Singing Through the Silence How NLAA’s Cast of Next to Normal is Bringing Truth, Care, and Complexity to the Stage this June.

There’s a moment in Next to Normal where Diana sings, “I don’t feel like myself. I don’t feel anything.” It hits like a breath you didn’t realize you were holding.

This feeling — that in-between place where words fail and the ache lingers — is something most of us have known. Maybe silently. Maybe in private. Maybe with someone we love who didn’t have the words either.

And that’s where this musical lives. It doesn’t offer a cure or a clean ending. It doesn’t simplify the complexity of grief, memory, or mental illness. What it does is sit with it. Make room for it. Say, “You are not alone.”

Next to Normal: A Reflection of Life

This June, we bring Next to Normal to Ely — not just as entertainment, but as a mirror. Running June 18–29 at the Vermilion Fine Arts Theater, this Pulitzer Prize-winning musical offers more than a night of theatre. It offers a chance to feel, to reflect, and to connect.

The artists in this production are holding that mirror with reverence. I want to take you inside the room with three of them: Dovid Adler (Henry), Ben Woods (Dr. Madden/Dr. Fine), and Molly Hill Fuller (Music Director). Their insight, generosity, and courage are helping shape something deeply human on our stage.

Dovid Adler – Henry: Holding Space for the Light

When Dovid Adler speaks about playing Henry, he doesn’t talk about technique first — he talks about care.

“Henry is seventeen. He’s fumbling, he’s figuring it out. He’s trying to love someone who’s in pain,” Dovid says. “I pulled a lot from my own life. First crushes. The confusion of wanting to help but not knowing how.”

Henry is Natalie’s classmate — sweet, earnest, persistent. A gentle presence in a household unraveling. Dovid brings him to life with honesty and restraint.

“Henry’s not a savior,” he says. “He just stays. And sometimes that’s the most powerful thing someone can do.”

Dovid is no stranger to emotionally demanding roles. He recently played Roger in Rent and is preparing to play Melchior in Spring Awakening. But Henry, he says, feels different. “This time, I don’t have to go to a dark place. I get to be the light in the story. And that’s been good for me, mentally.”

That light isn’t just onstage. Dovid is also Assistant Director for 13: The Musical Jr. this summer, mentoring our youth performers. “I love helping younger artists find their confidence. It’s full-circle. It reminds me why I do this.”

What grounds him in the work, he says, is a single truth: “Life is complicated beyond what we can understand. But we can still choose to love. We can still be there. That’s what Next to Normal shows us.”

Ben Woods – Dr. Madden / Dr. Fine: Healing in the Tension

Ben Woods joins NLAA from Chicago with an unusual challenge: portraying both of Diana’s doctors. Dr. Fine, the pragmatic psychopharmacologist. Dr. Madden, the probing psychologist. Two different paths to treatment — and two different philosophies on healing.

“Dr. Fine represents the quick fix,” Ben explains. “Medication, numbing, managing the symptoms. Dr. Madden wants to go deeper — to understand what’s really going on underneath.”

That tension, he says, is where the story lives. “We all want relief. But sometimes, healing means sitting in the discomfort. Investigating the why. And that’s not easy — for the patient or the people around them.”

Ben has a long relationship with this show. He’s played Dan. He’s played Henry. And now, returning as the doctors, he sees the story from a new angle. “It’s been a full-circle journey. And I’ve learned how important it is to draw boundaries. These roles carry weight. You can’t take them home with you.”

As a director and educator, Ben brings a macro view to the work. “I always ask: What is this moment in service of? Who needs what? What’s standing in their way? Acting for me is always part of a bigger investigation — one that honors the story, not just the role.”

He speaks most passionately about grief — a core theme in Next to Normal. “Grief is constant in this show. And for me, Gabe becomes its embodiment — the unspoken, the haunting. But what I love is that the show doesn’t stop there. It moves through grief into hope.”

And he’s clear about what he wants Ely to take away: “In small communities, these conversations can be hard to start. But this show invites us to look closer. To check in. To care. If someone leaves the theater and reaches out to a friend they’ve been worried about — we’ve done our job.”

Molly Hill Fuller – Music Director: The Emotion Beneath the Note

If Next to Normal is a story told through song, then its emotional heartbeat lives in the score — and that’s where Molly Hill Fuller comes in.

“This music is relentless,” Molly says. “Almost every moment of the show is sung. That means we’re constantly balancing storytelling with vocal stamina.”

Her approach is simple but profound: Sustainable singing is great singing. “I want the cast to express the emotional truth of the moment without pushing their voices past what’s healthy. That’s the key — the sound should come from the feeling, not from force.”

Molly holds an M.M. in Musical Theatre Voice Pedagogy and brings both precision and humanity to her role. “We’ve spent a lot of time talking about how to mean what we’re singing. Not just hitting notes — but living the music.”

That care is personal. Molly is also performing this season as Sister Mary Robert in Sister Act, and says her dual role strengthens both sides of her artistry. “When I prepare music for others, I learn things that help my own performances. It’s a creative feedback loop — and I love that.”

When asked which moment moves her most, she doesn’t hesitate: “Any time Diana and her son share the stage. There’s so much pain there. So much love. You’ll see.”

And why does this show matter now? “Because every character in Next to Normal is flawed. And every single one is redeemable. That’s what makes it powerful. That’s what makes it human.”

What We Hope You’ll Take With You

There are shows that entertain. And there are shows that hold you while something inside you quietly shifts. This is the second kind.

What I’ve witnessed in this cast — in Dovid, in Ben, in Molly, in every artist on this team — is a willingness to show up honestly. To carry the hard parts with care. To give space for light without rushing through the dark.

That’s the real work of art. Not perfection. Not polish. Presence. And that’s what we’re inviting you into.

If you’ve ever loved someone you couldn’t fix. If you’ve ever wanted to be seen in your full complexity. If you’ve ever carried something too heavy to name — this story is for you.

Come sit with us. Come feel with us. Come remember: You don’t have to be happy to be happy you’re alive.

🎟 Tickets are available now at northernlakesarts.org/tickets

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