Today in theatre history: Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey's Pulitzer Prize-winning Next to Normal officially opened at Broadway's Booth Theatre April 15, 2009, following previews that began March 27.
Directed by Michael Greif, the entirely original musical arrived on Broadway following an Off-Broadway run at Second Stage and a regional engagement at the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C.
The original Broadway company featured Alice Ripley as Diana, J. Robert Spencer as Dan, Jennifer Damiano as Natalie, Aaron Tveit as Gabe, Adam Chanler-Berat as Henry, and Louis Hobson as Dr. Madden/Dr. Fine.
Next to Normal, penned by Kitt (music) and Yorkey
(book and lyrics), was described in original production notes as "a contemporary musical that explores how one
suburban household copes with crisis. . . . [The musical] shows how far
two parents will go to keep themselves sane and their family's world
intact."
The Broadway production also featured set design by Mark Wendland, costume design by Jeff Mahshie, lighting design by Kevin Adams, sound design by Brian Ronan, musical staging by Sergio Trujillo, musical direction by Charlie Alterman, orchestrations by Michael Starobin and Kitt, and vocal arrangements by AnnMarie Milazzo.
In his review for The New York Times, Ben Brantley wrote, "No show on Broadway right now makes as direct a grab for the heart or wrings it as thoroughly as Next to Normal does. This brave, breathtaking musical, which opened Wednesday night at the Booth Theater, focuses squarely on the pain that cripples the members of a suburban family, and never for a minute does it let you escape the anguish at the core of their lives."
Ripley earned critical acclaim and a Tony Award for her portrayal of a mother struggling with mental illness. She would subsequently reprise her work in the musical's national tour, which launched in November 2010 in Los Angeles. (On Broadway, Ripley was succeeded by the late Marin Mazzie, who was joined by husband Jason Danieley.)
Next to Normal also earned Tony Awards for Best Original Score (Kitt/Yorkey) and Best Orchestrations (Kitt/Michael Starobin) as well as Tony nominations for Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, Best Featured Actress (Jennifer Damiano), Best Actor (J. Robert Spencer), Best Direction, Best Scenic Design, Best Lighting Design, and Best Sound Design.
Despite losing the Best Musical Tony to the British import Billy Elliot, Next to Normal was remembered by the Pulitzer committee in 2010 when it was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
Kitt and Yorkey reflected on their work in an interview with 半岛体育 following their Pulitzer win. "Without Rent and Stephen Sondheim, there is no Next to Normal," Kitt said at the time. "I think that we've always been moved and inspired to write material that maybe says something a little different through musical theatre. I think at the very beginning, when we set out to write this, we just wanted to write something that mattered to us, something that felt maybe that it hadn't been explored in musical theatre before. But never could we have imagined in our wildest dreams that we'd be here."
"I think we wanted to take chances," Yorkey added. "We wanted to write something that wasn't safe and didn't seem on the face of it like a commercial hit. And, we learned along the way that that made its road very complicated."
In March 2010, Next to Normal recouped its initial $4 million investment. The hit production concluded its run at the Booth January 16, 2011, following 21 previews and 733 regular performances on Broadway. The original cast recording was released on the Ghostlight Records label.
Broadway producers were David Stone, James L. Nederlander, Barbara Whitman, Patrick Catullo, and Second Stage Theatre.
The recent West End transfer of the Donmar Warehouse's 2023 Olivier-nominated staging of Next to Normal鈥�which
opened June 26, 2024, at the
Wyndham's Theatre鈥攚ill be broadcast on PBS this spring. The cast included Caissie Levy, Trevor Dion Nicholas, Jack Ofrecio, Jamie Parker, Jack Wolfe, and Eleanor Worthington-Cox.
Learn what other theatre milestones happened on April 15 by visiting the 半岛体育 Vault.
Look back at the original Broadway company in the gallery below.
