Wilbury Group to Close 5th Season with NEXT TO NORMAL

The Wilbury Theatre Group closes its 5th season with the acclaimed rock musical Next to Normal, May 21-June 13. Winner of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and three Tony Awards, Next to Normal features music by Tom Kitt, book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey, direction by Wendy Overly, and musical direction by Juan Rodriguez. Centering upon the stop/start life of a bipolar mother as she rides the sharp edge between coping and insanity, and delving into themes about prescription drug abuse, suicide, grief and the breakdown of an American family, Next to Normal is a remarkable, thrilling powerhouse of a musical.

Next to Normal runs May 21-June 13 at The Wilbury Theatre Group, 393 Broad Street, Providence RI. Tickets are $20-$25. Call 401-400-7100 or order online at thewilburygroup.org.

Next to Normal was chosen as "one of the year's ten bests" by The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, Time Out New York, New York Daily News, The Bergen Record; more than any other musical from that season. The musical was nominated for eleven 2009 Tony Awards and won three. Next to Normal joined just a handful of musicals in history when it was awarded the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, where the board called the show "a powerful rock musical that grapples with mental illness in a suburban family and expands the scope of subject matter for musicals."

"Next to Normal is the easily among the greatest musicals of all time," says Wilbury Group Artistic Director Josh Short, "not only does it have one of the greatest musical scores ever written, but it's responsible for pushing musical theater as an art form in a grittier, more realistic direction. It's incredibly challenging, it's funny, it's heartbreaking, and in the extremely capable hands of Wendy and this stellar cast we've assembled, it's sure to be a highlight of our 5th anniversary season."

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