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Next to Normal
"A brave and breathtaking musical."--The New York Times
112 pages, Paperback
First published May 12, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 175 reviews
November 10, 2016
Yet another instance of: "Hey, I'm-a be in this musical. I better read this musical."
Not my normal fare, as I prefer musical theatre that has singing zombies or cross-dressing murderous cooks, but I did enjoy it. The story of a family trying to cope with the mother's delusional bi-polar disorder stemming from an immense loss.
I get to do the dual roles of the Doctors. Which means I get to electrify the main character's brain. So I got that goin' for me...which is nice.
Not my normal fare, as I prefer musical theatre that has singing zombies or cross-dressing murderous cooks, but I did enjoy it. The story of a family trying to cope with the mother's delusional bi-polar disorder stemming from an immense loss.
I get to do the dual roles of the Doctors. Which means I get to electrify the main character's brain. So I got that goin' for me...which is nice.
January 22, 2011
"next to normal" by Brian Yorkey (Music by Tom Kitt) is one of the most emotionally vivid pieces of theater I've read. The winner of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, "next to normal" is a work of honest, raw feelings and emotions carried forward by a dri...ving rock score and well-drawn, three-dimensional characters. The play centers around a suburban family (father, mothers, son, daughter) dealing with the mother's depression and bipolar disorder. The mother is vivacious and damaged, the father is stoic and tired, the son lively and malicious, the daughter a perfectionist living in his shadow. The subject matter alone makes the play stand-out but what takes it to a higher level is its pure honesty. All the characters are three-dimensional and react in real, fully realized ways to the situations put before them. You really get the sense that these characters have full, rich lives beyond the confines of the play and are not merely created for our own entertainment. The lyrics are not necessarily clever but convey that honesty of feeling and action. The narrative is unique in that its course of action is not inevitable but is merely one way in which these characters could have reacted to such difficult circumstances. While I have not seen the play and only listened to its score, I can say without reservation that the work is a profound and excellent piece of theater.
July 23, 2016
This is my favorite musical so I really can't give it any less than 5 stars. It's so, so, so good and so important to me. I've seen it on tour, watched several bootlegs (shhhhh), and I listen to the cast recording all the time. But still, there were many moments of revelation for me in the actual text of the script. I loved reading this so much and would highly recommend other fans of the show to do so as well.
If you don't know anything about this musical, I definitely still recommend reading the script. But I think you should get a copy of the soundtrack first and maybe listen along with it. There are a lot of overlapping lyrics and it can be hard to figure out how they work if you've never heard the actual songs before. Or, better yet, find a production near you and see it!
If you don't know anything about this musical, I definitely still recommend reading the script. But I think you should get a copy of the soundtrack first and maybe listen along with it. There are a lot of overlapping lyrics and it can be hard to figure out how they work if you've never heard the actual songs before. Or, better yet, find a production near you and see it!
March 20, 2025
2018 52 Book Challenge - 13) Has Won A Pulitzer Prize - Any Year
I love this musical. The book does it justice, capturing the raw emotion that many script books fail to gather. This musical is spectacular in its ability to both propel the plot and give the main characters characterization. Many musicals, in my opinion, fail at one or the other, and it is relatively rare to find a musical that manages to do both so well. It also manages to capture the essence of life; life is not always happy and there isn't always a good and happy ending. .
Music wise, it follows in the footsteps of other great musicals such as Rent, as both are rock musicals. This allows the musical to touch on deeper issues such as loss, grieving, suicide and disillusionment which allows sufferers to connect with the musical emotionally, and gives an insight to those who haven't suffered with such issues.
I could never recommend this book or musical enough.
I love this musical. The book does it justice, capturing the raw emotion that many script books fail to gather. This musical is spectacular in its ability to both propel the plot and give the main characters characterization. Many musicals, in my opinion, fail at one or the other, and it is relatively rare to find a musical that manages to do both so well. It also manages to capture the essence of life; life is not always happy and there isn't always a good and happy ending. .
Music wise, it follows in the footsteps of other great musicals such as Rent, as both are rock musicals. This allows the musical to touch on deeper issues such as loss, grieving, suicide and disillusionment which allows sufferers to connect with the musical emotionally, and gives an insight to those who haven't suffered with such issues.
