February 2, 2025
The Goodmans seem to be a normal regular family on the surface. Father Dan was an architect. Mother Diana was a doting housewife and mother. Teen children Gab and Natalie doing well in school. However, Diana had been taking a variety of prescription psychoactive drugs to control the labile moods brought about by her bipolar disorder. Poor response lately had prompted her new doctor Madden to recommend electro-convulsive therapy (ECT).
For its original Broadway production in 2008, this rock musical with book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey and music by Tom Kitt won three Tony Awards out of 11 nominations. It won for Best Original Score, Best Orchestration and Best Performance by a Lead Actress in a Musical for Alice Ripley. Remarkably, it also won a Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2010 even if it was not among the shortlist of three plays submitted to the jury for consideration.
All in all, this is already the fourth time that I have watched this musical. My first time was in 2010 at the Booth Theater on Broadway, starring Marin Mazzie, Jeff Danieley and Kyle Dean Massey (MY REVIEW). Second was a 2011 local staging by Atlantis, starring Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo, Jett Pangan and Felix Rivera (MY REVIEW). Third was a 2020 production by Blue Rep in Ateneo, starring Cris Villonco, Jef Flores and Tim Pavino (MY REVIEW).
This Sandbox production is directed by Toff de Venecia. The cast I saw last night included film and TV actress Nikki Valdez (in her first stage role since "The Wedding Singer" by 9 Works in 2010), Floyd Tena, Benedix Ramos (fresh from his successful stage debut in "Bar Boys" last year), Jam Binay, Davy Narciso and Jef Flores. The alternate cast features Sheila Valderrama-Martinez, OJ Mariano, Vino Mabalot, Sheena Belarmino, Omar Uddin and again Jef Flores.
Aside from nailing the drama which is expected of her, Nikki Valdez also nailed Diana's tough songs. Her voice sounded borderline hoarse, and this was only opening night, so she needs to safeguard it with vocal hygiene. The baritone of Floyd Tena deeply expressed Dan's difficult dilemmas. Gabe's sky-high notes were no problem for Benedix Ramos. Not exactly a fan of Natalie's hair, but Jam Binay simply brimmed with teenage angst.
This Sandbox production had an even simpler set than the Blue Rep production. The Goodman "house" in this one did not even have walls or doors at all, only four chairs, a few steps and a screened area on both sides -- that was the whole set. You are expected to fill in the rest in your heads, from the sandwich scene to the ECT scene. These are not easy to envision if you had not seen this play before, and they will feel too hollow if you had.
I know that the cast was acting and singing their hearts out, but the sound system was so garbled so the Pulitzer prize-winning lyrics were barely understood. The live band led by musical director Ejay Yatco was a big plus, but the music can occasionally drown out the lyrics even more. I was told the sound of this show was already a big improvement over the previous day's shows, so I trust adjustments are already being done to correct this issue.
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The Sandbox Collective's "Next to Normal" runs from February 1 to 23, 2025 at the wintry cold Power Mac Center Spotlight Blackbox Theater, Circuit Makati. Ticket prices: VIP Php 3400, Premium Php 3000 and Regular Php 2,500. Get your tickets via Ticket2Me at this link.
