Is The NEXT TO NORMAL Movie Still Happening?- Page 4

[darquegk]

Posted: 12/22/12 at 12:59pm

If I remember, Natalie is seventeen, right? And Diana had her at age eighteen. so Diana is thirty-five at least in TEXT, but typically played a bit older.

I don't know what it is about the voice of J. Robert Spencer, but when I hear him on the record, I can't help but picture Robert Sean Leonard, Dr. James Wilson from "House" as Dan.

[steven22]

Posted: 12/22/12 at 1:05pm

someone.else's.story2....

I would kill to see Julia Murney as Diana...she would belt the hell out of that score...

[someone.else's.story2]

Posted: 12/22/12 at 1:41pm

I know, right? And she has the acting chops to do the role justice as well.

[fingerlakessinger]

Posted: 12/22/12 at 10:47pm

I still think Murney should have played her on Broadway at some point. Hell...there HAS to be a big regional theater out there that can produce this with her in the lead.

[TheGirlUpstairs]

Posted: 12/22/12 at 11:29pm

darquegk-

It was Gabe who was born when Diana was young (although I'm not sure that she was actually 1. It doesn't seem like Natalie was born until after Gabe died, judging by the "I couldn't hold her in the hospital" line. That would put her closer to 40.

[ChanceEncounter]

Posted: 12/23/12 at 1:39am

In the most recent version of the show Gabe was born when Diana and Dan were "both undergrads". In a scene between Perfect for You and I Miss the Mountains Dan is identified as "almost 22" when Diana gets pregnant with Gabe. At 18 months he became ill and several weeks later he died. Natalie is conceived and born sometime after he dies ("We had Natalie to...and I couldn't hold her in the hospital.") What would have been his 18th birthday happens in the first act. Natalie is conceived and born sometime after he dies ("We had Natalie to...and I couldn't hold her in the hospital.") She is identified in the in Maybe as 16.

So, Dan is 40 and Diana is somewhere from 38-42 assuming they were at a 4 year university and started at age 18. Natalie had to have been conceived within weeks of Gabe's death if she's 16 on March 1st (the date of the dance that she goes to at the end of the show) and it's September at the beginning of the show and there's been no indication of a birthday occurring during the those 5ish months.

[Younger Brother]

Posted: 1/2/13 at 5:20pm

I love the Toni Collette as Diana idea!

[TheHappyPhantom]

Posted: 1/2/13 at 9:55pm

This was one of the worst shows that tricked people into thinking it was in depth. Please let it die. It's already gotten WAY too much credit for it's cliche lyrics, wannabe rock music, and stock characters.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 1/2/13 at 9:58pm

Yeah! Do the Wicked movie instead!!!!!!

[fingerlakessinger]

Posted: 1/2/13 at 11:15pm

Good God I hate trolls.

I was watching the movie "New Years Eve"
Anyone else think Michelle Pfeiffer could have played Diana? I think she might be a bit old for this part but from what I saw in the movie I mentioned, she can certainly act a little "odd" and she can sing pretty well. Maybe not as strong as Diana require though.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 1/3/13 at 4:16pm

This was one of the worst shows that tricked people into thinking it was in depth. Please let it die. It's already gotten WAY too much credit for it's cliche lyrics, wannabe rock music, and stock characters.

Or...it is the opposite of that.

[JulesReverie]

Posted: 1/4/13 at 12:40am

We all know Toni could play Diana, United States of Tara is pretty much her audition for it.

Still I see this role handed on a golden platter to Kate Winslet the very first second it's announced its in production, Kate is gonna have first dibs (but hey, I'd rather it be Kate than Gwyneth Paltrow or Sarah Jessica Parker)

For some reason I think Jennifer Garner could really work as Diana. I could just picture her so so well playing Diana as if I'm recalling it by memory rather than imagining it.

Michael C. Hall is Dan hands down, the role is his unless it turns out John Cusack has hidden singing chops. (If John Cusack could sing, he'd be the perfect Dan to rival OBC Dan)

Jennifer Damiano HAS to reprise her role on screen and I could live with Adam Chanler-Berat getting replaced by Darren Criss, but Jennifer Damiano HAS to reprise her role, she's not too old yet

I wish they could find a way to bump Gabe's age so Aaron could be Gabe on screen but it's not possible, so I hope they would cast a talented young unknown or Hunter Parrish or Kyle Riabko, but realistically I could see them trying their hardest to get semi-singer Erza Miller to play Gabe, dumbly believing they could get Miller to sing as well as Tveit with a few singing coaches (Miller only has the serious acting chops but nowhere near the voice)

Updated On: 1/4/13 at 12:40 AM

[DEClarke]

Posted: 1/4/13 at 2:48am

I really think people need to stop ragging on this show for its treatment of mental illness. Obviously, it was completely candid and got something right. The show won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Also, reality check here, if you think the treatment of bi-polar/manic-depressive disorder is something different than what Diana foes through, think again. ECT has made a come back and is used. The illness really does affect people in ways similar to what Diana goes through. Also, the illness can stress a family to the breaking point.

