AmericanTheaterWeb Original News & Reviews

AmericanTheaterWeb

Review - Next to Normal
Impressive New Musical Tackles Difficult Subject

New York Times

Fragmented Psyches, Uncomfortable Emotions: Sing Out!
No show on Broadway right now makes as direct a grab for the heart — or wrings it as thoroughly — as does this brave, breathtaking musical.

New York Daily News

Dziemianowicz: 'Normal' is way beyond ordinary
People don't usually yearn to be ordinary. But when events cause their lives to spiral out of control, normalcy is precisely what they pray for. Or even a close facsimile. That idea beats at the heart of the musical "Next to Normal.

amNY New York City Theater

Theater Review of Next to Normal
Alice Ripley is absolutely fierce. Like Sherie Rene Scott, Idina Menzel or Julia Murney, Ripley brings an electrifying, urgent intensity to edgy rock musicals. And Ripley’s luminous ferocity is displayed to brilliant perfection in “Next to Normal.” This rock solid pop-rock musical observes Diana, a suburban mother suffering from bipolar disorder.

New York Post

Funda-mental flaws
For better or for worse, "Next to Normal" is usually shorthanded as "the musical about the crazy woman." It's accurate -- the central character, Diana (Alice Ripley), has a severe bipolar disorder -- but only up to a point. The show, which opened on Broadway last night after last year's run at Second Stage, is...

Bergen Record

A musical not average nor ordinary
“Next to Normal,” which opened Wednesday night at the Booth Theatre, is an exciting leap into the possibilities of musical theater.

Associated Press

Review: Mental illness shatters family in 'Normal'
There are no easy answers to be found in "Next to Normal," a startling, emotion-drenched musical about one family's attempt to cope with mental illness. The show is an impressive achievement, a heartfelt entertainment that has found its way back to New York after an invaluable out-of-town retooling.

Bloomberg.com

Crazy Mom, Needy Kid Wipe Smile Off `Normal' Broadway Fare: Jeremy Gerard
The spirit haunting Broadway’s newest, and most brazen, musical is anything but blithe. His name is Gabe and if he were alive, he’d be 18 when “Next to Normal” begins. As it is, only his mother, Diana, can see him, and she’s nuts.

Variety

Reviw: Next to Normal
This original new pop-rock musical has benefited unequivocally from treatment.

Hollywood Reporter

Theater Review: Next to Normal
Bottom Line: Its songs about psychopharmacology and electric-shock therapy indicate that this is not your average musical.

Back Stage

Next to Normal reviewed by Erik Haagensen
When Next to Normal played at Off-Broadway's Second Stage last year, Brian Yorkey's book and lyrics lacked the character complexity necessary to tell his ambitious story satisfactorily.

Washington Post

Theater Review of 'Next to Normal' and 'Hair' on Broadway
Will Broadway have the smarts and taste to anoint "Next to Normal" the best new musical of the year? Unveiled last year at off-Broadway's Second Stage, and polished in December to a smashing finish at Washington's Arena Stage, the show opened last night at the Booth Theatre as a prime...

Chicago Tribune Theater Loop Blog

'Next to Normal' on Broadway: When normal is achingly out of reach

TheaterMania

Review: Next to Normal
Alice Ripley delivers a luminous performance in this deeply felt musical about a woman suffering from mental illness and its effects on her family.

Talkin' Broadway

Review: Next to Normal
Don't slam the door of Goodmans' medicine cabinet, please. After all, if the mirror on it cracked or fell off, how could they look at, talk to, and sing about themselves as easily as they do now? You might wish that this ordinary family, which lives in an ordinary house on an ordinary street in Ordinary Town, U.S.A., would want to include you in their world - but no. If this clan, the doctors that treat and mistreat them, and the lovestruck teen neighbor who populate Next to Normal are too consumed with their own concerns to pay attention to each other, you won't have a much better chance. . . .