Next to Normal⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

In recent years we have enjoyed a variety of musicals from local Edinburgh companies which have been excellent, "Kinky Boots" and "Moving On", both at Hill Street Theatre.

This year I chose "Next To Normal ", an American musical which won three Tony awards, and the Pullitzer Prize, which I had missed during its successful London run.

In true fashion I went to the wrong Paradise (we've all been there - ed), but fortunately, had enough time to correct my error and join a large queue. Here I discovered that Greg Mccafferty -Thomson would not be playing the role of Dan Goodman at this performance.

Next To Normal is the story of the Goodman family struggling to cope with grief and Diana, the mother's bipolar disorder.

Clearly this is not the usual territory for a musical to tackle. Fortunately, the book and lyrics of Brian Yorkey prevent the evening from slipping into mawkish or sentimental territory. Similarly, Tom Kitt's music matches the tone perfectly. Even though this may not always be an easy watch you are aware that what you are seeing is real.

As the first act (being a proper musical we have that rarity of things at the Edinburgh festival, an interval) reaches a dramatic conclusion reality gets involved. A medical emergency in the audience causes action to stop at a vital moment, after a short break, and incredibly impressively, the cast were able to return in exactly the same emotional state as when they left the stage.

The second half continues with the family struggling to deal with their predicament though, obviously, the show ends with various forms of resolution.

As a musical this shouldn't work but thanks to the talents of Yorkey and Kitt it does. This is an astonishingly bold choice for a company to select for its Scottish premier. The reason that it succeeds so beautifully is due to the talent of the cast, Director Dominic Whitefield-Holbrook (who has given us an excellent interview which you can read in our news section) and a wonderful band, led by Finlay Turnbull.

The cast are uniformly exceptional led by the astonishing Brikaih Flore, with Kelsey Mackenzie, Zac Mcguire, Ollie Hall and Will Jackson all performing at the top of their game. I will give special mention to Gregor Robertson proving that understudies are very talented too, coping brilliantly with the problems on stage in the first half.

You can probably tell that I loved it, as did the rest of the audience. I suspect that Next To Normal's run may have ended by the time you read this review but look out for Bare Productions in the future, we definitely will.

I suspect they will be around for quite a while.