Small Town Theatrics presents ‘Next to Normal’ this weekend in Coal City

Correction: The original version of this story had the address listed incorrectly. The performance takes place at 655 W. Division St. in Coal City.

The next Small Town Theatrics play isn’t one the actors take lightly, it is one they feel holds an extremely important message about a topic that’s not often broadly discussed: Mental health.

The actors at Small Town Theatrics take the stage at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at the Coal City Performing Arts Center, 655 W. Division St., to perform “Next to Normal,” a Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning musical about the story of the normal-on-the-outside Goodman family.

“I’ve been listening to this play for 10 years and waiting to do this show for 10 years,” said Shannon Baer, who plays lead character Diana Goodman. “Jack and I used to go to school at Illinois State together and we’d drive back and forth singing the soundtrack. This is one we’ve wanted to do for a long time.”

Jack, in this case, is Jack Micetich, the founder of Small Town Theatrics who directed 12 seasons of summer productions. Micetich plays Diana’s husband, Dan.

Having been a soprano her whole life, Baer said one of the difficulties of performing this musical has been unlearning the habits she’s picked up singing the lyrics for fun.

“I always listen for the highest note wherever the highest note is, and that’s where I go,” Baer said. “But in this play, it’s not like that. There’s a whole part where Natalie (Diana’s daughter, played by Hannah Babyak) and I intertwine back and forth, like who has the higher part and the lower part within one line. The harmonies and everything are really complex.”

Derek Carlson, who plays Natalie’s slacker boyfriend, Henry, said he doesn’t have the same issue. He never heard the soundtrack until he was cast in the role. In a way, he said, it’s a bit easier since he doesn’t have bad habits to unlearn.

“I know the story we’re telling is important and very real. Even if you can’t personally connect to every part of it, I really believe there’s some aspect of the story that every person can relate or connect to in some way.”

—  Hannah Babyak

He’s excited to put on a musical that isn’t just friendly and funny, or Disney-like. Instead, “Next to Normal” has an important message to share. It’s not a typical whimsical sort of musical.

“It’s about serious topics that happen in real life, and I think people in the audience will personally relate to it more than they will others,” Carlson said.

Babyak agreed with Carlson and said the subject matter keeps her coming back for rehearsals excited.

“I know the story we’re telling is important and very real,” Babyak said. “Even if you can’t personally connect to every part of it, I really believe there’s some aspect of the story that every person can relate or connect to in some way.”

Micetich said this is a play Small Town Theatrics has been wanting to put on for a long time, but its nature makes it difficult to pull off for a company that only performs one show a year. When auditions for the originally-planned “Kinky Boots” didn’t draw many people, he took that as a sign.

“Next to Normal,” after all, only requires a cast of six people.

“I thought we’d be lucky to have maybe six people submit to take part in an audition and then we had over 35 turned in,” Micetich said. “That was only open to anybody who had done a Small Town show before, so I think we were kind of shocked at the turnout.”

Babyak said working on this show is a reminder of what she loved about theater when she started.

Wyatt Onsen, who plays the dual role of Dr. Madden and Dr. Fine, said there’s always the hope that people will be able to sit through a show with a subject matter that’s more serious, but he wants people to come in with the idea that they’ll take something away from it.

That’s not to say there isn’t any comedy in it, Baer assured, but its a play with a message that’s important to the performers.

Alec Ludacka, who plays a character named Gabe who exists in Diana’s visions, said what makes mental health different than other health conditions is it’s not visible. When someone has cancer or even something chronic like diabetes, there are visual cues.

“We can’t see someone’s mental health,” Ludacka said. “We can’t look inside, and there’s people who can only feel the effects of what’s happening to them.”

Baer, a breast cancer survivor, said depression can be difficult because rarely does someone find a way to come to the rescue of someone who can’t leave their bed because their depression is so bad. When someone has cancer, it’s visible and people will pitch in to provide support. Depression is harder to see.

Tickets to “Next to Normal” are available at smalltowntheatrics.org.