NEXT TO NORMAL wins Pulitzer Prize for Drama- Page 3

[Amalia Balash]

Posted: 4/12/10 at 4:59pm

Good for N2N!

[Brick]

Posted: 4/12/10 at 5:00pm

"Either Anna in the Tropics or I Am My Own Wife or Doubt."

I seem to remember it being I Am My Own Wife, but maybe it was DOUBT. In the case of the former, CAROLINE should have won, and in the case of the latter, it should have been a runner-up.

"And for the record, you don't have to be a hater (which admittedly, I am) to acknowledge that, especially in a year with so many strong dramas, Next to Normal did not deserve to win the Pulitzer. "

"What strong dramas? The Vibrator Play? Next Fall?"

Exactly. I'm not a fan of NEXT TO NORMAL, but it was bold and ambitious. It tackled a very difficult subject and made it dramatic and involving. What other musical is even remotely like it? I think the Pulitxer makes sense. But still, Wow.

[CyCoSpAz2]

Posted: 4/12/10 at 5:02pm

don't like the show, but thrilled Next Fall didn't win

[Andergoat]

Posted: 4/12/10 at 5:04pm

I'm thrilled for N2N, which I just saw last Friday.

Also seeing finalist "The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Diety" Wednesday here in Minneapolis. Wooo!

[MCfan2]

Posted: 4/12/10 at 5:05pm

I really liked the show (not entirely thrilled with the ending, but I liked the rest), so I'm happy. Congratulations to them!

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 4/12/10 at 5:08pm

Well, good for them!

[sweetestsiren]

Posted: 4/12/10 at 5:15pm

I just...I don't know. I think the standards to win the Pulitzer as a musical have been set so high, and...Next to Normal, really? Really? I'm not going to pretend to have seen all of the nominees (other than In the Next Room, which I liked well enough but was surprised to see nominated, but Next to Normal just seems so forgettable when compared to the likes of Rent, Sunday in the Park with George, A Chorus Line, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, South Pacific... But, again, I can't compare all of this year's nominees on their own merits.

[bjh2114]

Posted: 4/12/10 at 5:16pm

adamgreer, there are things not on Broadway that were fantastic and deserved a look. CMT and Brother/Sister Plays come to mind immediately. Why Torture is Wrong...

I am not a N2N hater. I enjoy the show. That being said, it is obvious that it's not worthy of a Pulitzer. I would have been happy for it had it won Best Musical at the Tonys. But the Pulitzer is for book and lyrics, which are easily Next to Normal's weak points. Too many good plays were overlooked this year.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 4/12/10 at 5:20pm

I think everyone here shocked at this award should take a serious look at some past winners. I'm sorry, but I don't think THE SHADOW BOX or GIN GAME are all that deserving. NORMAL is decidedly among the best. I mean we also have TEAHOUSE OF THE AUGUST MOON on the list. NEXT TO NORMAL is an ambitious show that absolutely captures a particular aspect of American life. I think it's as deserving as a show about performance artists on the lower east side. The Pulitzer has always been given to an ecclectic mix.

[bjh2114]

Posted: 4/12/10 at 5:31pm

Those are all examples from a while ago. The winners in the past decade have all been deserving. Of the ones I have seen and/or read, Dinner with Friends, Proof, I Am My Own Wife, Rabbit Hole, August: Osage County, and Ruined were all MORE than deserving.

[bjh2114]

Posted: 4/12/10 at 5:31pm

Double Updated On: 4/12/10 at 05:31 PM

[Auggie27]

Posted: 4/12/10 at 5:35pm

I disagree about RABBIT HOLE, frankly as do many people, so it's not entirely about older awards vs. new.

[bjh2114]

Posted: 4/12/10 at 5:38pm

Ok, even if you disagree about Rabbit Hole (which for the record is in my top 3 of those plays I listed), that's only 1 out of about 10. Both the Gin Game and Shadow Box were from the 1970s. Even many of the ones from the 90s were deserving (Lost in Yonkers, Angels, Rent, Wit).

[TimesSquareRegular]

Posted: 4/12/10 at 5:40pm

I consider this a well-deserved honor, and regard N2N as a terrific theatrical experience.

(I was trembling at the thought that something like NEXT FALL might get it - but thankfully intelligence went into this year's decision.)

[D2]

Posted: 4/12/10 at 5:41pm

I realize I am opening a HUGE can of worms, but RENT is hardly any more deserving of a Pulitzer Prize than NEXT TO NORMAL.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 4/12/10 at 5:45pm

So no winner next year?

[bjh2114]

Posted: 4/12/10 at 5:46pm

RENT has a book. Period. I don't even care about the difference in quality. Rent has a book, N2N doesn't.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 4/12/10 at 5:46pm

How wonderful! This REALLY deserved it!

[Auggie27]

Posted: 4/12/10 at 5:47pm

Totally agree, D2. For all its strengths, the second act remains an unfinished blur. And I love RENT, as long as it's singing.

[Kalimba]

Posted: 4/12/10 at 5:50pm

In the Next Room was a finalist??

N2N just doesn't do it for me. I can still hear Alice screeching - "You don't know, you don't know...."

[TimesSquareRegular]

Posted: 4/12/10 at 5:51pm

"RENT has a book. Period. I don't even care about the difference in quality. Rent has a book, N2N doesn't."

That is a statement that could only be made by someone who has no understanding at all of what the term "book" means in musical theater.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 4/12/10 at 5:51pm

A powerful rock musical that grapples with mental illness in a suburban family and expands the scope of subject matter for musicals.

I gather the award was won on the fact that it is a)a fully original musical not based on a previous source and b) tackling some complex issues. I thing it's important that a true original like this is being commended. That said, I admired the show more than actually enjoying it. I found it distancing instead of involving, but it did leave a lot to think about afterwords, and that's never a bad thing.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 4/12/10 at 5:54pm

I realize I am opening a HUGE can of worms, but RENT is hardly any more deserving of a Pulitzer Prize than NEXT TO NORMAL.

I agree 100%. Next to Normal is far more deserving of this award than Rent was.

RENT has a book. Period. I don't even care about the difference in quality. Rent has a book, N2N doesn't.

N2N has just as much of a book as Rent does. I would argue the book in N2N tells the story better than the book of Rent does.

[D2]

Posted: 4/12/10 at 5:54pm

Agreed, TimesSquareRegular. The way the term "book" is bandied around here by "those in the know" is downright hilarious.

[bjh2114]

Posted: 4/12/10 at 5:57pm

That is a statement that could only be made by someone who has no understanding at all of what the term "book" means in musical theater.

I consider the book of RENT to be all of the sung-through recitative-style dialogue. It functions the same way an opera's recitative does (which is the point since it's based on La Boheme). Next to Normal is just song after song, with a few spoken lines of book (which admittedly RENT doesn't have). But I consider the sung-through parts between the actual SONGS of Rent (the arias) to be the book (the recitative). So it's not that I don't understand what "book" means...it's that I see the book of RENT as something different than most people. You know... the way Larson intended it.