PANIC! Productions Hires A Winning Team To Direct Musical NEXT TO NORMAL

Panic! Productions announce the directing team in charge of the multi-award and Pulitzer Prize winning musical "NEXT TO NORMAL." They have a dynamic duo at the helm with musical director Jan Roper and production director Corey Lynn Howe. These two theatre pros will direct the cast with graceful handling of its dark and complex subject matter. The show will open June 2nd, at Hillcrest Center For The Arts. Tickets and information available at: www.panicproductions.org

Next to Normal has been called one of the best musicals of the 21st century. The original cast recording is best known for its expert handling of the dark, complex subject matter as well as its moving and brutally honest exploration into mental health. In 2009, the groundbreaking musical garnered 3 Tony Awards and 11 nominations, including Best Musical Score.

Jan Roper brings more than 30 years of experience in Los Angeles as a music director, pianist, singer and composer. Her music directing career launched with the full-scale production of her own original rock opera, Jerusalem A.D. (2002-2006, and again in March of 2018). Jan composed and music directed a one-woman show on the Broadway career of Lane Bradbury (the original Dainty Rose in Gypsy) which they performed in both L.A. and NYC. Another original work, City of Light, was chosen for the ASCAP Stephen Schwartz workshop in 2015 and the sheNYC Festival in 2017, where she had 3 sold out performances with an amazing NY cast and Tony-nominated director (Cady Huffman). In the last year, Jan has music directed for Open Fist Theatre (deLEARious), Music Theatre Guild (Sugar), Calabasas High School (Bat Boy, Hunchback of Notre Dame), and 3 short musicals for the Hollywood Fringe Festival. She is also the Director of Worship at Church for the Nations in Glendale.

Corey Lynn Howe is an LA native, and a long-time participant in all things local LA theatre. As a director, she has enjoyed developing a variety of shows; everything from short plays to musicals ...and always with a deliberate nod to the humor and purity inherent in each character and relationship, staying true to the text while acknowledging the uniqueness of the whole story's journey. Notable endeavors include an apprenticeship for Narnia: A Radio Play (SCLT), an inaugural and pivotal foray into musical theatre with [Title of Show] (Village Idiom Productions), a cabaret concert with LA's A Little New Music, developing new works at the Hollywood Fringe Festival with Best of Albuquerque Fringe 2025, and this most current exploration of the human experience with Next to Normal. Corey was not allowed to sit near open windows in school, as they were sure to elicit the wilds of her imagination to come out and play. That never changed. From those elaborate daydreams-through-windows to where stories come to life on stage, Corey's focus is centered on the wonders of the internal and external experiences we all share and bringing them to life for the characters as well as the audience.

Originally Founded in 2011, by Paul Panico and Robert Weibezahl, with a critically acclaimed production of Working: The Musical, Panic! now presents a full season of musical, plays and concert performances.

NEXT TO NORMAL is set to open June 2nd - June 17th, 2018, at Hillcrest Center For The Arts, located at 403 West Hillcrest Drive, Thousand Oaks, CA. 91360. Performances after opening will be Thursday and Friday 8PM, Saturday 2PM & 8PM, and Sunday 2PM. There will be one preview June1 8PM.

General admission $28.00 / Students & Seniors $22.00

VIP Experience tickets $40.00 (2nd & 3rd row seating and include early seating & swag bag).

Tickets and additional information available at: www.panicproductions.org.

 

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