Arkansas Repertory to Present NEXT TO NORMAL, 5/1-5/27

The Arkansas Repertory Theatre is scheduled to bring NEXT TO NORMAL and the Goodman household to Little Rock audiences this summer for a limited engagement. The rock musical will play from May 1st through the 27th.

NEXT TO NORMAL, hailed as an immensly daring show that celebrates the modern family, shatters the myths of mental illness, and redefines what it means to be "normal" in an ever-changing, unknowable world, opened on Broadway in April 2009. It 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 for Alice Ripley. It also won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, becoming only the eighth musical in history to receive the honor. The show features music by Tom Kitt, book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey, and original direction by Michael Greif.

The production stars Broadway veteran Deb Lyons as matriarch of the Goodman family, Diana. The cast also features Jonathan Rayson as Dan, Kristin Parker as Natalie, and Will Holly as Gabe.

Upon the announcement of the production's closing on Broadway in January 2011, NEXT TO NORMAL toured the United States and Canada from November 2010 through July 2011. Tony Winner Alice Ripley, who originated the role of troubled mother, Diana, in the production Off-Broadway, reprised her role for the tour.

NEXT TO NORMAL was chosen as "one of the year's ten best" (2009) 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 that season.

Tickets to NEXT TO NORMAL are availabe by calling The Rep's box office at (501) 378-0405, or online at https://tickets.therep.org/TheatreManager/1/login&event=0.

For more information regarding the production in the future, visit http://www.stagestheatre.com/cms_current__season/nexttonormal.html.