Synopsis
Next to Normal is a powerful contemporary rock musical that explores the impact of mental illness on a seemingly ordinary suburban family. Centred on Diana Goodman, a mother struggling with bipolar disorder, the story examines how her condition and its treatment affect her husband Dan and their teenage children. As the family strives to maintain balance amidst grief, memory, and medication, they confront the question of what it truly means to be “normal.” First presented Off-Broadway at Second Stage Theatre in 2008, the show introduced audiences to its raw emotional honesty, dark humour, and bold, modern score by Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey.
Reviews (Off-Broadway production)
“When sincerity wins out, Next to Normal has a heartfelt tenderness that’s genuinely moving.”
Variety
“Still the most electrically charged and invigorating musical about clinical depression you can hope for… one of the most exciting and emotionally dazzling musical-theatre creations to hit New York in many a season.”
BroadwayWorld
“Flawed but emotionally resonant… tackles head-on the issue of depression, and the effects it has on an American family.”
TheaterMania