I could never recommend this book or musical enough.
November 5, 2022
"Maybe we can’t be okay.
But maybe we’re tough, and we’ll try anyway—
We’ll live with what’s real,
Let go of what’s past,
And maybe I’ll see you at last."
🥲 I pretty much highlighted the entire thing with notes that all amount to "ah yes, this part broke me."
Finally got a chance to read this Pulitzer Prize-winning play. It's so powerful in musical-form, but it's been awhile since I've listened/watched -- there's *something* about seeing it written out, while imagining the staging in sound and sight...
Anyways. I'm gonna go stare at my ceiling and think about life
But maybe we’re tough, and we’ll try anyway—
We’ll live with what’s real,
Let go of what’s past,
And maybe I’ll see you at last."
🥲 I pretty much highlighted the entire thing with notes that all amount to "ah yes, this part broke me."
Finally got a chance to read this Pulitzer Prize-winning play. It's so powerful in musical-form, but it's been awhile since I've listened/watched -- there's *something* about seeing it written out, while imagining the staging in sound and sight...
Anyways. I'm gonna go stare at my ceiling and think about life
August 14, 2020
As a non-connoisseur of musicals, it's nice to have found out about the existence of this (particularly themed) production through a GR recommendation.
And a delight to encounter a familiar foreword to it.
Read along the soundtrack.
And a delight to encounter a familiar foreword to it.
Read along the soundtrack.
September 7, 2025
i was watching the west end proshot of next to normal and wondering if anything was changed from when it debuted in 2009, and then i remembered, hey, i have the book. two hours later i'm a mess.
next to normal was one of the musicals that introduced me to musicals; it was foundational in my teenage years. i had natalie's description in my tumblr bio the whole year i was sixteen: "sixteen and trying to be perfect. it's not going well." revisiting this as an adult, after grief, has me more connected to the whole family and its turbulent dynamics, even sixteen years afterwards. but hell, i see myself so much more in diana. in dan, with his stoicism and denial and trying to hold everything together. in natalie, too, because on some very visceral level i'm still sixteen and trying to be perfect. this musical is a deep, complex, and masterful exploration of how grief cracks a family open. gabe as malevolent spirit, gabe as desperate ghost, gabe as the personification of grief. either way, gabe haunts every character.
i also think that this musical says a lot about psychiatry and how it deals with complex emotions, trauma, and grief -- it's a lot more critical than i realised at first, but i'm also quite critical of psychiatry and pharmacology at times. "my first psychiatrist said to me that grief that continues past four months is pathological and needs to be medicated. four months. for the life of my child." that line took my breath away. next to normal doesn't demonize mental illness or psychiatry or medication, but it does posit that maybe acceptance and facing the storm is something that is part of healing, too, which is something that resonated very much with me as well -- "day after day / give me clouds and rain and grey / give me pain if that's what's real / it's the price we pay to feel" is kind of how i live after my sixteen years of fucking around with the psychiatric and pharmacological industrial complex. "something next to normal would be okay ... close enough to normal to get by." and "you don't have to be happy at all / to be happy you're alive"
definitely recommend reading or watching this. if you can get your hands on the west end proshot version -- again i've been a fan since 2010 or 2011 and seen multiple productions and "slime tutorials" ... what the west end production does is ground the musical a little more in reality than the bway one did and i feel like it hits so much harder because of it. not that the bway production isn't my darling as well but i watched the west end one and was a sobbing mess ... even with all the profanity censored for tv in silly ways.
next to normal was one of the musicals that introduced me to musicals; it was foundational in my teenage years. i had natalie's description in my tumblr bio the whole year i was sixteen: "sixteen and trying to be perfect. it's not going well." revisiting this as an adult, after grief, has me more connected to the whole family and its turbulent dynamics, even sixteen years afterwards. but hell, i see myself so much more in diana. in dan, with his stoicism and denial and trying to hold everything together. in natalie, too, because on some very visceral level i'm still sixteen and trying to be perfect. this musical is a deep, complex, and masterful exploration of how grief cracks a family open. gabe as malevolent spirit, gabe as desperate ghost, gabe as the personification of grief. either way, gabe haunts every character.
