RISE & SHINE BROADWAY FANS. It’s almost here. Broadway’s biggest night is just 2 days away and we have some more show tunes to share with you on our Top 30 Tony Awards countdown.
At #2 today on our countdown is a rock musical about another dysfunctional family. This time we meet a suburban mother who has mental illness and the way it effects her family. This is of course the groundbreaking rock musical Next to Normal. It was written by Tom Kitt?and Brian Yorkey.
From the 2009 telecast, Tony winner Alice Ripley, Tony nominee J Robert Spencer, and Broadway heartthrob Aaron Tviet perform the show’s argument trio scene featuring YOU DON’T KNOW and I AM THE ONE.
NEXT TO NORMAL originally started as a class assignment by Tom Kitt & Brian Yorkey by being presented as a 10 minute musical called FEELING ELECTRIC in 1999. They were both inspired by stories in the news about people dealing with mental illness. They went on to write some other projects but kept going back to the show by putting together 2 workshops Village Theatre in Washington State in 2002 and 2005. It was developed for the New York Musical Theatre Festival at the same time. After many years of the early developments of readings, workshops, & a name change to NEXT TO NORMAL, the show had it’s first full production Off Broadway at Second Stage Theatre in 2008. The show was met with mixed reviews. The show then went on have another out of town tryout in Washington DC at Arena Stage in 2009 earning more rave and positive reviews. Finally, the show transferred to Broadway at the Booth Theatre in 2009 playing a total of 754 performances. The show was nominated for 11 Tonys that year including Best Musical, It only took home 3 awards including Best Score (for Tom and Brian). In addition, the show made history as another one of the few musicals ever to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. NEXT TO NORMAL continues to be performed in community theatre, schools, and regional theaters around the world.
Isn’t this musical powerful, haunting, and emotional?
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