|Review of the west end production|
Seeing this was a spiritual experience, I was a certified theatre hater before I watched this show for the first time when I was 13. I fucking despised it, I thought it was cringy, I could never picture myself being associated with it. I liked rock music, I played guitar all the time, i only wanted hear things that were “cool” to me. At the time I was a “straight boy” (lol) and wouldn’t be caught dead being into girly things like theatre or Disney.
Then I saw a production of this at Frenchwoods. I had never seen my life on stage before this. I had no clue how powerful theatre about “real things” that wasn’t golden age or over the top could be until I stepped foot in that theatre.
My friend said to me “it’s about a bipolar mom” as we walked in, and my mom has bipolar so I was a little more interested than when I watched Les mis or whatever.
I’ve watched videos of that production since, and it’s 15 year olds doing so it’s pretty awful objectively, but to 13 y/o me at the time it was the most insane thing I’d ever seen. I cried the whole time. I left that theatre a completely different person. I felt completely seen as person. The music was closer to what I liked than anything I’d ever heard in a musical.
When I got home that summer I started listening to the OBC cast album every morning. When I was 15 I pirated the band parts off Reddit and learned to read music on guitar just so I could play the score. I became obsessed with it. I begged my mom to let me go see every local production that they would put on in CT, which was one in a blue moon. She never let me go see it no matter how close or inexpensive the tickets were.
When I was 17 I decided I was pursuing theatre in college instead of music. I interned at 321 theatrical management, and when I mentioned I went to Frenchwoods and saw next to normal there the staff got really excited and pulled me over to a wall where they had a framed letter from Frenchwoods thanking David Stone and 321 for allowing them to do the production of next to normal. It was the only place they allowed to put it up besides Broadway for several years.
This show has been a really weird and powerful figure in my life for as long as I can remember having consciousness and free will.
I had super high standards going into this theatre, obviously. I was already crying walking over because 14 year old Connor would be fucking over the mooon hearing that 23 year old Connie had traveled ocross the globe on my own accord with my own money, free from the nightmare of my childhood, to see our favorite show.
The lights dim, the music starts, and I a really small and sacred part of myself that I had forgotten started to glow.
I knew the score super well so I judged ever single mistake the drummer made. He kept messing up the time signature in a lot of parts, but act 2 was flawless musically.
There were so many parts of this show I had only pictured in my head, and so many music parts that I wasn’t able to hear before seeing it.
I saw so much of myself Natalie. I saw my teenage years in full perspective for the first time ever.
So much of myself in Diana through the recent fallout of my last major relationship.
I realized that this show is about generational cycles, and how we have the power to change and break them for good.
I don’t have to be my mother. I don’t have to repeat her fucking insane co dépendant self destructive tendencies. I can find a partner that will be stay there for me through thick and thin. I can give my children a normal life.
I don’t have to wait for someone to save me, when I can save myself.
Aghhhhh.
This version of “Didn’t I see this movie” was off the charts. The version of “so anyways” was insane.
I literally could not stop crying until like 10 minutes after leaving the a theatre.
This was the superior Diana. Like fuck Alice Ripley (pedo, respectfully)
This gabe was angelic as fuck.
I have so many thoughts but their all scattered agin. Anyways. If you can go see this in London. It slaps so hard.
|Review of the west end production|
Seeing this was a spiritual experience, I was a certified theatre hater before I watched this show for the first time when I was 13. I fucking despised it, I thought it was cringy, I could never picture myself being associated with it. I liked rock music, I played guitar all the time, i only wanted hear things that were “cool” to me. At the time I was a “straight boy” (lol) and wouldn’t be caught dead being into girly things like theatre or Disney.
Then I saw a production of this at Frenchwoods. I had never seen my life on stage before this. I had no clue how powerful theatre about “real things” that wasn’t golden age or over the top could be until I stepped foot in that theatre.
My friend said to me “it’s about a bipolar mom” as we walked in, and my mom has bipolar so I was a little more interested than when I watched Les mis or whatever.
I’ve watched videos of that production since, and it’s 15 year olds doing so it’s pretty awful objectively, but to 13 y/o me at the time it was the most insane thing I’d ever seen. I cried the whole time. I left that theatre a completely different person. I felt completely seen as person. The music was closer to what I liked than anything I’d ever heard in a musical.
When I got home that summer I started listening to the OBC cast album every morning. When I was 15 I pirated the band parts off Reddit and learned to read music on guitar just so I could play the score. I became obsessed with it. I begged my mom to let me go see every local production that they would put on in CT, which was one in a blue moon. She never let me go see it no matter how close or inexpensive the tickets were.
When I was 17 I decided I was pursuing theatre in college instead of music. I interned at 321 theatrical management, and when I mentioned I went to Frenchwoods and saw next to normal there the staff got really excited and pulled me over to a wall where they had a framed letter from Frenchwoods thanking David Stone and 321 for allowing them to do the production of next to normal. It was the only place they allowed to put it up besides Broadway for several years.
This show has been a really weird and powerful figure in my life for as long as I can remember having consciousness and free will.
I had super high standards going into this theatre, obviously. I was already crying walking over because 14 year old Connor would be fucking over the mooon hearing that 23 year old Connie had traveled ocross the globe on my own accord with my own money, free from the nightmare of my childhood, to see our favorite show.
The lights dim, the music starts, and I a really small and sacred part of myself that I had forgotten started to glow.
I knew the score super well so I judged ever single mistake the drummer made. He kept messing up the time signature in a lot of parts, but act 2 was flawless musically.
There were so many parts of this show I had only pictured in my head, and so many music parts that I wasn’t able to hear before seeing it.
I saw so much of myself Natalie. I saw my teenage years in full perspective for the first time ever.
So much of myself in Diana through the recent fallout of my last major relationship.
I realized that this show is about generational cycles, and how we have the power to change and break them for good.
I don’t have to be my mother. I don’t have to repeat her fucking insane co dépendant self destructive tendencies. I can find a partner that will be stay there for me through thick and thin. I can give my children a normal life.
I don’t have to wait for someone to save me, when I can save myself.
Aghhhhh.
This version of “Didn’t I see this movie” was off the charts. The version of “so anyways” was insane.
I literally could not stop crying until like 10 minutes after leaving the a theatre.
This was the superior Diana. Like fuck Alice Ripley (pedo, respectfully)
This gabe was angelic as fuck.
I have so many thoughts but their all scattered agin. Anyways. If you can go see this in London. It slaps so hard.
