'Center Stage’s production of Next to Normal has a magnificent set, a pulsating band
and power-packed performances.'
-J. Wynn Rousuck, WYPR public radio

'The grandeur of Set Designer Caleb Wertenbaker’s work builds up expectations for the performance. True to the story, Wertenbaker constructs a two-tiered set that allows for multi-function scene play throughout the production. The stark whiteness of the sets structural supports serves a two-fold meaning for the characters as the main themes wend themselves into the set design. It’s Wertenbaker’s cube at the top left of the stage that is truly scenic genius; serving as a performance space that is symbolically brilliant. A part of but not fully attached to the main set, much like the delusional experiences of Diana, the cube becomes a play space for the blurred lines of reality and fantasy to meet; a playground of delirium that serves the show in both a symbolic and functional manner.'
-TheatreBloom.com

'Director David Schweizer has the action flowing seamlessly on Caleb Wertenbaker's sleek, two-level set, vividly lit by Aaron Black and enhanced with stylish projections by Driscoll Otto.'
-Tim Smith, Baltimore Sun

'Caleb Wertenbaker’s set design is definitely a star of the show. Two floors of modern steel and white columns, a split-level staircase and a clear, lifesize box built on a platform on stage left that, to me, represents the action going on inside Diana’s manic-depressive brain. There is also a clear medicine cabinet mounted on a column at center stage that is overflowing with pill bottles with bright red caps. The cast makes good use of the stage, and the abrupt ending of the second floor, with little to no railings, adds to the tension as the cast precariously stands at the edge while singing about trying to hang on to any part of normality.'
-April Forrer, MD Theater Guide