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.
It is not easy to pull off a musical about psychotropic drugs and electroconvulsive therapy—or for that matter, about duty, freedom and loss. In its trial mounting at Second Stage last year, Next to Normal sometimes suffered from acute self-consciousness and mood swings. Happily, authors Brian Yorkey and Tom Kitt have successfully stabilized the show since then, and their songs make up the best new Broadway score of the season, merging show-tune influences (William Finn neurosis in “My Psychopharmacologist and I”) with more radio-ready styles (John Denver wistfulness in “I Miss the Mountains,” Seventies pop-rock thrust in the instantly memorable “I’m Alive”).
There are no easy answers to be found in 'Next to Normal,' a startling, emotion-drenched musical about one family's attempt to cope with mental illness. The show is an impressive achievement, a heartfelt entertainment that has found its way back to New York after an invaluable out-of-town retooling.
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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