Married Couple Mazzie & Danieley Take Over in NEXT TO NORMAL 7/19

Multiple Tony Award nominee Marin Mazzie and Broadway veteran Jason Danieley will lead the cast of the Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical, NEXT TO NORMAL, beginning performances Monday, July 19 at 8:00pm at Broadway's Booth Theatre (222 West 45th street). Ms. Mazzie and Mr. Danieley will play Diana and Dan Goodman, a married couple dealing with Diana's bipolar disorder and the effect it has on their family.

NEXT TO NORMAL marks the first time the married Ms. Mazzie and Mr. Danieley will appear together in a Broadway musical. The couple last appeared on stage together in New York in the off-Broadway play, The Trojan Women: A Love Story in 1996. Alice Ripley and Brian D'Arcy James, who currently perform the roles of Diana and Dan, will give their final performances on July 18th at 7:30pm.

Marin Mazzie received Tony and Drama Desk nominations and an Outer Critics Circle Award for her performance as Lilli/Katharine in the hit revival of Kiss Me, Kate, and later received an Olivier Award nomination when she made her West End debut in the show. Other Broadway credits include Lucy Prebble's acclaimed play, Enron, as corporate vice president Claudia Roe, Monty Python's Spamalot (also West End), Ragtime (Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics nominations), Passion (Tony nomination), Man of La Mancha, Into the Woods, Big River, and Out of This World and Kismet (both for Encores!), Camelot (NY Philharmonic/PBS), Sondheim: The Birthday Concert (NY Philharmonic/PBS). Her Off-Broadway appearances include The Vagina Monologues, The Trojan Women: A Love Story, and The World Goes Round (also National Tour). Marin recently played Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire at Barrington Stage Company. TV: "Still Standing," "Without a Trace," "Numb3rs," "Jake in Progress," "Stacked," "Pryor Offenses." Concerts: Marin has sung with every major pops orchestra and numerous symphonies across the country. Recordings: Opposite You with husband Jason Danieley; numerous cast albums. Marin holds an honorary doctorate and has a musical theatre scholarship in her name from her alma mater, Western Michigan.

Jason Danieley most recently starred on Broadway in Kander & Ebb's Curtains (Outer Critics Circle nomination). He made his Broadway debut as the title character in Candide, directed by Harold Prince (Theatre World Award, Drama League Award, and Drama Desk nomination), and also starred in The Full Monty on Broadway and in the West End. He has appeared in the Encores! Productions of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and Strike Up The Band and played Lt. Joe Cable in the Emmy nominated PBS Great Performance airing of South Pacific at Carnegie Hall. His Off-Broadway credits include The Trojan Women: A Love Story by Charles L. Mee, Jr., Dream True by Ricky Ian Gordan, and Floyd Collins by Adam Guettel, and his many regional appearances include The Highest Yellow by Michael John LaChiusa (Helen Hayes Award, Best Actor in a Musical), and Beauty by Tina Landau. Jason has performed with many of the country's leading orchestras, including the New York and Philly Pops, the New York Philharmonic in Sondheim: The Birthday Concert (PBS), the Los Angeles Philharmonic (at the Hollywood Bowl), and has appeared with the world famous Boston Pops in "An Evening with the Pops" (PBS) and "Pops Goes the Fourth" (A&E). His many recordings include Opposite You with wife Marin Mazzie, and Jason Danieley and The Frontier Heroes, the self-titled debut CD of his band, The Frontier Heroes.

Alice Ripley, who received the 2009 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance in the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning Next to Normal, will play her final Broadway performance on Sunday, July 18 at 7:30p.m. Ms. Ripley will reprise her acclaimed performance in the musical's entire 36-week multi-city North American tour, launching November 23 with a six-week engagement at the Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, followed by confirmed engagements in San Diego, Seattle, Des Moines, Providence, Hartford, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, St. Paul, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Charlotte, Washington, DC, and more cities to be announced in the near future.

Brian D'Arcy James, who recently returned to Next to Normal for a limited engagement, will also give his final Broadway performance on July 18.

Next to Normal has had a surprising and highly unlikely route to Broadway. The musical originally opened at Off-Broadway's Second Stage Theatre On February 13, 2008. Producer David Stone, who had been guiding the musical since 2005, took the unexpected step of bringing the show to Washington D.C.'s Arena Stage where it was significantly reworked, and then back to New York and to Broadway, where it opened to rave reviews on April 15, 2009. This unusual trajectory from a New York Off-Broadway premiere to an out-of-town regional theatre engagement and then back to New York is unprecedented.

Next to Normal was chosen as "one of the year's ten best" by The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, Time Out New York, New York Daily News, The Bergen Record, and NY1 - more than any other musical from that season.

Winner of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and three 2009 Tony Awards - Best Score, Best Actress in a Musical, and Best Orchestrations - Next to Normal features music by Tom Kitt, book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey, and direction by Michael Greif. The creative team also includes Mark Wendland (set design), Jeff Mahshie (costume design), Kevin Adams (lighting design), and Brian Ronan (sound design). Musical staging is by Sergio Trujillo and musical direction by Charlie Alterman. Orchestrations are by Michael Starobin and Tom Kitt and vocal arrangements by AnnMarie Milazzo.

In addition to Ms. Ripley and Mr. James, the musical features Kyle Dean Massey, Tony Award nominee Jennifer Damiano, Adam Chanler-Berat, and Louis Hobson.

Next to Normal is produced by David Stone, James L. Nederlander, Barbara Whitman, Patrick Catullo, and Second Stage Theatre.

SCHEDULE AND PRICING

Next to Normal is performed at the Booth Theatre (222 West 45th street) on the following schedule: Monday at 8pm, Tuesday at 7pm, Thursday at 8pm, Friday at 8pm, Saturday at 2pm and 8pm, and Sunday at 3pm & 7:30pm. Tickets, priced $26.50 - $121.50, are available at www.Telecharge.com or by calling 212-239-6200.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.