i also think that this musical says a lot about psychiatry and how it deals with complex emotions, trauma, and grief -- it's a lot more critical than i realised at first, but i'm also quite critical of psychiatry and pharmacology at times. "my first psychiatrist said to me that grief that continues past four months is pathological and needs to be medicated. four months. for the life of my child." that line took my breath away. next to normal doesn't demonize mental illness or psychiatry or medication, but it does posit that maybe acceptance and facing the storm is something that is part of healing, too, which is something that resonated very much with me as well -- "day after day / give me clouds and rain and grey / give me pain if that's what's real / it's the price we pay to feel" is kind of how i live after my sixteen years of fucking around with the psychiatric and pharmacological industrial complex. "something next to normal would be okay ... close enough to normal to get by." and "you don't have to be happy at all / to be happy you're alive"
definitely recommend reading or watching this. if you can get your hands on the west end proshot version -- again i've been a fan since 2010 or 2011 and seen multiple productions and "slime tutorials" ... what the west end production does is ground the musical a little more in reality than the bway one did and i feel like it hits so much harder because of it. not that the bway production isn't my darling as well but i watched the west end one and was a sobbing mess ... even with all the profanity censored for tv in silly ways.
October 22, 2014
If there was an option to give more than five stars, this is the one thing that would need it.
I am a lover of all mediums of storytelling: film, television, books, musicals, plays, etc., and it is no exaggeration when I say that Next to Normal is my favorite fictional work of all time.
While reading the libretto does not give you the complete picture of this show's beauty and importance, it is a great way to dig textually deeper into the show and read into lines that might not seem as significant when listening to the cast recording or watching the show.
I discovered Next to Normal about a year ago, and I still find new ways to interpret the characters and constantly feel the emotional impact in new ways. It's a compelling and courageous story that never gets old.
I am a lover of all mediums of storytelling: film, television, books, musicals, plays, etc., and it is no exaggeration when I say that Next to Normal is my favorite fictional work of all time.
While reading the libretto does not give you the complete picture of this show's beauty and importance, it is a great way to dig textually deeper into the show and read into lines that might not seem as significant when listening to the cast recording or watching the show.
I discovered Next to Normal about a year ago, and I still find new ways to interpret the characters and constantly feel the emotional impact in new ways. It's a compelling and courageous story that never gets old.
May 23, 2013
Sometimes there are scripts that don't do very well just reading because... well seeing it is better. I find that "Next to Normal" is one of those wonderful exceptions. It's heart-wrenching, funny, thrilling, and just all around beautiful. And I didn't need to see it. The script of "Spring Awakening" had me constantly searching YouTube so that I could see the scene and read along with it. "Next to Normal" did not require that. It made my emotions swing up and down without having to see one actor portray the words on the pages that I was reading.
July 1, 2016
Saw the bootleg... I was. Stunned
July 15, 2024
Read this to feed my obsession and cry 7 more times #healthyqueen
June 19, 2023
TW: suicide attempt, bipolar disorder, mental illness, familial abandonment
Next to Normal is an extremely culturally significant musical, and I understand its importance...however...
I don't know how to feel about implementing serious mental health issues into this style of a musical. Or a musical in general of this contemporary time period. I am a musical theatre performer, and I am very aware of the cheesiness factor brought into the Dear Evan Hansen age of music in musicals. Even Dear Evan Hansen felt a little weird discussing mental illness...like 🎶boo doo boop🎶Hey Evan, don't forget to take your pills!🎶boo doo boop🎶 But Next to Normal was much worse.
Somehow, even though Next to Normal came out before Dear Evan Hansen was conceptualized, the music in this musical feels like a Dear Evan Hansen copycat. The music does NOT hit. Dear Evan Hansen objectively has some bangers, when analyzing its music through the scale of contemporary musical theatre. But this was so mediocre. Nothing was happening with this music besides the song "I'm Alive", sung by Aaron Tveit (love him), which was the sole banger. How exactly does Next to Normal emulate a musical that succeeded it by seven years? What makes it worse is that Dear Evan Hansen was on Broadway for 250% longer than Next to Normal's runtime? Before doing my research, I thought Next to Normal was a Dear Evan Hansen derivative.
