Lean into the love: Next to Normal is next at UMass Theater

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There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in 
— Leonard Cohen
 

How do you hold onto reality amidst a whirlwind? Diana’s ordinary home-maker life of managing family dynamics and school lunches quickly disintegrates amid the twin challenges of bipolar disorder and grief. Meanwhile, her family members do their best to keep up under the strain of their own individual struggles. 

In November, UMass Theater presents Next to Normal, a Pulitzer Prize-winning musical with music by Tom Kitt and book & lyrics by Brian Yorkey, that looks at the ripple effects of mental illness, stress, grief, secrets, and tremendous love. Tickets are on sale now for this poignant story, set to a driving rock score.

Director Kyle Boatwright, an MFA student at UMass and a frequent performer and director with several regional theater companies, says she was drawn to the way this piece "explores the love at the heart of everything."

"This is the story of a woman who struggles to balance the life she’s chosen with honoring her truest self—all while working to understand the effects her illness has on herself and on those she loves," Boatwright says, adding, "Nobody's reality is quite right in this family, until they're all brave enough to face a certain darkness and earnestly move toward a light."

Joining Boatwright on the creative team for this show is musical director Ben Kaplan '24, who returns to UMass Theater after working with various professional companies. Choreographer Holly Curran, meanwhile, is a former member of the Metropolitan Opera Ballet, bringing her classical training to the genre-bending rock score of the musical. 

Reserve your tickets now to join us in the Rand for this beautiful, powerful musical!

NEXT TO NORMAL
Music by Tom Kitt 
Book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey 
Directed by Kyle Boatwright
Nov. 14, 15, 20, 21, 22 at 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 19 at 10 a.m.
Nov. 22 at 2 p.m.
The Rand Theater 
Next to Normal tickets

Content advisory: Depictions and discussion of mental illness, self-harm, suicide, death, medical trauma, and drug use. Recommended for ages 13 and up.

Next to Normal is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI. www.mtishows.com