Next to Normal
is a Tony Award winning rock musical with book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey and music by Tom Kitt. Its story concerns a mother who struggles with worsening bipolar disorder and the effect that her illness has on her family. The musical also addresses such issues as grieving a loss, suicide, drug abuse, ethics in modern psychiatry, and suburban life.
The musical won 2009 Tony Awards for Best Original Score for Tom Kitt (music) and Brian Yorkey (lyrics), Best Orchestration for Michael Starobin and Tom Kitt, and Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical for Alice Ripley. The show was nominated for a total of 11 Tony Awards, including Best Musical.
Next to Normal
received several workshop performances before it debuted off-Broadway in 2008, winning the Outer Critics' Circle Award for Outstanding Score and receiving nominations for Drama Desk Awards for Outstanding Actress (Alice Ripley) and Outstanding Score. It then played at the Arena Stage in Washington, DC from November 2008 to January 2009 and opened on Broadway in April 2009.
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NEXT TO NORMAL TICKETS
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Productions
;Workshops and readings
The musical, originally called
Feeling Electric
, was first seen in a 2002 reading at the Cutting Room in New York City, featuring
Norbert Leo Butz as Dan and
Sherie Rene Scott as Diana, with a subsequent staged reading in October 2002 at the Musical Mondays Theater Lab in New York.
[1]
In 2005 it was workshopped at
Village Theatre (in
Issaquah, Washington) featuring
Amy Spanger as Diana,
Mary Faber as Natalie and
Deven May as Dr. Madden.
[2] In September 2005 the Barrow Group Arts Center production ran at the
New York Musical Theatre Festival featuring Spanger as Diana, Joe Cassidy as Dan,
Annaleigh Ashford as Natalie and
Anthony Rapp as Dr. Madden.
[3] Second Stage Theatre workshopped the piece in both 2006 and 2007, featuring Cassidy and then Greg Edelman as Dan,
Alice Ripley as Diana,
Mary Faber and then
Phoebe Strole as Natalie, Rapp as Dr. Madden/Dr. Fine and
Skylar Astin as Henry.
;Off-Broadway and pre-Broadway productions
Next to Normal
was produced
off-Broadway under its current name at
Second Stage Theatre from January 16 through March 16, 2008, directed by
Michael Greif, with Anthony Rapp as assistant director and musical staging by Sergio Trujillo. The cast featured Ripley as Diana and
Brian d'Arcy James as Dan. The surname of the family was changed from Brown to Goodman.
[4] Although the show received mixed reviews,
[5] [6] it was criticized by at least one reviewer for pushing an irresponsible message about the treatment of bipolar disorder and for failing to strike the proper balance between pathos and comedy.
[7]
After revisions to the show, a pre-Broadway
regional theatre production ran at the
Arena Stage in
Washington, DC, November 21, 2008 through January 18, 2009. Michael Greif returned as director. Ripley and most of the off-Broadway cast participated, but d'Arcy James remained in New York to play the title character in the musical
Shrek
, being replaced by
J. Robert Spencer. Asa Somers, who played Dr. Madden and Dr. Fine, was also replaced by
Louis Hobson.
[8] The changes included removing "comic songs and glitzy production numbers" and substituting some songs that are complementary to the emotional content of the book; the production received rave reviews.
[9] [10]
;Broadway production 2009
Next to Normal
began previews on
Broadway at the
Booth Theatre on March 27, and the show opened on April 15, 2009. The cast from the Arena Stage production returned as well as the director, Greif. The musical was originally booked for the 1,096-seat
Longacre Theatre, but, according to producer David Stone, "When the Booth Theatre became available... we knew it was the right space for
Next to Normal
".
[11] [12] Original cast member
Aaron Tveit departed on June 6 to prepare for his role in the new musical
Catch Me If You Can
in Seattle. He will return on September 7, but is temporarily being replaced by
Kyle Dean Massey.
[13]
Reviews were warmly favorable.
Ben Brantley of the
The New York Times
wrote that the Broadway production is "A brave, breathtaking musical. It is something much more than a feel-good musical: it is a feel-everything musical."
[14]
Rolling Stone Magazine
called it "The best new musical of the season – by a mile."
[15]
;Twitter Production 2009
In early May 2009, about six weeks into the Broadway Production,
Next to Normal
began publishing an adapted version of the show over
Twitter, a social media network. Over 35 days, the serialized version of the show was published in the form of
tweets
, short messages utilized by
Twitter, a single line from a character at a time. The
Twitter performance ended the morning of June 7, 2009, the morning of the 2009
Tony Awards.
