Finding Help and Hope while Striving to be Normal: a conversation with Chris R. Chávez, the director of Arizona Regional Theatre's production of NEXT TO NORMAL

Chris R. Chávez

by Julia Bashaw

Being normal is something that we are often told we need to be and something that people often strive for yet some find it very difficult to fit in to what others consider "normal."

In the musical Next To Normal, a family discovers just how hard it is to be normal and to seem like a perfectly happy family when circumstances beyond their control, including mental illness, complicate their lives.

Chris R. Chávez, who is directing the Arizona Regional Theatre production of the Pulitzer Prize winning musical that opens next Friday, explains the musical perfectly as “a story about a woman who is dealing with mental illness and about how this illness affects her family and those people around her.”

Chávez used to work in the mental health industry and he still was when this musical was being created. He believes the show provides a good message about the importance of mental health and gives a realistic view into the struggle of the disease.

the cast of Arizona Regional Theatre's production of Next to Normal
Nathan Sheppard, Andy Albrecht, Amy Jo Halliday, and Kendra Richards
photo courtesy JALT Media / Kimberly Sheperd

“Normal is very subjective,” Chávez explained. “My normal might be completely different from what you think normal is and vice versa. That being said I do not believe that anybody with any kind of ailment should ‘try to be normal’. These all are real issues that I feel for far too long have been swept under the rug and that also have a stigma that comes with them. I think at all times we should be free to talk about these issues, whether they are our own or somebody else's, to be able to talk and get the help we need and destigmatize it.”

Chávez wanted to make this production be as realistic as possible in order for the message to get across. In the casting process, 120 people auditioned but he had to narrow that number down to the six characters in the shows. Once that complicated process was over, Chávez wanted them to be authentic.

“One thing that I wanted to do was to bring some professionals in to speak to our actors in order for them to get a perspective of somebody living with mental illness,” he explained. “We got two people who are both living with bipolar disorder and did a round table discussion with our actors that way they could get that perspective and know what it’s like to live with mental illness. The discussion allowed the cast to ask questions for them to help develop their characters.”

The majority of this musical takes place inside the main character's family home and Chávez believes it is used as a metaphor. “I think the fact that it does take place so much in the home relates to the whole concept of the show that mental illness is such an internal struggle,” believes Chávez. “It is something that we can not see and the show being inside the home reflects that. It makes people think that that could be happening to their neighbors because you don't know. It's all happening inside the home, you have no idea what's happening behind closed doors.”

With a Tony winning score full of rich ballads, soaring rock tunes and moving, emotional packed melodies, Next to Normal is both an entertaining musical as well as an educational piece. Though, this show’s purpose isn’t to condemn but rather show audiences the journey of how one family overcomes grief and also how they cope with mental illness.

But Chávez believes it's more than that. “I would say this show is more than just about mental illness. This show is about hope most of all. In the last song they talk about light and what that means to me is no matter how dark your situation is, no matter what you are going through, that at the end of the tunnel there is still some hope and light.”

When asked about his thoughts for audiences who might be turned off by the idea of seeing a musical about mental illness, Chávez replied, “I want to open their eyes and let them see that these are real issues that real people deal with every day. I want them to find ways that they can help others. Even though it was difficult I do feel that we have got one of the most amazing casts.  That may sound like something someone would say all the time but I truly mean it. This has been one of the best theatre projects I have ever worked on and one of the most amazing and giving casts that have allowed me to direct them in such a way. It has been such a collaborative and beautiful process, I think that alone, in addition to the show itself, is something worth seeing.”

CLICK HERE for more information on Next to Normal at Arizona Regional Theatre, which runs February 15 to February 24