Hart Theater Company Will Perform NEXT TO NORMAL

 Hart Theater Company will continue its season with the revered rock musical "Next to Normal," playing from March 6 to March 23 in the company's new space, the Regent Street Black Box at the Eccles Theater in downtown Salt Lake City. 

"Next to Normal" is a 2008 rock musical with book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey and music by Tom Kitt. The story centers on a mother who struggles with worsening bipolar disorder and the effects that managing her illness has on her family. The piece addresses grief, depression, suicide, drug abuse, ethics in modern psychiatry, and the underbelly of suburban life.

Before its Off-Broadway debut, "Next to Normal" received several workshop performances and won the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Score and received Drama Desk Awards nominations for Outstanding Actress and Outstanding Score. The musical opened on Broadway in April 2009. It was nominated for 11 Tony Awards that year and won three. It also won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, becoming the eighth musical in history to receive the honor. 

Hart's version is directed by Chase Ramsey and music directed by Nicholas Maughan. It features Natalia Noble, Benjamin Henderson, Sam Torres, Joseph Paul Branca, Jacob Ericksen, Cameron Sol, Heidi Hunt and Kate Potter.

Ramsey spoke about why he wanted to direct "Next to Normal." 

"A mixture of things: for me this is such a fluid musical," he said. "It was built so seamlessly with fast transitions and continuity. I wanted to support that physical world without needing to add any bells and whistles. It’s all in the book! Ben Henderson, who plays Dan, did it in college at UVU years ago and I wanted the opportunity to collaborate with him on this now that he is the appropriate age of the character. I also wanted to support Hart in their growth."

Actor Benjamin Henderson spoke about his relationship to the show and why he wanted to be part of it. 

"The show 'Next to Normal' is a chance to embody a very real sense of my own personal life from a fictional perspective," he explained. "When I last worked on this show, it was so impactful as to create years of new opportunities for me as a performer. It also taught me about how what we need in life, our real life, is more light. That word means something specific to me, and I think others may share that definition, but if they have a different word or phrase from this show that can reach them, I hope they can allow it to be balm for their soul. Working on this show with friends old and new has been an amazing experience. May it be a gift for anyone that may benefit from it."

Actor Sam Torres spoke about her relationship with the show: "For many, this is a dream show. It wasn’t always mine, but I had the chance to see the revival on the West End in London last August, and I wanted to experience what it felt like to be in that story. Lucky for me, Hart announced their auditions a couple of months later. It was one of those shows that hurt in the best way—one that I didn’t always agree with. I struggled to understand the relationship between Henry and Natalie. The naïveté of being 'perfect for you' sat with me. Maybe at the time, I felt jealous of the word perfect, assuming it had to mean happy and clean. But working on this show—or any show—is about understanding where the ideas sit within you. Like Henry says, Perfect is crazy, messy, and f*cked up. It has to be. Otherwise, we punish ourselves for feeling anything other than joy. As long as we’re feeling it is perfect."

Actor Joseph Paul Branca added of the relevance of this show in 2025: "I think 'Next to Normal' will always be relevant. It was, and is, profound and impactful for being among the first musicals to explore the topics of mental health and grief in such a humanizing, albeit scientifically accurate, way. Experiences with mental health, while much more outward facing now than they were in 2008, are no less difficult, personal, and misunderstood than they've ever been. The universal experiences of generational trauma, the navigability of family dynamics and secrets, the long term effects of grief, and the desperate drive to be seen and understood will always translate for each individual that experiences the show. Whether they relate to the grand or the more molecular schemes of it, there's so much to love, learn, and explore about what it has to say. I'd say it's an excellent viewing experience for mature audiences of teens and above. There's adult language and circumstances that play out, but never in a way that is heavy handed or unnecessary."

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