Next to Normal at Beck Center

After last season’s highly acclaimed Spring Awakening, Beck Center for the Arts partners once again with Baldwin Wallace University Music Theatre program to present three-time Tony Award winner and Pulitzer Prize-winning rock musical, Next to Normal, March 1 through April 21, 2013 in the intimate Studio Theater. Show times are 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays. There are no performances on Sundays, March 31 or April 14. Tickets are now on sale.

Next to Normal is an emotional powerhouse of a musical featuring a compelling pop rock score that shatters through the façade of a suburban family dealing with the traumatic effects of mental illness. This intense, emotional, yet ultimately hopeful musical makes a direct grab for the heart with a story that takes us inside the lives of a typical American family that is anything but typical. The New York Times said Next to Normal is ““A brave, breathtaking musical…It is something much more than a feel-good musical. It is a feel-everything musical.”

Directed by Victoria Bussert, director of the Baldwin Wallace Music Theatre program, Next to Normal stars BW alum Katie DeBoer as bipolar manic depressive Diana, BW faculty member Scott Plate as Dan, Diana's steadfast husband, and Phil Carroll as her rock star psychiatrist; as well as an ensemble of nine talented actors from BW's nationally recognized MT program. Carroll and Plate appear courtesy of the Actors' Equity Association. With musical direction by Nancy Maier and choreography by David Zody, Next to Normal features music by Tom Kitt and book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey (2009 Tony Award for Best Score).

“Not only is Next to Normal a powerful, startling, ground-breaking work in the American musical theater repertoire,” remarked Bussert “it is an experience that compels all of us to really look, listen and feel. At times it is astonishing, at other times agonizing -- but ultimately it honors the beauty and ferocity of the human spirit -- no matter the flaws.” Next to Normal contains strong adult language and themes and may not be suitable for audiences 17 years and under.

Tickets are $28 for adults and $25 for seniors (65 and older) with an additional $3 service fee per ticket applied at time of purchase. Student tickets are $15 with valid I.D. (includes service fee). Group discounts are available for parties of 13 or more. Purchase tickets online at beckcenter.org or call Customer Service at 216.521.2540, ext. 10.