Eagle's 'Next to Normal' is subtle, stylish

Is small-town South Jersey ready for an unflinching musical about mental illness, shock therapy, and imaginary children? To judge from the opening of Eagle Theatre's Next to Normal production, the Hammonton audience was not just ready but actually hungry for this stylish, solid production of the 2009 Pulitzer Prize-winning musical.

It's hard to pinpoint the target audience for this borderline pop opera about a seemingly typical middle-class family in which Mom is too anxious to attend school plays and celebrates the birthdays of people who aren't there. Those who have "been there" might not want to return; those who haven't might not get it. Ultimately, the show is for those who appreciate highly accomplished musical theater without many of the usual artificial histrionics that often come with it.

There's a realistic quietness about this portrayal of madness, in which the right things happen in all the wrong ways. The Brian Yorkey/Tom Kitt score is a happy descendant of Falsettos, its nervous urban rhythms creating room for hyper-articulate songs that accommodate seriousness, but deflect moroseness with urbane irony.

The Eagle's production, directed by Ed Corsi, can afford to be subtle in its 208-seat auditorium. Lest we get so caught up in emotional entanglements that we miss the larger points, the skeletal set's cross section of this anguished home is mildly Brechtian, thanks also to intense lighting changes that give shape and atmosphere to any given scene.

Typical Next to Normal casting can make the husband boring, but Brian Botnick suggests this is just one way his wife is at odds with reality, so considered and vibrant is his portrait of codependency. As the overstudious daughter, Jordan O'Brien might be aggressively robust, but projects an intelligence reminding you she's the only family member with a sound overview.

The most significant casting - Diana, the mad housewife - has Krissy Fraelich reprising the role she played at Arden Theatre's 2012 production. The depth and fine-line sureness of her characterization is clearly the product of having lived with the role. How else could she project warmth through a haze of medication and hallucinations?

Most curious is the handling of the imaginary child.  A key, seemingly real character - Diana's teenage son - is a delusion. The boy in fact died before his first birthday. Played by Adam Hoyak, he's a figure of charismatic ambiguity who doesn't leave quietly (or before delivering some great songs, among them "I'm Alive"). Is he a ghost? A figure of demonic possession? Intriguingly, the production doesn't say.

Yes, the show is worth the drive from Philadelphia, especially in light of Hammonton's gracious Victorian ambience. The theater is sweet (though still raising money for bleacher seats that will improve sightlines). Problem: the popcorn - it's irresistible but creates underlying audience noise when you least want it.

Next to Normal

Through March 29 at the Eagle Theatre, 208 Vine St., Hammonton

Tickets: $28.50-$38.50. Information: 609-704-5012 or www.theeagletheatre.comEndText