This musical makes me genuinely uncomfortable. Neither the music nor the script feels well-written, and making all of this cheesy contemporary music about bipolar disorder feels so trivial. While the Dear Evan Hansen music feels supremely cringey at worst, this music almost feels insensitive? 🎶It's gonna be good when you get your treatments together la di di la di dah!🎶 Mental illness has been done well through music in musicals before, exhibit Spring Awakening. Why does bipolar disorder feel like such a hokey thing in this?
There's also nothing exciting about this musical at all. Besides the insensitivity. The plot feels so rushed and it becomes triggering out of nowhere. To each their own...I guess?
Next to Normal is an extremely culturally significant musical, and I understand its importance...however...
I don't know how to feel about implementing serious mental health issues into this style of a musical. Or a musical in general of this contemporary time period. I am a musical theatre performer, and I am very aware of the cheesiness factor brought into the Dear Evan Hansen age of music in musicals. Even Dear Evan Hansen felt a little weird discussing mental illness...like 🎶boo doo boop🎶Hey Evan, don't forget to take your pills!🎶boo doo boop🎶 But Next to Normal was much worse.
Somehow, even though Next to Normal came out before Dear Evan Hansen was conceptualized, the music in this musical feels like a Dear Evan Hansen copycat. The music does NOT hit. Dear Evan Hansen objectively has some bangers, when analyzing its music through the scale of contemporary musical theatre. But this was so mediocre. Nothing was happening with this music besides the song "I'm Alive", sung by Aaron Tveit (love him), which was the sole banger. How exactly does Next to Normal emulate a musical that succeeded it by seven years? What makes it worse is that Dear Evan Hansen was on Broadway for 250% longer than Next to Normal's runtime? Before doing my research, I thought Next to Normal was a Dear Evan Hansen derivative.
This musical makes me genuinely uncomfortable. Neither the music nor the script feels well-written, and making all of this cheesy contemporary music about bipolar disorder feels so trivial. While the Dear Evan Hansen music feels supremely cringey at worst, this music almost feels insensitive? 🎶It's gonna be good when you get your treatments together la di di la di dah!🎶 Mental illness has been done well through music in musicals before, exhibit Spring Awakening. Why does bipolar disorder feel like such a hokey thing in this?
There's also nothing exciting about this musical at all. Besides the insensitivity. The plot feels so rushed and it becomes triggering out of nowhere. To each their own...I guess?
January 25, 2023
NEW REVIEW:
I don't remember any of the songs in this musical. I just remember the plot.
Musicals with no songs are just plays.
This is not supposed to be a play. This is a musical
I don't feel musically inclined thinking back to this show. I just think of sad family time. Ouch.
I am giving this a 4 out of 5 stars.
OLD REVIEW:
I can't believe I am about to say this. I am starting 2018 with a 5 star rating. This could be my new favorite musical. Everything about this was incredible and stunning. The lyrics to the songs, the way the story was told, the way the characters were carefully unraveled in a natural and raw way, the beautiful yet devastating themes of love, family, mental illness, and loss. EVERYTHING WAS JUST BRILLIANT. While this musical is very popular, it has taken a backseat to other shows in the 21st century such as Book of Mormon, Hamilton, and Dear Evan Hansen. Don't get me wrong, those three musicals are also fantastic, but I think this one is just as good if not better. If you have the chance to see Next to Normal, see it. Support this show at all costs. See a production, but the script, buy the soundtrack. Support this beautiful and emotional thrill-ride of a musical. It deserves it.
I am giving this one a 5 out of 5 stars.
I don't remember any of the songs in this musical. I just remember the plot.
Musicals with no songs are just plays.
This is not supposed to be a play. This is a musical
I don't feel musically inclined thinking back to this show. I just think of sad family time. Ouch.
I am giving this a 4 out of 5 stars.
