NEXT TO NORMAL Makes its Regional Premiere at Uptown Players, 6/10-7/3

Uptown Players continues its tenth season with the regional premiere of the startling new musical, Next To Normal, running June 10 - July 3, 2011, at the historic Kalita Humphreys Theater. Uptown Players is the first regional theater in the United States to produce Next To Normal, following its long Broadway run, which ended on January 16, 2011, after 21 previews and 733 regular performances.

Next To Normal was nominated for eleven 2009 Tony Awards and won three: Best Original Score, Best Orchestration and Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical (Alice Ripley). It also won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, becoming just the eighth musical in history to receive the honor. Next to Normal features music by Tom Kitt and book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey. With provocative lyrics and a thrilling contemporary score, Next to Normal is an emotional powerhouse of a musical about a family trying to take care of themselves and each other. It explores how one suburban household copes with crisis and just how far two parents will go to keep themselves sane and their family's world intact.
Next To Normal was chosen as "one of the year's ten best" by The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, Time Out New York, New York Daily News, The Bergen Record and NY1 - more than any other musical from the 2009 Broadway season.
Uptown Players' production will be under the direction of Michael Serrecchia, with music direction by Scott A. Eckert. The cast includes Jonathan Bragg, Patty Breckenridge, Anthony Carrillo, Gary Floyd, Jonathan Gilland and Erica Harte.
The production runs June 10 through July 3, 2011, with shows at 8 p.m. on Thursday through Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sundays (no performances June 12 or 16). Performances take place at the Kalita Humphreys Theater, 3636 Turtle Creek Blvd (entrance off Blackburn), Dallas, TX 75219. Individual tickets are $30-50 and can be purchased at www.uptownplayers.org or by calling 214-219-2718.

About Uptown Players
Now in its tenth season, Uptown Players has gathered a dedicated following with an annual audience base of over 15,000 patrons, including nearly 1000 season subscribers. The response from the community and critics has been remarkable, including over 25 Leon Rabin Awards from the Dallas Theatre League, several hundred "The Column" Awards and 15 Theatre Critics Forum Awards in its first seven seasons. In recent years, Uptown Players has also been named the best theatre company by the Dallas Voice Readers Awards, and the Dallas Observer, and has appeared on the WFAA-A list and Best of Big D - D Magazine. Uptown Players is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization, presenting plays and musicals that challenge audiences artistically, build cultural bridges, and strive to create greater positive public awareness and acceptance through the performing arts. There is no other theater group with this unique mission in the Dallas area.

 

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