Ghostlight's NEXT TO NORMAL OBC Recording Has Digital Release 4/7, Double CD Hits 5/12

Ghostlight Records is proud to confirm its release of the Original Broadway Cast Recording of the critically acclaimed new musical Next to Normal.

The Digital release has been set for April 7th, followed by a Double-CD brick-and-mortar retail release on May 12th.

The album, which features more than 30 original songs, was recorded in New York City on February 11th & 12th, with Sh-K-Boom/Ghostlight Records President Kurt Deutsch, Joel Moss and David Stone producing, and Tom Kitt Co-Producing. Both Deutsch and Moss are Grammy Award-winners.

On Tuesday, May 12th, cast members will celebrate the album's retail release with a 4pm performance and CD signing at Barnes and Noble Lincoln Center.

Next to Normal features music by Tom Kitt, book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey, and is directed by Michael Greif (RENT). The show begins preview performances at Broadway's Booth Theatre on Friday, March 27, following acclaimed productions at Washington D.C.'s Arena Stage and off-Broadway's Second Stage Theatre. Next to Normal opens on Broadway on April 15. Beginning April 7th, Ghostlight's cast album will be available for digital download in the lobby of the Booth Theatre.

Ghostlight/Sh-K-Boom's relationship with Next to Normal's Tom Kitt dates back to July of 2002, when the label produced the New York Premiere of the music of Next to Normal as a special Sh-K-Boom Room Concert. Kitt has remained a member of the ‘Sh-K-Family' ever since, serving as Musical Director of many of SKB's original concerts. So, as Ghostlight produces and releases the Broadway cast album of Next to Normal, their warm relationship with Kitt has come full circle.

In his Washington Post review, Peter Marks wrote: "Next to Normal is a moving, blisteringly honest, and inordinately powerful new musical, sung with a wallop by an astonishing cast. It is stocked with beautiful songs that get to the heart of the story - and simply get to the heart."

Next to Normal recently received five Helen Hayes Award nominations for its Arena Stage engagement, including Outstanding Non-Resident Production, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Non-Resident Production (Alice Ripley), Outstanding Lead Actor in a Non-Resident Production (J. Robert Spencer), and Outstanding Supporting Performer in a Non-Resident Production (Aaron Tveit and Jennifer Damiano).

For its sold-out Second Stage Theatre engagement, Next to Normal won the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Score and also received the following accolades: Lucille Lortel Award nominations for Outstanding Musical, Outstanding Featured Actor (Aaron Tveit), and Outstanding Lighting Design (Kevin Adams); Drama Desk Award nominations for Outstanding Actress in a Musical (Alice Ripley) and Outstanding Music; Outer Critics Circle Award nominations for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical and Outstanding Actress in a Musical (Alice Ripley); and a Drama League nomination for Outstanding Musical, among others.

Next to Normal - GHOSTLIGHT CD DETAILS:

The Cast:
Adam Chanler-Berat - Henry
Jennifer Damiano - Natalie
Louis Hobson - Doctor
Alice Ripley - Diana
J. Robert Spencer - Dan
Aaron Tveit - Gabe

The Band:
Charlie Alterman - conductor, piano
Jennifer Lang - cello
Yuiko Kamakari - violin, keyboard
Eric Davis - electric & acoustic guitars
Randy Landau - electric & acoustic basses
Damien Bassman - drums & percussion
Michael Aarons - additional electric & acoustic guitars

The Next to Normal Track Listing:

Act 1
1. Prelude
2. Just Another Day (Company)
3. Everything Else (Natalie)
4. Who's Crazy/My
Psychopharmacologist and I (Company)
5. Perfect for You (Natalie, Henry)
6. I Miss the Mountains (Diana)
7. It's Gonna Be Good (Company)
8. He's Not Here (Dan)
9. You Don't Know (Diana)
10. I Am the One (Dan, Gabe, Diana)
11. Superboy and the Invisible Girl (Natalie, Gabe, Diana)
12. I'm Alive (Gabe)
13. Make Up Your Mind/Catch Me
I'm Falling (Company)
14. I Dreamed a Dance (Diana, Gabe)
15. There's a World (Gabe)
16. I've Been (Dan)
17. Didn't I See This Movie? (Diana)
18. A Light in the Dark (Dan, Diana)

Act 2
1. Wish I Were Here (Company)
2. Song of Forgetting (Diana, Dan, Natalie)
3. Hey #1 (Natalie, Henry)
4. Seconds and Years (Doctor Madden, Dan, Diana)
5. Better Than Before (Diana, Dan, Natalie, Doctor Madden)
6. Aftershocks (Gabe)
7. Hey #2 (Natalie, Henry)
8. You Don't Know (Reprise) (Diana, Doctor Madden)
9. How Could I Ever Forget? (Diana, Dan)
10. It's Gonna Be Good (Reprise) (Dan, Diana)
11. Why Stay?/A Promise (Diana, Natalie, Dan, Henry)
12. I'm Alive (Reprise) (Gabe)
13. The Break (Diana)
14. Make Up Your Mind/Catch Me I'm Falling (Reprise) (Diana, Gabe, Doctor Madden)
15. Maybe (Diana, Natalie)
16. Hey #3 / Perfect for You (Reprise) (Natalie, Gabe)
17. So Anyway (Diana)
18. I Am the One (Reprise) (Dan, Gabe)
19. Light (Company)

The label has emerged as the standard bearer on the Broadway music scene. Their recent releases of the OCRs for Tony winners In The Heights and Passing Strange, as well as their single release featuring the winner of MTV's Legally Blonde The Musical competition, have brought them acclaim for their innovative marketing techniques and their efforts to reach the next generation of Broadway music fans via iTunes, music videos and more.

The label (and President Kurt Deutsch) recently earned their first ever GRAMMY AWARD for In The Heights. Coverage has ranged from Rolling Stone to USA TODAY to The New York Times, from Blender Magazine to Playbill to Billboard, from AP Radio to Entertainment Weekly, from New York Magazine to Variety to NY-1 TV, from Time Out NY to Paper Magazine to The Advocate and much more. Other current releases include the OCR for '13 - The New Broadway Musical,' and a double CD collector's edition of 'Reefer Madness.' Their release of ‘Patti LuPone at Les Mouches' received expansive and wildly favorable media overage. They recently releases Sutton Foster's solo CD, ‘Wish', and coverage included two USA TODAY ‘Listen Up Music Picks', an appearance on NBC-TV Weekend Today Show, and a debut on Billboard's Heatseekers Chart.

For more about Next to Normal on CD visit here, www.sh-k-boom.com.