[16]
Synopsis
Act I
Suburban mother Diana Goodman waits up late for her curfew-challenged son, comforts her anxious and overachieving daughter, hurries off for some sex with her husband, Dan, then rises to help prepare her family for "Just Another Day." But when her lunchmaking takes a turn for the bizarre with sandwiches covering the table, chairs, and floor, the rest realize something is not right. As husband Dan helps the disoriented Diana, Natalie hurries off to school and the refuge of the piano practice room ("Everything Else"), where she's interrupted by Henry, a classmate who likes to listen to her play — and clearly likes her.
Over the ensuing weeks, Diana makes a series of visits to her doctor, while Dan waits in the car outside, questioning how to cope with his own depression ("Who's Crazy/My Psychopharmacologist and I"). It is revealed that Diana has suffered from bipolar disorder coupled with hallucinations for sixteen years; Doctor Fine continually adjusts her medications until she says that she doesn't feel anything, at which point he declares her stable. Natalie and Henry grow closer until one day he professes his love for her ("Perfect For You") and they kiss for the first time. Diana witnesses this and realizes that her best years may be behind her, but she misses feeling her high highs and her low lows. ("I Miss the Mountains"). With her son's encouragement, she flushes away her meds.
A few weeks later, Dan looks forward to dinner with his family ("It's Gonna Be Good"), but when Diana emerges with a cake singing "Happy Birthday" to her son, Dan and Natalie are devastated. Dan holds Diana and explains that "He's Not Here" - that their son has been dead for sixteen years. Natalie storms off, and Dan mentions a return to the doctor, but Diana refuses — and as Dan tries to coax her into trusting him, their son joins them, trying in vain to get Dan's attention ("You Don't Know/I Am The One"). Up in her room, Natalie vents her anger to Henry, then refuses Diana's apology as her brother watches and taunts her ("Superboy and the Invisible Girl").
A few days later, Diana starts work with Doctor Madden. As her son rises to assert his presence ("I'm Alive"), Dan and Natalie doubt the sessions are helping, but Doctor Madden proposes hypnosis to help Diana discover the roots of her trauma ("Make Up Your Mind/Catch Me I'm Falling"). Finally, Diana agrees it's time to let her son go. Diana goes home to clean out her son's things, pausing to listen to a music box ("I Dreamed a Dance"). Her son, Gabe appears and dances with her, then invites her to come away with him ("There's a World"). She does.
At the hospital, where Diana lies sedated and restrained, with self-inflicted gashes to her wrists, Doctor Madden explains to Dan that ECT (
electroconvulsive therapy) is the standard course of treatment for drug-resistant patients who are imminently suicidal. Dan goes home to clean up after Diana and decide what to do ("I've Been"). The next day, Diana lashes out at Doctor Madden, refusing the treatment ("Didn't I See This Movie?"), but Dan arrives and convinces her it may be their last hope. ("A Light In The Dark").
Act II
Over a period of two weeks, Diana receives a series of ECT treatments, while Natalie further explores clubs and drugs ("Wish I Were Here"). When Diana returns home from the hospital, she and her shocked family realize Diana has lost nineteen years of memory ("Song of Forgetting"). Natalie escapes to school, where Henry confronts her ("Hey #1"), wondering why she's been avoiding him and inviting her to the spring formal dance.
Dan and Diana visit Doctor Madden, who assures them that some memory loss is normal ("Seconds and Years") and encourages Dan to use photos, mementoes, and the like to help Diana recover. Dan gathers the family to do so ("Better Than Before"), with minor success, but when Natalie pulls the music box from a pile of keepsakes, he whisks it away, leaving Diana puzzled. Her son appears, unseen ("Aftershocks"), while Diana tells Dan there's something she's desperate to remember that's just beyond her reach. When Henry arrives looking for Natalie, Diana is given great pause, studying his face and asking his age. Unnerved, Henry hurries up to Natalie's bedroom, to convince her to join him at the dance the next night ("Hey #2").
