Same shirt and vest, different actor: Robert Spencer as Dan (Photo: Joan Marcus)

I liked Next to Normal at Second Stage very much. An original concept. Excellent performances. Resonant pop rock score. Character and plot supportive lyrics. I was bowled over and deeply moved by its Broadway permutation.

The story is as realistically downbeat as before — in fact, more so. However, some astute changes have deepened and enriched this musicalized portrait of a family torn asunder by mental illness.

Diana's illness is now more clearly a case of chronic bi-polar disease which grounds its faint nod to an audience pleasing happy ending in reality. Instead of straining to add humor to some of Diana's episodes (shades of her losing her grip on reality during a shopping trip), that humor is now more subtle. And, rather than pumping up her electric shock treatments into a pulsing and somewhat melodramatic production number reminiscent of The Who Tommy, we have a less splashy but more effective and moving rendering of that deeply disturbing episode.

Best of all, Alice Ripley inhabits her character even more fully and touchingly than before. Except at the very beginning, she's abandoned the surface brightness for a more mordant and fearful persona. All but two of the Second Stage cast are aboard and, like Ripley, all are as good, if not better, than ever. Jennifer Damiano, especially, has ramped up the poignancy of her character, the smart but emotionally alienated Natalie.

What about the new cast members? While Brian d'Arcy James, Diana's original devoted but unable to communicate husband who's currently ogre-ing it up in Shrek, is a hard act to follow, J. Robert Spencer (Nick Massi in Jersey Boys) has put his own stamp on the role. Louis Hobson has ably taken over the practices of symbolically named Doctors Madden and Fine.

The revision which began with a production in Washington DC, also removed some songs, repositioned others, and kept the clever "Who's Crazy/My Psychopharmacologist and I" as well as the best, aria-like anthem numbers. To tag them as arias rather than songs befits the operatic sensibility of the book and the soaring music. That composer Tom Kitt and librettist and lyric writer Brian Yorkey view Next to Normal as an opera, or more specifically a rock opera, is borne out by the absence of a song list in the program.

Michael Greif and his designers have retained the excellent production values. The three tiered set fits well into the Booth stage, though like the three-story house of August: Osage County, people in the first two or three rows might have a bit of a neck straining looking all the way up to that third level.

Though the changes made between my first and second viewing of this show have erased my initial reservations about its move from Off-Broadway to Broadway, it's still not an all-audience pleasing musical. I'm sure lovers musical show enthusiasts will want to hear much of the music over and over again, the songs aren't likely to be big on the cabaret circuit. I'm also certain that the show will, like another recent off-beat musical, Spring Awakening, have many productions.

To best sum up Next to Normal's audience appeal, think of Public Television's Reel 13 Movie Nights: First up, a traditional golden oldie crowd pleaser; then a late night film for the more adventurous independent film crowd. By the same token if you wanted to do a musical theater double header, you might follow a matinee of West Side Story or South Pacific with the less typical Next to Normal.

Come to think of it, you might prefer to see this Indie musical first and save the more light-hearted, dance-filled traditional show for dessert. Either way, who said Broadway is dead, if we have such diverse riches to choose from.

Broadway Production Notes
Next to Normal
Music by Tom Kitt; book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey
Directed by Michael Greif with musical staging by Sergio Trujillo
Alice Ripley (Diana), J. Robert Spencer (Dan), Aaron Tveit (Gabe), Jennifer Damiano (Natalie), Adam Chanler-Berat (Henry) and Louis Hobson (Dr. Madden/Dr. Fine).
Sets by Mark Wendland Costumes by Jeff Mahshie Lighting by Kevin Adams Sound by Brian Ronan Orchestrations by Michael Starobin and Mr. Kitt Vocal arrangements by AnnMarie Milazzo
Music director, Charlie Alterman; music coordinator, Michael Keller
Stage Manager: Judith Schoenfeld
Running time: 2 hours 20 minutes with one intermission
Booth Theater, 222 West 45th Street, Manhattan; (212) 239-6200. Tuesday-Saturday at 8 PM, Saturday at 2 PM and Sunday at 3 and 7:30 PM.
Tickets, $25-$115.