Also, the show does a good job exposing audiences to facets of drug therapy. "My Psychopharmacologist and I" lyrically exposes the pratfalls of drug therapy perfectly. Treating mental illness is not all rainbows and butterflies. There is a lot of debate about the effectiveness and need for drug therapy. On the flip side, there is a lot of debate about talk therapy. There is a lot of debate about the combination of the therapies. So, in the end, there is no right answer. Which i think N2N does a great job showing.

I hope this is made into a film and soon. While it doesn't educate, per se, I think this show needs a wider audience and needs to get more people involved in the discussion about mental illness and the treatment of it.

[N2N Nate.]

Posted: 7/27/13 at 7:19pm

Bump. Any new news on this yet? I am late to the party but my dream cast for this film is:

Tina Fey as Diana.
Ewan McGregor as Dan.
Anna Kendrick as Natalie.
Hunter Parrish as Gabe

[steven22]

Posted: 7/27/13 at 7:30pm

I'm still waiting for this and Spring Awakening to get the movie treatment...

[binau]

Posted: 7/27/13 at 7:35pm

The other thing that bothers me , DEClarke, is that people often say the show is unrealistic because it isn't congruent with their personal experiences with people with mental illness. To this I say 1. It isn't your story and 2. The mental illness depicted in the show is unlikely to be exactly the same as the person you have personal experiences with, even if they are given the same title. So you can't expect that the show is going to be a biography of every person with Bipolar. Thankfully, the show actually explores in a generous amount of detail for a musical the fact that the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness is not perfect.

[N2N Nate.]

Posted: 7/27/13 at 7:39pm

Wasn't SPRING AWAKENING suppose to be filming by now?

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 7/27/13 at 10:36pm

What happened to the In The Heights movie? Are they just not make it anymore? Also, what about Memphis? I never got the chance to see Next to Normal but have always wanted to. I wonder if they will bring it back to NYC one day.

[N2N Nate.]

Posted: 7/27/13 at 10:48pm

I'm sure it will get revived in the next 30 years.

[jetts7]

Posted: 7/28/13 at 4:44pm

My dream cast:
Diana - Pink (Alecia Beth Moore)
Dan - Hugh Jackman
Natalie - Anna Kenderick
Gabe - Aaron Tveit
Henry - I don't know but keep Bieber away!

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 7/28/13 at 5:29pm

Actually, N2N isn't about mental illness so much as it is about complicated grief, family dynamics and repression. The question remaining at the end of the show is, "was Diana ever actually 'mentally ill' or was her grief just brushed aside by people trying to 'play house' and move on. Did that push her over the edge?

The problem with film making now is it is more important for the lead to be bankable overseas than in the US, because foreign markets are more lucrative for film than US ones. This is why people like Streep, Winslet, Jackman, and Moore are 'overcast' in my opinion and why incredible actresses never even get considered.

In a perfect world Collette would be cast, but she'll never even be in the running. I think Pink is still an option because she is an international pop icon. It's also a reason Madonna is in the running because she is HUGE overseas and will sell tickets to a film.

You pair Madonna with Jackman and slap on Kendrick and Criss and this movie will be unstoppable.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/28/13 at 6:11pm

How is Madonna in the running for this?

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 7/28/13 at 6:15pm

If she owns the rights, I assume she is a contender. I saw a talkback with Kitt and Yorkey and they had said Madonna had thrown her hat in the ring for the rights. Madonna said she wanted to secure the development rights in a BBC interview. If she has the rights, then I assume she is in the mix.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/28/13 at 6:26pm

Wow. Honestly, I'd never heard that before or even thought of her in that role. Not sure how I feel about that.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 7/28/13 at 6:40pm

N2N isn't about mental illness so much as it is about complicated grief, family dynamics and repression. The question remaining at the end of the show is, "was Diana ever actually 'mentally ill' or was her grief just brushed aside by people trying to 'play house' and move on. Did that push her over the edge?

I get what the show was going for, but the writers didn't seem to understand the core issues of what we define as abnormal behavior. Diana's problems went way beyond bereavement (of course, the DSM-V is even worse than the DSM-IV with pathologizing grief). With a diagnosis of adjustment disorder, the reaction has to be beyond what is considered usual or reasonable--granted, that's not a concrete definition, but most people don't respond to a death of a loved one by becoming manic.

Updated On: 7/28/13 at 06:40 PM