Diana returns to Doctor Madden ("You Don't Know (Reprise)") who suggests she further explore her history and talk more with her husband. Diana goes home and searches through the boxes of keepsakes, finding the music box. Dan tries to stop her, but the memories of her baby son rush back ("How Could I Ever Forget?"). When Diana confesses remembering her son as a teenager, and demands to know his name, Dan insists they need to return for more treatment ("It's Gonna Be Good (Reprise)"). Henry arrives to pick up Natalie, who has dressed for the dance, just in time for both of them to witness an agitated Dan grab the music box from Diana's hands and dash it to the floor.
Diana confronts Dan, wondering why he perseveres after how much trouble she's given, while upstairs, Natalie asks Henry much the same question ("Why Stay?"). Dan answers, echoed by Henry, both vowing to stay steadfast ("A Promise"), but just as both couples embrace, Gabe reappears ("I'm Alive (Reprise)"), sending Diana running to Doctor Madden, asking Natalie to drive her, leaving Dan and Henry behind.
Diana asks Madden what can be done if the medicine has missed the true problem. With her questioning comes the realization that it's not her brain that's hurting: it's her soul ("The Break"). Madden assures her relapse is common, and suggests more ECT ("Make Up Your Mind/Catch Me I'm Falling (Reprise)"). Diana refuses, and though Doctor Madden urges her to continue treatment for her chronic, deadly disease, she thanks him and goes. Natalie, waiting outside, is distressed to learn her mother has left treatment, and Diana explains herself ("Maybe (Next to Normal)"), opening up to her daughter for the first time. She urges Natalie on to the school dance, where Henry awaits to comfort and embrace her ("Hey #3/Perfect for You (Reprise)").
Diana finds Dan at home and tells him she's leaving him, explaining that he can't always be there to catch her; she needs to take a risk and deal with things on her own for once ("So Anyway"). She goes, leaving her son with him. As Dan wonders how she could have left him after he stood by her for so long, her son approaches, telling Dan he's not going anywhere ("I Am The One (Reprise)"). Dan grows more distraught until at last he faces the boy and calls him by his name for the first time: Gabriel.
Natalie comes home to find her father sitting alone in the dark, in tears. She comforts him and turns the lights on in the room, before assuring him that the two of them will figure things out. We see Henry arrive to study, and Natalie tells him Diana has gone to stay with her own parents. We see Diana, alone and still hurting, but hopeful. We see Dan, visiting Doctor Madden for any word on Diana, but staying to talk about his own struggle. And life goes on ("Light").
Musical numbers
;Act I
- Prelude
- Just Another Day – Diana, Natalie, Gabe, Dan
- Everything Else – Natalie
- Who's Crazy/My Psychopharmacologist and I – Dan, Doctor Fine, Diana, Ensemble
- Perfect for You – Henry, Natalie
- I Miss the Mountains – Diana
- It's Gonna Be Good – Dan, Natalie, Gabe, Henry, Ensemble
- He's Not Here – Dan
- You Don't Know – Diana
- I Am the One – Dan, Gabe, Diana
- Superboy and the Invisible Girl – Natalie, Diana, Gabe
- I'm Alive – Gabe
- Make Up Your Mind/Catch Me I'm Falling – Doctor Madden, Diana, Dan, Natalie, Gabe
- I Dreamed a Dance – Diana, Gabe
- There's a World – Gabe
- I've Been – Dan
- Didn't I See This Movie? – Diana
- A Light in the Dark – Dan, Diana
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;Act II
- Wish I Were Here – Diana, Natalie
- Song of Forgetting – Dan, Diana, Natalie
- Hey #1 – Henry, Natalie
- Seconds and Years – Doctor Madden, Dan, Diana
- Better Than Before – Doctor Madden, Dan, Natalie, Diana
- Aftershocks – Gabe
- Hey #2 – Henry, Natalie
- You Don't Know (Reprise) – Diana, Doctor Madden
- How Could I Ever Forget? – Diana, Dan
- It's Gonna Be Good (Reprise) – Dan, Diana
- Why Stay?/A Promise – Diana, Natalie, Dan, Henry
- I'm Alive (Reprise) – Gabe
- The Break – Diana
- Make Up Your Mind/Catch Me I'm Falling (Reprise) – Doctor Madden, Diana, Gabe
- Maybe (Next to Normal) – Diana, Natalie
- Hey #3/Perfect for You (Reprise) – Henry, Natalie
- So Anyway – Diana
- I Am the One (Reprise) – Dan, Gabe
- Light – Diana, Dan, Natalie, Gabe, Henry, Doctor Madden
