FLASH FRIDAY: Alice, She Is So Alive

In this special edition of FLASH FRIDAY we are taking a look at a collection of TV appearances by Tony-winning Broadway star and this week's InDepth InterView participant Alice Ripley in celebration of the tour of the Pulizter prize-winning rock musical NEXT TO NORMAL kicking off in Los Angeles starring the incandescent original Broadway leading lady herself. SUNSET BLVD, SIDE SHOW, LES MIZ, LITTLE FISH and NEXT TO NORMAL are just a few of the many marvelous faces of the multi-talented Alice Ripley.

At Broadway & Sunset Blvd.

Today, as a companion piece to BroadwayWorld's exclusive InDepth InterView: Alice Ripley, this weekend's top feature article, we have before us a host of the best clips from Alice's many television appearances over the years - everything from singing SIDE SHOW on The Rosie O'Donnell Show and the 52nd Tony Awards with castmate and best friend Emily Skinner in the 90s all the way up to NEXT TO NORMAL taking the stage of Radio City Music Hall two years ago and her impassioned Tony speech from that night as she accepts the award for Best Actress In A Musical, plus two looks at the more esoteric, but no less endearing, Michael John LaChiusa musical LITTLE FISH, co-starring MEMPHIS star Chad Kimball. Some surprises are surely in store, as well!

Also, after checking out all these exciting and exhilarating clips, be sure to sample Part I of BroadwayWorld's InDepth InterView: Alice Ripley and catch her in the national tour of the Pulitzer-prize winning NEXT TO NORMAL all across the country all next year!

First up, we have the thrilling "You Don't Know / I Am The One" from NEXT TO NORMAL as performed on the 2009 Tony Awards by the original Broadway cast of the show led by Alice Ripley, J. Robert Spencer and Aaron Tveit. Surely, this clip is solid proof that the show could stand up to filming - or, perhaps, even work a feature film. Time will tell, but, for now, we have this truly cherishable clip of the original production.

Now, check out this behind-the-scenes capture of the dress rehearsal of that spellbinding Tony performance from the original Broadway cast of NEXT TO NORMAL!

Continuing on the NEXT TO NORMAL theme of clips, here is Alice Ripley's acceptance speech as she receives the Tony Award for Best Actress In A Musical from the same night as above. Hard work and endurance do pay off eventually, after all - at least when it comes to Alice's career as is clear to be seen here.

With one more performance clip from NEXT TO NORMAL, here is Alice on THE VIEW from earlier this year performing her personal favorite moment in the show, "I Miss The Mountains".

Lastly, check out this special YouTube message to the fans of NEXT TO NORMAL from Alice herself!

Now, as a special bonus, check out some clips from Alice before she was the self-professed queen of the NEXT TO NORMAL fanclub and a big reason why the show is the world-wide phenomenon it has most assuredly become! It's quite a journey from SUNSET BOULEVARD to now!

Going back ten years before her NEXT TO NORMAL Tony Awards performance, here are Alice Ripley and Emily Skinner singing "I Will Never Leave You" from the Siamese twin musical SIDE SHOW for which they were both nominated for Best Actress In A Musical.

Next, here are Alice and Emily singing the other smashing duet from that stupendous SIDE SHOW score, "Who Will Love Me As I Am?" live on The Rosie O'Donnell Show.

Here we have Alice Ripley rehearsing the lead role in Michael John LaChiusa's surreal pop-inflected musical LITTLE FISH and discussing it when she recently essayed the role at the Blank Theater in LA. Be sure to pick up the cast recording if you haven't already, it's a true little-known gem of a show! And, yes, that is Chad Kimball - now the lead on Broadway in MEMPHIS - co-starring with her in the show!

For another short swim in the wonderful and weird waters of LITTLE FISH, check out these performance clips from the actual show itself to see if the show floats your flotsam.

Finally, we have Alice at her self-professed very best - alone onstage with just her guitar. Check out this stripped-down, acoustic take on her LES MISERABLES anthem "I Dreamed A Dream" from this late-July concert where she tried out material for her upcoming album on Sh-K-Boom Records coming early next year, DAILY PRACTICE.

Additionally, be sure to stay tuned to BroadwayWorld until next Friday when we unveil Part II of InDepth InterView: Alice Ripley discussing all aspects of that endlessly exciting - and necessary - new endeavor.

That’s all for this week. Please remember that if you have discovered a particularly thrilling, unique, bizarre or hilarious Broadway-related clip to please send us a line at the link below. Until next week…