I got into the Next to Normal fandom a couple years after it was on Broadway. I was about 14 or so at the time. I obsessively read through old message boards and forums about the show. One time, I stumbled across a thread about a specific actor from the show. A fan was complaining that he had been rude to her. When asked for details, she said that when they met at the stage door, he had just said hello, signed her playbill, and left. This seemed to confuse some other users, who informed her that this is actually totally standard behavior, and asked what she had been expecting. She told them all about how Alice was so much nicer. How she had taken her out to dinner, taken her backstage, etc. There were a few other users on the board who corroborated these stories and had had similar experiences. Since I was a kid at the time, I thought it sounded cool and was actually jealous. I then forgot all about it until a couple of days ago.
I have studied Next to Normal (including its cast, fandom, and early-days) religiously for the better part of the decade, and there were always things that just didn’t add up. I’d hear fan accounts that felt oddly disjointed or just plain bizarre or see cast behaviors that felt inconsistent or confusing. I was always left with these little nagging questions that I didn’t know what to do with.
I am bringing this all up because the allegations against Alice Ripley answer more questions for me than they raise. I obviously can’t sit here and say with absolute certainty that they are true, but I can say that they absolutely track with everything I have observed for years, and that Alice’s abnormally close interactions with fans were, at the time, very well-documented online. It makes me sick to think that I didn’t realize it sooner. When I first saw Brie’s post, my response wasn’t “what the hell????” My response was just “oh.”
I fully support the (now many) survivors who have come forward. I also support those who have not come forward yet or may not choose to come forward at all. I hope that any audience member, crew member, or cast member who experienced any sort of grooming, harassment, manipulation, gaslighting, or abuse from her can find some peace in knowing that they are not alone, this was not their fault, and they deserve so much better.
I know a lot of people are drawn to Next to Normal because they relate to its messages about bipolar disorder and ptsd, and if you struggle with trauma or mental illness a situation like this can be super triggering, even if you weren’t directly victimized. Please don’t be afraid to reach out for help or support if you need it. If you are in the USA, you can reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255 and the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673. You can also text “home” to 741741 to reach a crisis text line.
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