how the musical won mental health in the west

A new breed of musical theater is rising among the jukebox singers and well-worn classics on the West End stage. The mental health musical is an all-singing, all-dancing genre that explores identity and personal crises. This means that many new musicals are preceded by trigger warnings that the upcoming production may involve teenage suicide and sexual assault, for example in the case of Spring Awakening; bullying and queer identity in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie; high school violence in Heathers the Musical;, and even a bipolar mother undergoing electro-convulsive therapy (ECT) in Next to Normal.

How did such dark introspective material establish itself in the West End and why is it so appealing to audiences? After all, musicals are based on song and dance, not exactly conducive to exploring difficult and personal issues of mental health, especially within the modern British tradition led by the big ballad sounds of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Cameron Mackintosh shows. on the West End.

Some cite the remarkable achievement of Next to Normal, a 2008 musical by Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey about a suburban mother living with bipolar disorder, a new production of which transfers from the Donmar Warehouse to the West End in June. Its producer, David Stone, suggests that the musical format can make difficult and personal themes more powerful by appealing to emotions through melody and song. When he saw Next to Normal for the first time, with the characters’ lives set to music, he felt that the show was “getting into the viewer’s soul in a way that was hard to describe”.

For Michael R Jackson, writer and lyricist of the multi-award winning A Strange Loop, an American musical about queer identity, homophobia, racism and the fetishisation of the Black body set to pop and R&B melodies, the form can accommodate any story. “I think anything can be a concert,” he says. Such operas don’t have to contradict their sound either: minor chords don’t have to convey sadness, nor do major chords. Their show shows scenes of brews and sex through songs, with lyrics talking about AIDS and forced backing, it could be argued that these elements are engaging with viewers on a visceral and empathic level precisely because they are ready to music.

Back in 2007, Next to Normal built on the edgy, award-winning musicals that preceded it, such as Rent and Falsettos, about gay identity and HIV, and Spring Awakening. Next to Normal, with its exploration of medication, child loss, addiction and depression set to a catchy pop and rock score, Broadway’s pioneering of this new genre confirmed its hearty acclaim (via Tonys and a Pulitzer prize) and paved the way for shows like Fun Home, about sexuality and suicide, and his friend Evan Hansen, about young masculinity in crisis.

Next to Normal tells its stories more intimately than a typical Broadway musical and tackles subjects usually reserved for serious or indie dramas. Set in the family home, there are songs about therapy and grief, with references to Valium, Prozac and Adderall. In the rock number, Feeling Electric, the main character undergoes electric shock treatment for his bipolar disorder. “On our workshop [in 1998], it felt like we hadn’t seen a story like this in musical theatre,” says Stone. “We were expecting people to say ‘You can’t do this,’ but instead they said, ‘Keep going.'”

Stone, who has also done shows including Wicked and The Vagina Monologues, spoke about how the songs dealt with subjects that are usually embarrassing. “This is happening in everyone’s home, or if it’s not your home it’s next door. There’s shame, whether it’s mental illness in the family or physical addiction.”

Actor Jack Wolfe was nominated for an Olivier award for his role in Next to Normal as the son of the Goodman family, and will also star in the stage musical of Spring Awakening, playing the troubled character Moritz. Their introductions to both shows came through their soundtracks. “I discovered Next to Normal when I was 13 or 14 through the original cast recording, which I listened to all the time,” he says. “I remember not only being electrified by the sound but being humbled by the humanity there. I didn’t know operas could sound like that. It made me uncomfortable – in a good way.”

The increased success of those musicals may be due in part to younger audiences who similarly connect with the album before seeing the show. “We have access to the matter and access to opinions about it. It’s a very different experience from seeing the musical in the theater,” says Wolfe.

The Spring Awakening soundtrack had the same effect on him, he says. “He was not patronizing in his themes. As a young person, I was confused and angry about my identity and my place in the world – the changes I could or could not make – so it was exciting to hear these pieces. Both are about messing up what it means to be human. They are fading away and feel less alone.”

Actress Sophie Issacs saw young audiences connecting with the story of Heathers the Musical, based on the film starring Winona Ryder. A black comedy that deals with violent school bullying and sexual assault with songs where characters swallow pills and contemplate suicide. It was staged off-Broadway in 2014, until it was picked up by UK producer Paul Taylor-Mills and developed for the West End in 2018. It was a huge success and is back in the West End this spring next. Issacs was part of the original cast and noted how he facilitated difficult conversations for viewers as young as 12.

“When you think about how taboo these subjects were when the film came out, and still are now, Heathers’ explicit handling of them made it a way for young people to start chat through music and relate to characters.”

At every show, she would see young members of the audience with parents or grandparents. “One father and daughter came every Sunday. It was all about the conversation on the tube house, and what he brought up. There was also huge cosplay with young boys dressed as [the character] Veronica.”

To connect audiences in this way, the music yes be well crafted, says Taylor-Mills. “Younger audiences seem to be interested in darker content [and] I think a lot of people are probably thinking: ‘What’s the next musical that will explore these dark themes?’ but I think art has to be first and foremost.”

When it premiered on Broadway, A Strange Loop was praised for its formal inventiveness and emotional depth, winning a Pulitzer prize and two Tonys, among other awards. Jackson didn’t want to write a brand new musical, he says. “I wanted to write about real feelings, things that people don’t talk about openly, feelings that don’t need to be shared publicly. I didn’t think people would ever see it.”

What is most remarkable is how long it took for these shows to land in the West End after their success in the States (more than 15 years in the case of Next to Normal). Perhaps that has something to do with the UK’s famous emotional reserve. However, the pandemic seems to have changed things. Wolfe, 28, certainly feels that way among his peers.

“There’s a difference between language and understanding now,” he says. “We can talk about medication and therapy [much more openly]. We are learning to explore our psychology in a new way and you have the ability to see that in these shows. Many people wanted contact and humanity [during the pandemic] and now I want to know how other people feel. These shows can start that conversation. They are not always an easy watch but they are well worth it.”

Related: ‘It’s so close to the bone’: Sheridan Smith on her very public disaster – reliving it on stage

Taylor-Mills also noted that the audience demographic has been changing over the past five years. “With everything that has gone on socially and politically, the theater and the audience are changing very quickly. The people who are coming are different and the work I’m putting out now is responding to that. Gone are the days when we were trying to find shows for them [only] 45-plus female ticket buyers coming in from the Home Counties … As we rebuild, it shouldn’t be seen as something to resist. That’s how we ensure a future for those who would normally go to see a Rodgers & Hammerstein musical, or something more traditional, as well as a future for new audiences.”

With the West End embracing experimental musicals with similar themes, British producer Nica Burns is fast becoming a champion of homegrown productions, from Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, which she saw in its early form in Sheffield and developed for the West End, for The Little Big Things, about disability, mental health and family guilt. “It’s much more expensive to develop a musical [than a play],” she says. “I’m willing to take risks and give opportunities.”

Young people in particular are telling their own stories in the form of musical theatre, according to her, and audiences are, on their own, responding to shows about life today and its daily challenges. “These contemporary shows speak to everyone,” she says. “They don’t take away from the classics.”

Next to Normal runs at the Wyndham Theatre, London, 18 June to 21 Septemberr. Spring Awakening’s 15th anniversary concert June 2 at Victoria Palace theatre, London. Heathers The Musical is on a six week limited run @sohoplace, London, until the 6th of June.