Next to Normal Coming to Broadway!!- Page 8

[nexttoelectric]

Posted: 2/27/09 at 7:44pm

New BWW Article says online and phone sales start the second and box office opens the 9th.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 2/27/09 at 8:19pm

It looks like they just left off the Sunday performances...so I'm guessing an error...and that there will be two shows on Sunday.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 2/27/09 at 11:49pm

Now we just need the inevitable discount code to come out!

[nexttoelectric]

Posted: 2/28/09 at 12:27am

there are $36 tickets for the last row of the mezz, and its not exactly an expansive theatre. there probably won't be a bad seat in the house (except maybe the row or 2 of the Orch if the Overhang is problematic)

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 3/2/09 at 12:04am

Have we heard anything about the release date for the cast recording. Are they waiting till it's on Broadway to release it?

[KingKong]

Posted: 3/2/09 at 12:11am

The initial press release said spring. It was recorded just under 3 weeks ago, it does take some time to produce a CD I'd expect close to opening. Maybe a couple weeks after. I signed up for the mailing list on Sh-k-boom but I haven't gotten any emails so I'd assume they're still figuring things out.
Updated On: 3/2/09 at 12:11 AM

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 3/2/09 at 3:24pm

Okie dokie then.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 3/11/09 at 7:46pm

Since on page 7 of this thread I was going into detail about my problems with the inaccuracies and misrepresentation of mental illness in NEXT TO NORMAL, I just want to point something out as to why these untruths and misinformation are so dangerous.

Some people counter my arguments by saying, "well, it's just a musical, it's not real life, it doesn't have to be incredibly accurate, it's fiction," etc.

The problem that I have is that this show is presented and marketed with a very "real" sensibility, like "this is real life," and the way it is written makes it seem very truthful.

I was just looking at the new NEXT TO NORMAL Broadway website, and the two critics' quotes on the front page read the following:

In his review of the Arena Stage production, Peter Marks of The Washington Post, wrote, "NEXT TO NORMAL is a moving, blisteringly honest, and inordinately powerful new musical, sung with a wallop by a six-member cast that includes the astonishing Alice Ripley, and dexterously directed by Michael Greif. Writers Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey have stocked the musical with beautiful songs that get to the heart of the story- and simply get to the heart."

And Jayne Blanchard in The Washington Times called the show, "A transcendent production of a powerful new American musical with a bristling, contemporary rock score, smart lyrics and raw energy."

By selecting these quotes as a way of advertising the show, the producers, writers, and marketing team are presenting the show as "real," "honest," with "smart lyrics," a show that gets to the audience's heart.

They want their show to connect with the audience, so that people can look at what is being presented on stage as the truth, and for the audience to connect this story to their life, and perhaps reassess their situation dealing with this extremely serious, rarely explored on stage subject matter.

This is why NEXT TO NORMAL is not just simply a fictional musical.

It feels very honestly written, directed, and powerfully real, centered around a VERY SERIOUS subject matter.

So when the portrayals of mental illness being presented in the show are sensationalized pieces of misinformation, it becomes dangerous to the audience that is being told that what they are seeing on stage about the human condition is real and true.

Updated On: 3/11/09 at 07:46 PM

[bundy5000]

Posted: 3/11/09 at 8:11pm

Mental Illness and Psychology are one of the most vaguest Sciences we know. They are never absolute, never guaranteed and will never be depicted through TRUTH.

If you want a diagnosis, if you want advice about ECT, if you want medication, and therapy, go to a Psychiatrist.

I don't think anyone having to do with the show has a PHD, or is certified in therapy.

Anyways a show, movie, music, or other means of entertainment is not liable for any damages to anyone's mental health. Unless you get obsessed with Alice Ripley, and try to assassinate a politician, to prove it. Then you shouldn't see NEXT TO NORMAL

Updated On: 3/11/09 at 08:11 PM

[heo1128]

Posted: 3/11/09 at 8:18pm

Next to Normal portrays mental illness as accurately as Greys Anatomy portrays a surgery wing of a hospital. It's not real life, it's heightened for entertainment purposes.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 3/11/09 at 8:49pm

Unfortunately, whether we like it or not, kids see TV, movies, and theatre, and that is often their only exposure to topics such as mental illness, and they don't know any better than to accept such a serious topic as the truth.

We all know how kids like to become attached to shows and make them about them, and try to see how the topics being addressed might apply to their lives.

