Next to Normal
By Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey
Directed by Michael Greif
Originally produced at Second Stage Theatre, New York, NY.
January 16, 2008 through March 9, 2008
About the Premiere Production: How does an almost average family navigate today’s over-stimulated and over-medicated world? In this darkly funny and haunting new musical, one suburban household confronts its past and its future. With provocative lyrics and an electrifying score, Next to Normal explores how far two parents will go to keep themselves sane and their world intact.
Artistic Statement: Artistically, Next to Normal is a good fit for Second Stage because it meets our mission to produce writer-driven work that defies conventional forms and expectations. The creators have successfully made challenging subject matter personal. By focusing on a family dealing with loss, Next to Normal broaches topics of family dynamics, loneliness, longing, depression, and treatment of the mentally ill. However, it is told through fresh and upbeat music that engages the audience and enables them to explore these difficult topics. Because the music pulls from contemporary idioms like rock and pop, it represents a style of musical theatre that will have a broad appeal to young theatergoers without alienating other audiences. For these reasons, this piece has the potential to make a significant contribution to American musical theater. - From Artistic Director Carole Rothman
Director: Michael Greif
Music: Tom Kitt
Book and Lyrics: Brian Yorkey
Cast: Adam Chanler-Berat, Jennifer Damiano, Brian d’Arcy James, Alice Ripley, Asa Somers, Aaron Tveit
Additional Funders: National Endowment for the Arts, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs
Subsequent Productions:
California Repertory Company
Long Beach, CA
April 18, 2014 - May 10, 2014
Charleston Stage
Charleston, SC
February 14, 2014 - March 2, 2014
The Custom Made Theatre Company
San Francisco, CA
September 13, 2013 - October 13, 2013
Centre Stage - South Carolina
Greenville, SC
July 11, 2013 - July 27, 2013
La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts
La Mirada, CA
May 31, 2013 - June 23, 2013
TheatreSquared
Fayetteville, AR
April 18, 2013 - May 12, 2013
Meadow Brook Theatre
Rochester, MI
February 13, 2013 - March 10, 2013
San Jose Repertory Theatre
San Jose, CA
January 10, 2013 - February 3, 2013
Geva Theatre Center
Rochester, NY
January 8 , 2013 - February 10, 2013
Alliance Theatre
Atlanta, GA
October 17, 2012 - November 11, 2012
Mixed Blood Theatre
Minneapolis, MN
October 5, 2012 - November 11, 2012
Arden Theatre Company
Philadelphia, PA
September 27, 2012 - November 4, 2012
Arizona Theatre Company
Phoenix, AZ
September 15, 2012 - October 28, 2012
Irish Classical Theatre Company
Buffalo, NY
September 13, 2012 - October 7, 2012
Trustus Theater
Columbia, SC
September 7, 2012 - September 29, 2012
Adirondack Theatre Festival
Glens Falls, NY
July 5, 2012 - July 14, 2012
Stages Repertory Theatre
Houston, TX
May 16, 2012 - June 24, 2012
Arkansas Repertory Theatre
Little Rock, AR
May 1, 2012 - May 27, 2012
Artists Repertory Theatre
Portland, OR
April 24, 2012 - June 3, 2012
SpeakEasy Stage Company
Boston, MA
March 9, 2012 - April 22, 2012
ZACH Theatre
Austin, TX
January 24, 2012 - March 4, 2012
Playhouse on the Square
Memphis, TN
January 20, 2012 - February 12, 2012
Milwaukee Repertory Theatre
Milwaukee, WI
December 6, 2011 - January 15, 2012
City Rep
Oklahoma City, OK
November 11, 2011 - November 20, 2011
Florida Studio Theatre
Sarasota, FL
November 2, 2011 - January 20, 2012
Kennedy Center
Washington, DC
June 28, 2011 - July 9, 2011
Center Theatre Group
Los Angeles, CA
November 23, 2010 - January 2, 2011
Broadway premiere
at the Booth Theatre
April 15, 2009 - January 16, 2011
Arena Stage
Washington, DC
November 21, 2008 - January 18, 2009
News
Next to Normal won three 2009 Tony Awards:
Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre: Music: Tom Kitt, Lyrics: Brian Yorkey
Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical: Alice Ripley
Best Orchestrations: Michael Starobin and Tom Kitt
Best Lighting Design of a Musical: Kevin Adams
"Next to Normal Headed to Broadway’s Longacre Theater, Previews Start March 27 [2009]"
- Broadway World,
"Next to Normal is a moving, blisteringly honest, and inordinately powerful new musical, sung with a wallop by a six-member cast that includes the astonishing Alice Ripley, and dexterously directed by Michael Greif of Rent fame. Writers Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey have stocked the musical with beautiful songs that get to the heart of the story - and simply get to the heart. Anyone who has cared for, or about, a person whose mind or body has been damaged will want to share the show with a friend and say, ‘Now do you understand?’"
-The Washington Post
"A powerful new American musical with a bristling, contemporary rock score, smart lyrics and raw energy. Arena’s transcendent production is truly the go-to show of the winter season."
- The Washington Times
Next to Normal is about smart people who deal with tricky issues of love and loss and who do so in soaring, searing melodies. And at Arena, it’s being sung to the rafters (and at several points, from the rafters) in ways that prove exhilarating and roundly affecting.”
- Washington City Paper
“Next to Normal, now at Arena Stage in Arlington, Virginia, is a bruising and brilliant musical that takes the audience inside the head of a woman coping with emotional illness.”
- Talkin’ Broadway
"Striking original, engrossing and satisfying!"
- Potomac Stages
"Go see Arena Stage’s stunning reworking of this Off-Broadway hit!"
- DC Theatre Scene