OLD REVIEW:
I can't believe I am about to say this. I am starting 2018 with a 5 star rating. This could be my new favorite musical. Everything about this was incredible and stunning. The lyrics to the songs, the way the story was told, the way the characters were carefully unraveled in a natural and raw way, the beautiful yet devastating themes of love, family, mental illness, and loss. EVERYTHING WAS JUST BRILLIANT. While this musical is very popular, it has taken a backseat to other shows in the 21st century such as Book of Mormon, Hamilton, and Dear Evan Hansen. Don't get me wrong, those three musicals are also fantastic, but I think this one is just as good if not better. If you have the chance to see Next to Normal, see it. Support this show at all costs. See a production, but the script, buy the soundtrack. Support this beautiful and emotional thrill-ride of a musical. It deserves it.
I am giving this one a 5 out of 5 stars.
January 12, 2018
I love this musical with every fiber of my being. It’s just SO GOOD.
March 16, 2023
There’s a reason this won a Pulitzer. The story itself and the book, combined with the musical journey, it’s just… so good. So palpable.
Next to Normal follows a family as the matriarch struggles to find the footing on her mental health. Diana comes in and out of lucidity through the show and it’s beautifully represented in the music. But the show is equally about her daughter Natalie, who is coming into adulthood and wrestling with the complicated questions that come with a loved ones struggles, especially as she comes of age.
It’s haunting and honest and poetic.
Cast: 2F, 3/4M
Staging: Suggestive. Usually done on two levels.
Warnings:
Language: Yes.
Violence: Not really.
Sex: It is discussed. Not done on stage.
Drugs: Yes. Teenage alcohol, weed, suggestion of harder substances. Plus, Diana is on a lot of prescription medication. There’s a whole song about it (and the song is killer).
Next to Normal follows a family as the matriarch struggles to find the footing on her mental health. Diana comes in and out of lucidity through the show and it’s beautifully represented in the music. But the show is equally about her daughter Natalie, who is coming into adulthood and wrestling with the complicated questions that come with a loved ones struggles, especially as she comes of age.
It’s haunting and honest and poetic.
Cast: 2F, 3/4M
Staging: Suggestive. Usually done on two levels.
Warnings:
Language: Yes.
Violence: Not really.
Sex: It is discussed. Not done on stage.
Drugs: Yes. Teenage alcohol, weed, suggestion of harder substances. Plus, Diana is on a lot of prescription medication. There’s a whole song about it (and the song is killer).
June 1, 2025
Can’t recommend enough my god, this book only got better with time. The perception and stigma surrounding mental health has evolved so much from when this was first written. The discourse surrounding the latest revival proshot on PBS is a testament to how much we as a society has evolved in understanding mental health, grief and the effects it has on a family unit.
Even the discourse surrounding the character of Gabe has changed so much in the 15 years or so this has been written. In the original production, he was viewed as more of an antagonistic villain/foil/hallucination. In this newest production, many are interpreting him as a personification of grief itself, which in my opinion is the most accurate.
I honestly could talk about this show for hours and over analyze it every which way, but tldr : now more than ever, it deserves its Pulitzer Prize.
Even the discourse surrounding the character of Gabe has changed so much in the 15 years or so this has been written. In the original production, he was viewed as more of an antagonistic villain/foil/hallucination. In this newest production, many are interpreting him as a personification of grief itself, which in my opinion is the most accurate.
I honestly could talk about this show for hours and over analyze it every which way, but tldr : now more than ever, it deserves its Pulitzer Prize.
April 16, 2025
N2N has to have one of the best original scores of the 21st century to its credit and in its study of Diana Goodman's mental illness, it surprisingly comes through the piece with a stance against our modern medical system overprescribing and using treatment as a way to troubleshoot instead of finding more effective methods. **Insurance would be a wild thing to bring up in a musical but I can only imagine the bills Diana incurred.**
I'm surprised it ultimately won the Pulitzer but the fusion of its powerful rock score and unprecedented dramatic arc probably couldn't be denied.
I'm surprised it ultimately won the Pulitzer but the fusion of its powerful rock score and unprecedented dramatic arc probably couldn't be denied.
June 19, 2025
this is beautiful i sat and read this in one sitting while i should have been doing college work but it was literally so worth it ‘superboy and the invisible girl’ has actually changed my brain chemistry i love natalie so much and i feel like this as a whole has touched my SOUL just so good and the music is amazing
August 15, 2024
So sad. Every character is sad. Every song is sad.
