Overview
Synopsis
Next to Normal is the story of Diana Goodman and her family. Traumatized by the death of her infant son from an undiagnosed intestinal obstruction, Diana has lived with bipolar depressive disorder and delusional episodes for the past seventeen years. The illness has affected everyone in her life, and has nearly torn her family apart on several occasions. With subject matter rendered achingly recognizable by Brian Yorkey, and a dynamic, energetic pop-rock score by Tom Kitt, Next to Normal is a show that enables a small group of actors to showcase powerhouse vocals while exploring pressing contemporary issues of trauma, loss, mental health treatment, and the meaning of family.
Show Information
- Book
- Brian Yorkey
- Music
- Tom Kitt
- Lyrics
- Brian Yorkey
- Category
- Musical
- Age Guidance
- Thirteen Plus (PG-13)
- Number of Acts
- 2
- First Produced
- 2008
- Genres
- Drama
- Settings
- Multiple Settings
- Time & Place
- 2000s
- Cast Size
- small
- Orchestra Size
- Rock Combo
- Dancing
- None
- Licensor
- Music Theatre International
- Ideal For
- College/University, Community Theatre, Mature Audiences, Professional Theatre, Regional Theatre, Small Cast, Star Vehicle Female, Mostly Male Cast, Includes Adult, Late Teen, Young Adult Characters
Context
Brian Yorkey conceived of the idea for Next to Normal in 1998, first presenting it in the form of a ten-minute workshop called Feeling Electric. He brought the idea to Tom Kitt when they were both students at the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop. Several readings later, Next to Normal was given a production Off-Broadway at Second Stage Theatre. It ran from January 16 through March 16, 2008. The Broadway production opened on April 15, 2009, and closed on January 16, 2011, after
to read the context for Next to Normal and to unlock other amazing theatre resources!Plot
ACT ONE
The show opens with Gabe, Diana’s seventeen-year-old son, arriving home at 3:30 in the morning. She’s waited up for him anxiously for the past seven nights in a row, she tells him, imagining all the ways he might have died (“Prelude”). He tells her that she has to let him go; he’s almost eighteen. Dan, Diana’s husband, calls from offstage to ask who she’s talking to, and Diana tells Gabe to go upstairs the back way. “Just me talking to myself,” she tells Dan. Diana begins
to read the plot for Next to Normal and to unlock other amazing theatre resources!Characters
| Name | Part Size | Gender | Vocal Part |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Lead |
Male |
Tenor |
|
|
Lead |
Female |
Mezzo-Soprano |
|
|
Lead |
Female |
Mezzo-Soprano |
|
|
Supporting |
Male |
Tenor |
|
|
Supporting |
Male |
Tenor |
|
|
Supporting |
Male |
Tenor |
Songs
Act One
- "Prelude" – Orchestra
- "Just Another Day" – Diana, Natalie, Gabe, Dan
- "Everything Else" – Natalie
- "Who's Crazy" / "My Psychopharmacologist and I" – Dan, Doctor Fine, Diana
- "Perfect for You" – Henry, Natalie
- "I Miss the Mountains" – Diana
- "It's Gonna Be Good" – Dan, Natalie, Henry, Diana
- "He's Not Here" – Dan
- "You Don't Know" – Diana
- "I Am the One" – Dan, Gabe, Diana
- "Superboy and the Invisible Girl" – Natalie, Diana, Gabe
- "I'm Alive" – Gabe
- "Make Up Your Mind" / "Catch Me I'm Falling" – Doctor Madden, Diana, Dan, Natalie, Gabe, Henry
- "I Dreamed a Dance" – Diana, Gabe
- "There's a World" – Gabe
- "I've Been" – Dan
- "Didn't I See This Movie?" – Diana
- "A Light in the Dark" – Dan, Diana
Act Two
- "Wish I Were Here" – Diana, Natalie
- "Song of Forgetting" – Dan, Diana, Natalie
- "Hey #1" – Henry, Natalie
- "Seconds and Years" – Doctor Madden, Dan, Diana
- "Better Than Before" – Doctor Madden, Dan, Natalie, Diana
- "Aftershocks" – Gabe
- "Hey #2" – Henry, Natalie
- "You Don't Know" (Reprise) – Diana, Doctor Madden
- "How Could I Ever Forget?" – Diana, Dan
- "It's Gonna Be Good" (Reprise) – Dan, Diana
- "Why Stay?" / "A Promise" – Diana, Natalie, Dan, Henry
- "I'm Alive" (Reprise) – Gabe
- "The Break" – Diana
- "Make Up Your Mind" / "Catch Me I'm Falling" (Reprise) – Doctor Madden, Diana, Gabe
- "Maybe (Next to Normal)" – Diana, Natalie
- "Hey #3" / "Perfect for You" (Reprise) – Henry, Natalie
- "So Anyway" – Diana
- "I Am the One" (Reprise) – Dan, Gabe
- "Light" – Diana, Dan, Natalie, Gabe, Henry, Doctor Madden
A song with an asterisk (*) before the title indicates a dance number; a character listed in a song with an asterisk (*) by the character's name indicates that the character exclusively serves as a dancer in this song, which is sung by other characters.
Monologues
Scenes
Key Terms
A group of musicians, actors, or dancers who perform together.
Denoting or taking place in a New York City theatre that is smaller than those in the Broadway theatre district and typically stages less expensive/commercial productions.
An award for an achievement in American journalism, literature, or music
A musical theatre work using rock music.
A production designed especially to show off the talents of a particular performer.
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