Brilliant. This song helped me understand why my son won't take his meds. Thank you, Alice Ripley. I saw you in Next to Normal in San Francisco, and I wept because your performance was so true and so beautiful.
I'm not sure if the non-blinking is a general Alice Ripley trait, but I think it works well in N2N. To me it's like she's not really here in this world. She's in the world of her own mind, with her son and her memories.
True story, I hated being on anti-depressants. It's been probably 7 years since I've been off them but I will never forget how trapped I felt. I still deal with my depression and yes sometimes it's very overpowering but I would give any amount of sadness to get to feel like me
I was on meds from probably age seven until I was 13, now 21, and I'll tell u it does feel like that. U feel like ur not u and that it's not ur life. I'm just stunned by the real emotions in this musical
@TBon3Supl3x @TBon3Supl3x Respectfully I will disagree with you about Alice being behind the pit. In Rock and all blues based music, singers and soloists use back phrasing. Many times Broadway singers are way too on the beat when they attempt to sing in Broadway Rock shows, which makes it sound very corny and not very appropriate to rock singing. So I love Alice's phrasing in this performance. I love her intonation. Dissonance is lovely ala Thelonius Monk and Rolling Stones
@X0XEm0X0 my understanding is that the doctor is just brushing her off when he says that she's stable. She's tired of the numbness and the emptiness, even pain can be better than that.
i looovvveeeeee alice ripley. this performance is AMAZING. but i have to say- has anyone else noticed that she does not blink?! literally, i just watched this video twice and she did not blink..... insane. i don't care though. she's unbelievable
alice is so gorgeous here! and she is so gorgeous in person! i was hyperventilating when i met her, and i could tell that made her happy. haha. and InvisibleBoxes, i just realized she doesn't blink that much in character! she does in person, but its like shes pulling you in with her stare! haha. that sounds weird but in this song, its crucial that you feel that.
@drcollier1 I hope you get to see her. She came to Providence and only performed 3 out of the 7 shows. Heard from a stagehand that the roles takes a lot out of her, and that she has actually missed at least one performance per city. :(
@wickedfirsttour They are an act, Listen to her in "Sunset Boulevard" its absolutely BEAUTIFUL and has no pitch issues whatsoever! An AMAZING acting choice I think
oh wow. i never noticed it before. i guess that's what i found slightly disturbing about her. but i love her and she's phenominal so it doesn't matter.
I don't take any medicene or anything but i wanted to point out in next to normal she say to her therapist "i don't feel like myself... well i don't fell anything" and he said "patient stable" so my interpretationn of this song is she doesnt care what she feels as long as its something thats why she wants pain
@WickedRENThead20 I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!! I so totally think Julia would be awesome. I actually feel that Julia could have done original cast and done just as well as Alice. Alice so fantastic but i think Julia would bring something totally different to the role and surprise us all!
@TBon3Supl3x Respectfully I will disagree with you about Alice being behind the pit. In Rock and all blues based music, singers and soloists use back phrasing. Many times Broadway singers are way too on the beat when they attempt to sing in Broadway Rock shows, which makes it sound very corny and not very appropriate to rock singing. So I love Alice's phrasing in this performance. I love her intonation and find her ear very astute. Dissonance is lovely ala Thelonius Monk and Rolling Stones
I know what you mean. I hear it all the way through. Might have been hard for her to hear in the studio or it’s a sound issue and that’s what we hear at the other end when it’s actually bang on. She’s so renowned, I can’t imagine this is her.
@TBon3Supl3x I actually saw the show twice back when it was here a couple months back and LOVED her in it, I do know she has some vocal issues but there is just something about her voice that captivates me
