Photos: In Rehearsal For NEXT TO NORMAL in Taiwan

A re-imagined version of the 2009 hit Broadway musical “Next To Normal” by Tom Kitt & Brian Yorkey recently opened at Taiwan’s National Taichung Theater on July 22nd and is now playing through July 30th. This Taiwan premiere of the piece performed fully in English is produced by the National Taichung Theater in association with Activa Productions, Wuming Chen, and Hsiaoli Wu. 

Take an inside look at the process with rehearsal photos by LO BOO-HIM provided by Activa Productions. 

Taiwan native Ya Han Chang (“Sayonara,” “The Subtle Body,” “Eastbound”) and Ellis Gage (“James & the Giant Peach,” “Dani Girl,” “Far From Canterbury”), both known for their work on stage in the USA, play Diana and Gabe, respectively. The rest of the cast includes local radio & television personality Francis Chia as Doctor Madden and Doctor Fine as well as Taiwan actors Chi (Taiwan’s “I Love You, You’re Perfect… Now Change,” “Shemenayha!”) returning to the role of Natalie, having originated the part in the China premiere in Beijing (in Mandarin), ERay Chiang (Taiwan’s “April Rain,” “The Fantasticks,” “I Love You, You’re Perfect…”) as Dan, and Sassoon Yang (Taiwan’s “The Fantasticks”) as Henry, with swings Madeline Blue and Leo Chih-Hsiang Yen. 

Originally directed by Michael Greif, “Next To Normal” is directed for Taiwan by Carolyn Sun, assistant directed by Hsing-Chun Hsu (also serving as choreographer), Ellen Lu (also serving as props master), and Leo Chih-Hsiang Yen (who provided all Mandarin subtitles). It is music directed/conducted by Yu-Mei Chang and is joined by musicians Andy Coin, Gloria Chu, Nai-Han Jeng, Yun-Chieh Lee, and Hsin-Chuan Tseng and features scenic design by Hsuan-Hsun Cheng, lighting design by I-Hua Kao, sound design by Chien-Yang Tseng, costume design by Wen-Liang Chen, and hair/makeup by Natalie Hsieh, Cai-tong Xie, and Miao-Fang Wei. The production stage manager is Ching-Yu Hsieh, the technical director is Hung-Chan Lee, the master electrician is Hao-Tsu Ting, The marketing director is Ching Hui Chen, the graphic designer is Black.H, and production assistants are ITing Lin and Michelle Yang. 

Tickets can be purchased for the remainder of the run on the National Taichung Theater’s website linked below. 

 

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