DETROIT, Mich. – A modern musical about mental illness, complete with a suicide attempt and electro-shock-therapy. It seems like the stuff of opera. But the Brian Yorkey/Tom Kitt musical Next to Normal brings this dark subject to life in a way that hardly seems possible if you were to sit in a pitch meeting for the show’s premise.

Dan (Kyle Mitchell Johnson) and his wife Diana (Devri Chism, double cast with Tiffany Michelle Thompson) have a teenage daughter Natalie (Wesley Cady), but there is another presence in Diana’s life, the grown-up visage of her son, Gabe, who died as a baby. Gabe only appears to Diana, and she is suffering from bi-polar disorder, trauma and depression that has left her unable to live her daily life without a picnic basket of different behavior and mind altering drugs.

Dan wants his wife back, and is ever supportive of another approach, another doctor, another new drug therapy. Natalie is a bit fed up, feeling like the forgotten kid – the one who lived. Gabe doesn’t want to be forgotten, though it seems that all the cures for Diana try and point to just that.

That all of this could be put to music may sound like a reach, but Yorkey and Kitt managed it, with lilting and melodic tunes. In fact, the story can be so dark, you kind of thank God for the music at times. Yorkey, who wrote the book, has written a story that only someone experiencing the pain of mental illness from the inside could do.

The play has been recognized plenty for its writing excellence with eleven Tony nominations (winning three) and receiving the 2010 Pulitzer Price for Drama, becoming just the eighth musical in history to receive the honor.

The show is produced by Wayne State University’s Theatre and Dance Dept. That makes casting a bit dicey, as actors of similar age must play parents and their children. Devri Chism, who played Diana the evening this reviewer saw the show, at first seemed too youthful to be convincing. But as the play goes forward, she projects a weariness in her face and posture that reminds one a bit of actress Gena Rowlands when she played “A Woman Under the Influence.” Not only does Chism capture the manic and desperate Diana extremely well, he vocals are pitch perfect.

The other actors in the cast have to work hard to keep up with Chism. Johnson as Dan does an extremely good job of capturing the character –the husband who loves and keeps trying in spite of it all, though the difficult tunes laid down by Tom Kitt can be extremely challenging.

Brandon Wright played the ghostly Gabe (the role is double cast with Nick Stockwell), and he exhibits a kind of spritely spirit in his physical delivery, as well as gospel-like singing that meets the difficulty of the music. James Kern as Henry, Natalie’s stoner boyfriend, plays the role to a likable level –not easy when playing a stoner. His vocals wander, but it does not seem all together out of place for the character even if not done on purpose. Wesley Cady as Natalie manages to carry off the 16-year old age she is meant to be, and does extremely well selling the angst-ridden, sick-of-her-mother’s-constant-drama teen. She does so while making the audience still feel sympathy for her, which is to her credit. And her vocals, like Chism’s, are pitch perfect with the tough material.

Directed by Michael Barnes, the whole production is very sea-worthy. The band, too, seemingly led and conducted by bass player Neal Warner, are more than up to the task. Set above the stage on a third level of the set, the band’s seen presence also helped to levitate the emotionally tough material.

Depending on who you talk too, bi-polar disorder is hardly something to sing about. But Next To Normal is written so crisply, and believably, by insiders to the suffering of the condition that the truth and honesty of the script make it extremely invigorating to experience.

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