It’s a strong piece, just so depressing. I saw it on Broadway with Alice Ripley and some rep my scents from the original cast.
Well-done, but just an overall downer.
It’s a strong piece, just so depressing. I saw it on Broadway with Alice Ripley and some rep my scents from the original cast.
Well-done, but just an overall downer.
October 1, 2025
Might be a bit biased because this is one of my all-time favorite musicals but made me cry as always.
Major s/o to PBS & the West End pro-shot and also @aaron tveit come back to N2N and be Dan this time if they ever do a Broadway revival
Major s/o to PBS & the West End pro-shot and also @aaron tveit come back to N2N and be Dan this time if they ever do a Broadway revival
April 28, 2025
One of my absolute favorite musicals. Absolutely peak.
May 14, 2025
dear evan hansen wishes it could be as good as this; watched the pbs proshot and it changed my life
September 4, 2018
This musical was my catalyst, my gateway drug into musical theatre. I'd had a lot of experience with it before––I'd been in amateur productions of stuff like Camp Rock and I went to a performing arts camp, which was where I first saw this––but this was the first musical I ever saw that had a major emotional effect on me and was just really fucking good and authentic. After this came all my other musical obsessions: Hamilton, Spring Awakening, In the Heights, Dear Evan Hansen, Great Comet, Falsettos, The Band's Visit, Once on This Island, etc.
I think watching this musical and then reading the libretto signaled a major step in my growth as an art consumer. I was shifting gears to more mature stories. This is an adult musical. I actually first saw it when I was ten, but it was too inappropriate for me at the time, so I tried to sleep through it. I remembered snippets. Dan and Diana emerging from their bedroom after just having had sex. Natalie singing about how "Mozart was crazy; flat fucking crazy." Electrocompulsive therapy. Memory loss. All of these topics were too mature for me at the time. (I didn't say the fuck word until 9th grade.)
Four years later, I saw it again, wide awake this time, and excited. And I cried. And then I bought the cast album and listened to it obsessively. This musical changed my life.
But enough about me; onto the musical itself. The characters are endearing and enthralling. Diana, whose refusal to let go of an eighteen-year-old devastating loss takes a toll on the whole family. Dan, who can't face his problems head-on but is fiercely loyal to his family. Natalie, who's just looking for a means to escape, be it music, romance, college, or drugs. And Gabe, the physical manifestation of Diana's mental illness, who just needs Dan to see him. At its core, this musical is about family, and pain, and the way one family deals with terrible pain that has been gripping them for too long. It asks us whether it's better to ignore our pain, or to feel it and let it hurt us.
The lyrics are brilliant, beautiful, metaphorical, and reach straight into your heart. I'll list some of my favorites.
And these are just some. Name any song, I could give you multiple lines of brilliance. It's no wonder this show won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
I think watching this musical and then reading the libretto signaled a major step in my growth as an art consumer. I was shifting gears to more mature stories. This is an adult musical. I actually first saw it when I was ten, but it was too inappropriate for me at the time, so I tried to sleep through it. I remembered snippets. Dan and Diana emerging from their bedroom after just having had sex. Natalie singing about how "Mozart was crazy; flat fucking crazy." Electrocompulsive therapy. Memory loss. All of these topics were too mature for me at the time. (I didn't say the fuck word until 9th grade.)
Four years later, I saw it again, wide awake this time, and excited. And I cried. And then I bought the cast album and listened to it obsessively. This musical changed my life.
But enough about me; onto the musical itself. The characters are endearing and enthralling. Diana, whose refusal to let go of an eighteen-year-old devastating loss takes a toll on the whole family. Dan, who can't face his problems head-on but is fiercely loyal to his family. Natalie, who's just looking for a means to escape, be it music, romance, college, or drugs. And Gabe, the physical manifestation of Diana's mental illness, who just needs Dan to see him. At its core, this musical is about family, and pain, and the way one family deals with terrible pain that has been gripping them for too long. It asks us whether it's better to ignore our pain, or to feel it and let it hurt us.
The lyrics are brilliant, beautiful, metaphorical, and reach straight into your heart. I'll list some of my favorites.
