TV Interview: Brian d'Arcy James Talks NEXT TO NORMAL

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Monday, May 17, Tony Award nominee Brian D'Arcy James returned to the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning musical Next to Normal for a special limited engagement. d'Arcy James was the original 'Dan Goodman' in the Second Stage Theatre off-Broadway production of the acclaimed musical, and took on the role of 'Shrek' in Shrek: The Musical as Next to Normal continued it's development in workshop and at the Arena Stage in Washington D.C.

BroadwayWorld recently sat down with d"arcy James to discusss how it feels coming full circle in a role he originated and what these past few years professionally have meant to him. In the first of this two part video interview series, d'Arcy James talks reunion with the beautifully "crazy" Next to Normal family.  Check back next week for part 2!

d'Arcy James is now starring in Next to Normal with original co-stars Tony Award-winner Alice Ripley, Tony Award nominee Jennifer Damiano, and Adam Chanler-Berat. The cast is rounded out by Kyle Dean Massey and Louis Hobson.

Brian D'Arcy James' many Broadway credits include Time Stands Still, Shrek (Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards, Tony nomination), The Apple Tree, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, Sweet Smell of Success (Tony, Drama Desk nominations), Titanic, Carousel, Blood Brothers. Off-Broadway: Port Authority, Next to Normal, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, The Pavilion, Flight, The Good Thief (Keen Company; Obie Award, Drama Desk nomination, Outer Critics Circle nomination, L.A. Weekly Award), Pardon My English, The Wild Party (Drama Desk nomination), Public Enemy, Floyd Collins, Irving Berlin's White Christmas. Film/TV: Ghost Town, Enchanted, "Cashmere Mafia," "Rescue Me," "Neurotica," "Exiled," "Sax and Violins." Solo debut album: From Christmas Eve to Christmas Morn. BS: Northwestern University. www.briandjames.com.

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and three 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.

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. The 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.

The musical, which recently announced that it had recouped its entire original investment, celebrated its one year Anniversary on April 15th at the Booth Theatre (222 West 45th street) and will also kick off a North American tour, starring Ripley, this fall in Los Angeles, beginning performances at the Ahmanson Theatre on November 23. Following the premiere, the tour has confirmed engagements in San Diego, Seattle, Hartford, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, St. Paul, Philadelphia, Charlotte, Washington, DC, and a dozen other cities to be announced in the near future.

To catch d'Arcy James in Next to Normal, visit www.nexttonormal.com, www.Telecharge.com or  call 212-239-6200.