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Casts
Principal casts of major productions of
Next to Normal
Productions
| Diana Goodman
| Dan Goodman
| Gabriel Goodman
| Natalie Goodman
| Henry
| Dr. Madden / Dr. Fine
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2009 Broadway
| Alice Ripley
| J. Robert Spencer
| Aaron Tveit, Kyle Dean Massey
| Jennifer Damiano
| Adam Chanler-Berat
| Louis Hobson
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2008-09 Arena Stage
| Aaron Tveit
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2008 Second Stage Theatre
| Brian d'Arcy James
| Asa Somers
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Awards and nominations
;
2009 Tony Awards
- Best Musical (nominee)
- Best Book of a Musical (Brian Yorkey, nominee)
- Best Original Score (Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey, WINNERS
)
- Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical (J. Robert Spencer, nominee)
- Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical (Alice Ripley, WINNER
)
- Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical (Jennifer Damiano, nominee)
- Best Scenic Design of a Musical (Mark Wendland, nominee)
- Best Lighting Design of a Musical (Kevin Adams, nominee)
- Best Sound Design of a Musical (Brian Ronan, nominee)
- Best Direction of a Musical (Michael Greif, nominee)
- Best Orchestrations (Michael Starobin and Tom Kitt, WINNERS
; tie with Martin Koch for Billy Elliot the Musical
)
Miscellaneous Information
- During Act I, the character Gabe reads a paperback copy of The Catcher in the Rye
. Kyle Dean Massey said, "I read about a page a night." Salinger's novel, about grieving a loss, ideally is read by the character who is the loss.
- The role of Natalie carries a hardcover copy of Flowers for Algernon
, which she is studying in school. Both the novel and "Next to Normal" deal with psychological experimentation.
- The character of Diana alludes to One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
, Sylvia Plath, and Frances Farmer in the song "Didn't I See This Movie?".
- Diana also reads from Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
, a play by Edward Albee which deals with marital stress caused by similar issues of "Next to Normal". On her YouTube site, Alice Ripley said that she uses Albee's play as a bible, drawing inspiration for her character Diana.
References
- Jones, Kenneth. "Feeling Electric, Butz and Larsen Sing Electro-Shock Therapy Musical Oct. 7", playbill.com, October 4, 2002
- Jones, Kenneth. "Musical Workshop of ''Feeling Electric'', About a Frazzled Family, Stars a Bat Boy and a Lois Lane in Seattle", playbill.com, June 21, 2005
- Jones, Kenneth. "Rapp & Spanger Help Spark Premiere of ''Feeling Electric'' Sept. 14-24 in NYMF", playbill.com, September 14, 2005
- Hernandez, Ernio. "New Musical ''Next to Normal'' Closes Off-Broadway March 16", playbill.com, March 16, 2008
- Dziemianowicz, Joe. "The high & low notes of a bipolar mom in ''next to normal''", ''New York Daily News'', February 14, 2008
- Brantley, Ben. "There, Amid the Music, a Mind Is on the Edge", ''The New York Times'', February 14, 2008
- Caggiano, Chris. "Next to Normal: Shaky Show, Irresponsible Message", Everything I Know I Learned from Musicals site, February 24, 2008
- Gans, Andrew. "Chanler-Berat, Damiano, Hobson, Tveit Will Join Ripley and Spencer in Arena's ''Next to Normal''", playbill.com, October 10, 2008
- Marks, Peter. "Revised Musical Hits Home: Moving, Beautiful ''next to normal''", ''Washington Post'', December 12, 2008
- Blanchard, Jayne. "Next to Terrific at Arena", ''Washington Times'', December 15, 2008
- Gans, Andrew. "''Next to Normal'', with Entire Arena Cast, to Play Broadway's Longacre", playbill.com, February 17, 2009
- Gans, Andrew. "''next to normal'' Will Now Play the Booth Theatre", playbill.com, February 24, 2009
- Staff."Headlines: Kyle Dean Massey Joins Next to Normal; Aaron Tveit Returns in September,"broadway.com, June 5, 2009
- Brantley, Ben. "Fragmented Psyches, Uncomfortable Emotions: Sing Out!", ''The New York Times'', April 16, 2009
- "The Travers Take: ''next to normal'' Proves that Rock is Thriving on Broadway", rollingstone.com, April 16, 2009
- "It’s Broadway Gone Viral, With a Musical Meted Out via Twitter", ''The New York Times'', August 16, 2009