Next to Normal is a contemporary musical that explores how one suburban household copes with crisis. With provocative lyrics, and an electrifying score of more than 30 original songs, Next to Normal shows how far two parents will go to keep themselves sane and their family's world intact.
And while I'll admit the loud, raucous and darkly-humored Feeling Electric was more to my personal taste ('Taking a semi-automatic and shooting as many popular kids as possible is really the only sane response to high school.'), the latest incarnation of Next To Normal - which has turned a 180 from being a musical about depression to one about a family's efforts to keep the disease from tearing them apart - is a far better musical. In fact, it's only the existence of a Broadway revival of Guys and Dolls that keeps Next To Normal from being the best written musical currently on Broadway; and having West Side Story around is all that keeps it from being the most daring.
As the unmoored mother, Ripley gives a towering performance that leaves you tongue-tied for superlatives. In 'I Miss the Mountains,' she explores the show's probing question: What's worse - being pill-free and unpredictable or being drugged and numb? 'Next to Normal' covers a challenging subject, no question. That it's hopeful and uplifting, not depressing, is more than a triumph - it's next to wondrous.
2008 | Off-Broadway |
Original Off-Broadway Production Off-Broadway |
2009 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
2010 | US Tour |
1st National Tour US Tour |
2010 | US Tour |
2nd National Tour US Tour |
2013 |
Weston Playhouse Production |
|
2020 | Washington, DC (Regional) |
Kennedy Center Broadway Center Stage Production Washington, DC (Regional) |
2024 | West End |
West End |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2010 | The Pulitzer Prize | The Pulitzer Prize for Drama | Tom Kitt |
2009 | BroadwayWorld Awards | Best Leading Actress in a Musical | Alice Ripley |
2009 | Tony Awards | Best Book of a Musical | Brian Yorkey |
2009 | Tony Awards | Best Direction of a Musical | Michael Greif |
2009 | Tony Awards | Best Lighting Design of a Musical | Kevin Adams |
2009 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | David Stone |
2009 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Ellen Richard |
2009 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Carole Rothman |
2009 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Second Stage Theatre |
2009 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Patrick Catullo |
2009 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Barbara Whitman |
2009 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | James L. Nederlander |
2009 | Tony Awards | Best Orchestrations | Michael Starobin |
2009 | Tony Awards | Best Orchestrations | Tom Kitt |
2009 | Tony Awards | Best Orchestrations | Michael Starobin |
2009 | Tony Awards | Best Orchestrations | Tom Kitt |
2009 | Tony Awards | Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre | Tom Kitt |
2009 | Tony Awards | Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre | Brian Yorkey |
2009 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical | J. Robert Spencer |
2009 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical | Jennifer Damiano |
2009 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical | Alice Ripley |
2009 | Tony Awards | Best Scenic Design of a Musical | Mark Wendland |
2009 | Tony Awards | Best Sound Design of a Musical | Brian Ronan |
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