand what he says. In I dreamed a dance their voices would dance but they would just stand and sign to the audience, Dianne lost in her fantasy. In everything else i picture Natalie signing to the audience while Gabe plays
-i also picture Gabe switching instruments a lot, not sure why
-in conclusion: i have a lot of thoughts and feelings about this please come and talk to me wow Deaf West Next to Normal would be amazing
Is Your Theatre Friend Okay?
How to Tell if Your Theatre Person is Okay
(based on the musical they’re listening to on repeat)
From Least to Most Concerning:
Tuck Everlasting: Probably fine. Your friend might be yearning, though.
Heathers: Probably just routine ennui or angst, but if they’re only listening to “I Am Damaged,” “Lifeboat,” and/or “Kindergarten Boyfriend,” then they’re going through it.
Beetlejuice: If they’re only listening to “Dead Mom” on repeat, then you might want to worry. This is an “I am misunderstood” musical.
Waitress: Typically a chill one, but might be nostalgic and/or feeling stuck. Worth asking if they want to talk about it.
Dear Evan Hansen: Also in the safe zone, but if you hear too much of “Words Fail,” their self esteem is probably in the gutter.
Into the Woods: They’re either genuinely fine and just enjoying Sondheim, or actively having an existential crisis. Very little in between.
Cabaret: They’re either having a fresh and sexy time listening to Alan Cumming sing “Willkommen,” or you need to ask them if they’re all right.
Fun Home: Is your friend a tortured theatre gay? Because this is a tortured theatre gay musical. Just FYI.
Next to Normal: If Next To Normal is on repeat, like honestly on repeat, you might have cause for concern. This is a very high caliber depression musical.
Les Miserables: Your friend is wallowing. They’re probably crying about Gavroche because it’s easier to cry about French revolutionaries than process whatever they’re actually going through.
Spring Awakening: Please worry if someone you know is listening to any part of Spring Awakening on repeat. This is a peak depression musical.
I think the correct words would be,
"Musicals are so sad, there is never any happiness in them"
some moron: musicals are too happy there is never any angst or realism
dear evan hansen:
falsettos:
west side story:
into the woods:
spring awakening:
les mis:
rent:
fun home:
next to normal:
come from away:
miss saigon:
a chorus line:
me: yeah okay bitch lol
Holy crap, my playlist on shuffle is one hell of a ride 😭😎🥺😘😶😆😍🤔😡