Baldwin Wallace University's NEXT TO NORMAL to Play Beck Center, Now thru 4/21

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, tonight, 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.

Directed by Victoria Bussert, director of Baldwin Wallace Music Theatre, Next to Normal stars BW alum Katie DeBoer as bipolar depressive Diana and Equity actor and BW faculty member Scott Plate as Dan, Diana's steadfast husband; as well as an ensemble of 12 talented young actors from BW's nationally recognized MT program. 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). Preview Night on Thursday, February 28 is $10 with general admission seating. 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. Beck Center for the Arts is located at 17801 Detroit Avenue in Lakewood, just ten minutes west of downtown Cleveland. Free onsite parking is available.

Opening night patrons are invited to Marquee Friday from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Cleveland Artists Foundation gallery. Guests may enjoy complimentary appetizers from Cozumel Restaurante Mexicano, free musical entertainment by Lounge Kitty and happy hour priced drinks; as well as a free gallery exhibits throughout Beck Center including The Left-Handed Line of Mike Guyot and works by artist and composer Jing Jing Luo.

This production of Next to Normal is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTIshows.com) and is sponsored by the residents of Cuyahoga County through Cuyahoga Arts and Culture and the Ohio Arts Council. Beck Center for the Arts is a not-for-profit 501(c)3 organization that offers professional Theater Productions, arts education programming in dance, music, theater, visual arts, early childhood, and creative arts therapies for special needs students, and free gallery exhibits featuring local, regional, and International Artists.