All I'm saying is that the marketing for this show is presenting it as "real" and "honest" while tackling a very serious human health issue that is rarely addressed on a Broadway stage, when what they are presenting is dangerously untrue.

It may be a story with fictional characters, but these characters are dealing with a common, serious health issue.

It is not an absurdist play.

The situation here is being presented as real and honest, when the information being portrayed is dangerously untrue.

[KingKong]

Posted: 3/11/09 at 8:54pm

Oh lord. wheres my gian eyeroll, i need again.


YOU CAN'T TRY AND BLAME THE CREATIVE TEAM FOR AN AUDIENCE'S STUPIDITY.

oh, and you havent ****ing seen the show since it went to DC so stop commenting like you know its "dangerously untrue" because it's not.

[vlegra]

Posted: 3/11/09 at 9:05pm

Truth is, these actors are telling a story. If we believe it is real, then they are doing their job. If these acts are being portrayed in a way of mocking these illnesses then it will defeat the purpose of telling the story. It will not be theater we are watching; It will be a joke.

I'm watching N2N in April and I hope that what I see on stage is real (or allows me to believe it is real). I did not pay $120 to go a a mockery but a story being told. Ann in these actors hands, i trust them with their roles.

[April Saul]

Posted: 3/11/09 at 9:49pm

I have mixed feelings about N2N, because, based on what I saw at Second Stage, Foster's right. If they're going to present the mom's illness as bipolar, they ought to do it responsibly. There is so much misinformation out there about this illness! That said, up until the anti-medication ending, I LIKED the NYC production and will definitely go over to the Booth to take another look at the changes they've made.

But if you doubt that people are influenced by the depiction of issues like this in theater and film, check out various posters' interpretations of the N2N plot and characters on this board. Some here even seem to think it's is a realistic portrayal of this illness.

The burden of taking on a subject that's so serious and so rarely tackled is that people who know and care a lot about the issue will look at it especially critically; I mean, there's a reason film and TV shows hire experts to make sure their plots make sense. They ACCEPT that what they show may influence people and want to make sure they get it right. A Broadway show shouldn't be any different...even art should be responsible.

[KingKong]

Posted: 3/11/09 at 9:56pm

AN ARITIST IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE REACTION OF THE AUDIENCE AND ANYONE WHO THINKS THEY ARE IS AN IDIOT.


If an audience is too stupid to differintiate between real life and art it is not the fault of the artist. You lacking the necessary intelligence to tell the difference between real life and heightened reality for the sake of entertainment is not the fault of the creative team.



and as has been said MANY TIMES, if the didn't see the show and Arena, STFU because you haven't seen the show.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 3/11/09 at 10:08pm

I liked NEXT TO NORMAL at 2nd Stage.

I didn't have a problem with her cracking up in Costco, I didn't have a problem with Elvis giving her Electroshock Treatment.

I have mentally ill relatives. Not merely bipolar, by psychotic. The reason that NEXT TO NORMAL didn't piss me off was because I knew I was watching a piece of musical theater. It's not real, folks. It's fiction. The marketing team isn't claiming it's real, they're quoting a review. A review by the guy who loved GLORY DAYS.

They're not trying to present a story about mental illness, they're trying to present a story about how a family copes with disaster.

[April Saul]

Posted: 3/11/09 at 11:46pm

Hey King Kong, I SAW the show in NYC and I even said that I LIKED it, and that I'm going to see it AGAIN at the Booth. Do you even read other peoples' posts before you go off on them?

And guess what? I also have the necessary intelligence to know the difference between real life and entertainment. Nor am I an idiot...but I AM someone who has the class not to call people names on this board because they don't happen to agree with me.

The real question might be: do you know the difference between a board for people to have friendly discussions about theater and a boxing ring? A couple of days ago somebody here was calling Lauren Ambrose a c---- for not showing enough enthusiasm when she signed a Playbill! Sometimes I just don't get where all the anger on here comes from; life is hard enough.

[KingKong]

Posted: 3/12/09 at 7:34am

TDF tickets for the first preview are no longer available.

[LeaGirl]

Posted: 3/13/09 at 3:36pm

There's a really nice music video of them recording "Superboy and the Invisible Girl" on Broadway.com now.

I'm having trouble getting it to link but its under "Video on demand" on their main site.

[Elke]

Posted: 3/13/09 at 3:41pm

This link should work...
Music video

[KingKong]

Posted: 3/13/09 at 3:52pm

YEEEEEEEE, so excited. I can't wait to have a legit recording of this.