Monday, March 21, 2011

"Next to Normal" NAMI-CT Benefit the The Bushnell

"Next to Normal"
Benefit the The Bushnell

For more information, contact, NAMI-CT at 860-882-0236

Next to Normal is a 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. 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.

After an Off-Broadway run, the show then played at the Arena Stage in its temporary venue in Arlington, Virginia from November 2008 to January 2009. The musical opened on Broadway in April 2009. It was nominated for eleven 2009 Tony Awards and won three, Best Original Score,
Best Orchestration and Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical for Alice Ripley. It also won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, becoming just the eighth musical in history to receive the honor. In awarding the prize to Kitt and Yorkey, the Pulitzer Board called the show "a powerful rock musical that grapples with mental illness in a suburban family and
expands the scope of subject matter for musicals."

The Broadway production closed on January 16, 2011 after 21 previews and 733 regular performances.

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