July 19, 2011

A rock musical from Michael Greif (the director of Rent), Next to Normal recounts the story of a turbulent family’s suburban blues. Featuring 30 original songs by Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey, this production won a 2009 Tony Award for Best Score and starts Alice Ripley, who has also won a Tony Award for her performance.

This isn’t your average Broadway musical; the story is about a woman with bipolar disorder and depression, the cast is made up of only six people, and it is a sung-through rock musical. Next to Normal has been credited with “push[ing] Broadway in new directions” (Rolling Stone), and has been described as “an emotional powerhouse of a musical about a family trying to take care of themselves and each other” (nexttonormal.com).

The show opens tonight at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts at 7:30pm and will run until the end of the month. Tickets range in price from $34 to $129 and can be purchased at www.dancaptickets.com.