NEXT TO NORMAL wins Pulitzer Prize for Drama- Page 4

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 4/12/10 at 5:59pm

I like N2N's score and lyrics, but I don't think the book was exceptionally great.

(And, yes, I did see it.)

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 4/12/10 at 6:07pm

NEXT TO NORMAL was far more ambitious than any of the other eligible works, in my opinion. It was a completely original American work that is absolutely deserving of the Pulitzer. I was shocked when I heard about the win, but only because I had no clue it was eligible. But it doesn't matter. It won! And I'm ecstatic!

[defyingravity11]

Posted: 4/12/10 at 6:31pm

A book of a musical is the narrative structure that keeps the score from being nothing more than a disjointed medley of songs (not just the spoken dialogue).

[bjh2114]

Posted: 4/12/10 at 6:33pm

defyinggravity11, are you addressing me or D2 and TimesSquareRegular?

[defyingravity11]

Posted: 4/12/10 at 6:39pm

I was simply providing a textbook definition of a book. The book is an outline of dramatic development. It is the skeletal play that provides the framework for the songs and dances in a musical. Of course Next to Normal has a book.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 4/12/10 at 6:42pm

I couldn't be happier for them. This show had me in tears by the end.

[bjh2114]

Posted: 4/12/10 at 6:42pm

Yes N2N HAS a book, perhaps I was being too harsh. But I feel like it's mostly song after song after song. I feel like the plot development happens within those songs as opposed to between them. That's why I feel like RENT has more of a book. The development happens between numbers, regardless of if the development is sung or spoken.

[Phantom of London]

Posted: 4/12/10 at 6:48pm

Next to Normal isn't just great because it's about a wife in a middle class family, who happens to suffer from bi-polar, who has constant flashbacks to her dead son. There is a underlying message in the show, which attacks the pharmaceutical industries and how mental health is treated as a service industry as a whole.
Updated On: 4/12/10 at 06:48 PM

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 4/12/10 at 6:49pm

I agree RENT has no business being a Pulitzer-winning musical, but I really can't believe NEXT TO NORMAL won. I mean, it's a good show but I agree some of the lyrics are less than great and the story--especially towards the end--loses some momentum. I do think it speaks to American life in an interesting way so maybe that's what they were looking for? I'm not sure. I just can't imagine there weren't any other plays that they thought were more deserving. Oh well, good for them?

[MamasDoin'Fine]

Posted: 4/12/10 at 6:54pm

The Pulitzer Price For Drama, the winning 8 musicals.
'Of Thee I Sing' 1932.
'South Pacific' 1950.
'Fiorello!' 1960.
'How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying' 1962.
'A Chorus Line' 1976.
'Sunday In The Park With George' 1985.
'Rent' 1996.
'Next To Normal' 2010.

[jessica0414]

Posted: 4/12/10 at 7:25pm

I may be in the minority but I feel this is well deserved. However, I am not familiar with the other nominees, so perhaps I'm not qualified to make any sort of judgment regarding NEXT TO NORMAL's quality as compared to the other works considered. I just really enjoyed the show when I saw it last May, and find both the score and lyrics to be poetic, moving, and all-around wonderful.

[ljay889]

Posted: 4/12/10 at 7:38pm

http://theenvelope.latimes.com/la-et-pulitzer-mcnulty-20100413,0,3224899.story

[Q]

Posted: 4/12/10 at 8:06pm

Out of the list of prior musical winners, I only agree with SOUTH PACIFIC and A CHORUS LINE.

[After Eight]

Posted: 4/12/10 at 8:15pm

Thank you ljay for posting this link.

I am SO glad that McNulty is ticked off that the esteemed choices his band of out-of-touch elitists were rejected by the Pulitzer Board

Thank you so much Pultizer Board for basically telling them where to get off.

I hope that the whole concept of the jury is given the boot in the future; let the board make a choice without any recommendations.

