Music Tom Kitt
Music Brian Yorkey
Director: Michael Greif
Synopsis: In this over-stimulated and pharmaceutically-obsessed world, one seemingly normal suburban family comes to grips with a long buried secret in this haunting and darkly funny new musical. With music by Tom Kitt and book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey, Next to Normal explores the lengths to which we'll go to keep ourselves sane and our families in place.
NEW YORK TIMES:
"“Next to Normal” has the shape (and many of the details) of a disease-of-the-week television movie. And though it gives off hot sparks of original wit, the show also sinks into what feels like warmed-over social satire, with detours to the giddy brink of camp. Yet as directed by Michael Greif (“Rent,” “Grey Gardens”) and performed by an ace cast led by Ms. Ripley and Brian d’Arcy James, “Next to Normal” throbs with an emotional intensity that cannot be dismissed as synthetic."
Read the whole review HERE.
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS:
" In the end, the show is exactly like Diana - always unpredictable, never fully balanced. But if you're looking for something that'll shake you up, "Next to Normal" is just what the doctor ordered"
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NEW YORK SUN:
"Given all that, the unoriginality of "Next to Normal" is astonishing. There is little in Second Stage's latest offering that hasn't been done, and miles better."
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THEATERMANIA:
"But it feels too presentational, and the actors on stage have to really work to establish the kinds of connections they should be able to make more naturally. That they succeed often enough is a testament to the material, which -- despite its imperfections -- remains dynamic and moving. "
Read the whole review HERE.
VARIETY:
"When sincerity wins out, "Next to Normal" has a heartfelt tenderness that's genuinely moving. It also has Michael Greif's dynamic production for Second Stage and two penetrating lead performances in its favor. But the emotional kick of this conflicted show is undersold by its fragmented score, with songs that don't satisfyingly develop and lyrics that fall back on the cliches of mental illness."
Read the whole review HERE.
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