So it's times like these I wonder how I take it
And if other families live the way we do
If they love each other or if they just fake it
And if other daughters feel like I feel too
'Cause some days I think I'm dying
But I'm really only trying to get through
The sensation that you're screaming, but you never make a sound
Or the feeling that you're falling, but you never hit the ground
It just keeps on rushing at you, day by day by day by day
You don't know, you don't know what it's like to live that way
Like a refugee, a fugitive, forever on the run
If it gets me, it will kill me
But I don't know what I've done
Maybe we can't be okay
But maybe we're tough and we'll try anyway.
We'll live with what's real,
Let go of what's past,
And maybe I'll see you at last.
Day after day
Wishing all our cares away
Trying to fight the things we feel
But some hurts never heal.
Some ghosts are never gone
But we go on
We still go on
And you find some way to survive
And you find out you don't have to be happy at all
To be happy you're alive.
And these are just some. Name any song, I could give you multiple lines of brilliance. It's no wonder this show won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
March 1, 2021
GUYS. Guys. If you, like me, were ever worried about this show from hearing some of the songs out of context or because Yorkey wrote the 13 Reasons Why TV show...fear not. I can say with both my own experience and all the research I've done as a dramaturg for an upcoming student performance of this show (!!!) that it gets everything right (although the specific diagnostic criteria for bipolar disorders has changed since it was written). Also, it's so so good from both a literary and viewer perspective. I cried and we haven't even rehearsed yet so I'm going to be a mess. So many parts of this mean so much to me personally, though I'm not going to elaborate (at least right now). Oh, and the music's pretty awesome, too. (My voice range is most similar to Gabe's, so I can rock "I'm Alive.")
Can Brian Yorkey go back to writing musicals now?? (I also love If/Then.) And please stop taking "My Psychopharmacologist and I" and "I Miss the Mountains" out of context, as great as they are musically.
Can Brian Yorkey go back to writing musicals now?? (I also love If/Then.) And please stop taking "My Psychopharmacologist and I" and "I Miss the Mountains" out of context, as great as they are musically.
October 25, 2014
Great songs and ideas, but I was bothered by some of the ways it dealt with bipolar disorder, ie not emphasizing Diana's pain, only what she caused those around her. Losing all your memories and hurting your family is going to be very painful. And sometimes Diana's mental illness and hallucinations were used for comic relief which felt wrong. Also therapy and medication was portrayed as only harmful which can be true in some cases but I feel like the overall message about medication and therapy could have still pointed out that it is very helpful (and necessary) for some
May 20, 2020
i loved it!! i read it all in one sitting, listening to the soundtrack at the same time. it definitely made a difference. i also definitely cried!! next to normal is one of my 3 favourite musicals 💜
however, as a grammar nerd, i must point out that there are a few errors, and a few parts when the wrong word in a verse in a song was written, or they even left out a verse accidentally! it doesn't really take away from the experience though so it doesn't really matter. it's still one of my top 3 musicals!!
- j. 💫
however, as a grammar nerd, i must point out that there are a few errors, and a few parts when the wrong word in a verse in a song was written, or they even left out a verse accidentally! it doesn't really take away from the experience though so it doesn't really matter. it's still one of my top 3 musicals!!
- j. 💫
December 24, 2016
So glad to read this again! The musical follows the intricacies of a family's home life in unexpected and refreshingly new ways. It deals with mental illness, drug abuse, and loss beautifully, realistically, and in an enlightening manner. The score is gorgeous and lyrics superbly detailed. It's one of my favorite musicals!
October 12, 2010
I love getting to really dig into the text of the show and find new ways to see this story. The characters are heartbreaking and breathtakingly real, and the story touches every emotional chord it possibly can. Ben Brantley was right, "This is a feel-everything musical".
August 7, 2014
Ready to see the play
Ready to see the play
I listened to the soundtrack while reading the play. I am going to see the play this month and looking forward to it. Easy read and emotional story.
Ready to see the play
I listened to the soundtrack while reading the play. I am going to see the play this month and looking forward to it. Easy read and emotional story.
January 31, 2018
One of the best plays I've ever read. The writing is superb and that goes for both the songs and the story. The writers have really pushed the envelope with what a musical can be. Intense but also incredibly moving.
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