This is proof once again that critics should not be allowed to vote on awards- or college professors either.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 4/12/10 at 8:20pm

Kitt and Yorkey react to Pulitzer win

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 4/12/10 at 8:33pm

This is proof once again that critics should not be allowed to vote on awards- or college professors either.

Yes, better to place that duty into the hands of people like producers, whose only interest in the art is money.


This year's Tonys are going to suck even worse than this.

Updated On: 4/12/10 at 08:33 PM

[After Eight]

Posted: 4/12/10 at 8:57pm

"Yes, better to that duty into the hands of people like producers, whose only interest in the art is money. "

I don't think producers' ONLY interest in the art is money. For if money is their only interest, there are easier and less risky ways to make it than in the theatre.

And yes, I would rather see voting done by producers whose noses aren't turned up all time like these smug, superior, out-of-touch elitists with their agendas. The less influence this crowd has the better.

And McNulty's snit is the wholly expected reaction of this full-of-themselves brigade. I'm so glad he's ticked off.

[Edna Turnblad]

Posted: 4/12/10 at 9:08pm

I personally like Sunday and Rent, and of what I've seen/heard of A Chorus Line. I'm curious as to what some of you think makes Rent undeserving. Granted, I've only watched it once on DVD, but I found it very nice.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 4/12/10 at 9:11pm

I'd rather see voting done by people who actually know what they're talking about.

And I LOLed at your implication that producers DON'T have agendas.

[sweetestsiren]

Posted: 4/12/10 at 9:27pm

Most of the musicals selected as Pulitzer winners have been groundbreaking or iconic in some way. Whether you like Rent's material or not, you can't really deny that a) it concerned current issues in a way that was challenging and different at the time, and b) it changed the face of musical theater for at least the rest of the decade, though probably much longer. Next to Normal isn't that. It's decently strong material that presents an interesting if narrowminded and occasionally worrisome picture of mental illness in modern life. I don't think that it has much to say even now, and I can't see it being revived in the coming years or having much of a life beyond its current Broadway run.

Are there plays that have won that aren't incredibly strong? Sure. But given the caliber of musicals selected in the past, Next to Normal isn't up to task. It's just not. It's fine if this represents a shift in the way that the committee decides to consider nominees (though if so, it's a worrisome one), but given the history of the award, I think people are rightfully perplexed/displeased by this year's selection.

Don't we have awards that are selected largely by producers? Isn't that that thing we call the Tonys? And, you know what? They chose Billy Elliott. I'm fine if you're arguing for a middle ground between high-brow intellectualism and public appreciation, but you have to realize that the industry does already have a voice in awards, even if they don't choose what you'd like them to.

[kchenofan]

Posted: 4/12/10 at 9:36pm

I'm surprised, but in a good way. Congratulations Next to Normal!

[snl89]

Posted: 4/12/10 at 9:38pm

Wowww, that's amazing!! And very, very well deserved <33

Congrats Next to Normal team!

[After Eight]

Posted: 4/12/10 at 9:48pm

"I'd rather see voting done by people who actually know what they're talking about."

Right, like the critics who raved over such stinkers as "Superior Donuts," "Starry Messenger," "Venus in Fur," "Circle Mirror Transformations," "This," etc., etc., etc. Yep, they sure know what they're talking about.



"And I LOLed at your implication that producers DON'T have agendas."

I'd prefer producers' agendas over the elitists any day of the week.

But today I'm the one who'll LOL, because I couldn't be happier that McNulty and his like got the repudiation they so richly deserved.

[StickToPriest]

Posted: 4/12/10 at 9:50pm

"I feel like the plot development happens within those songs as opposed to between them."

Then you don't really have a clear understanding of what is meant by the term "book." Usually, the finest portions of the script are taken and turned into songs, but the bookwriter initially dramatized those moments.

[singalongsong2]

Posted: 4/12/10 at 9:53pm

Wow. Congrats, N2N!
Updated On: 4/12/10 at 09:53 PM