Beautiful City Theatre's NEXT TO NORMAL Opens Today

Beautiful City Theatre, in collaboration with Virtu'O, produces the contemporary rock musical NEXT TO NORMAL opening tonight, May 15, 2015 at Centaur Theatre (453 rue St. François-Xavier) in Montreal, Quebec. The multiple Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical will run for two weekends, from May 15 - 17, and May 21 - 23, 2015. Evening performances will start at 7:30 PM and matinees on Sunday May 17th and Saturday May 23rd at 1:30 PM.

Featuring music and lyrics by the established Broadway duo, composer Tom Kitt (If/Then, Bring It On) and lyricist Brian Yorkey (If/Then, The Last Ship), NEXT TO NORMAL opened on Broadway in 2009, after debuting off-Broadway at Second Stage Theatre in January 2008 and traveling to Washington D.C.'s Arena Stage. What began as Kitt and Yorkey's ten-minute BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop sketch piece in 1998 was then transformed into the Pulitzer Prize-winning musical after numerous workshops, readings, and continued development. With Producer David Stone (If/Then, Wicked) and Director Michael Greif (If/Then, Rent)on board, then-called "Feeling Electric" became what is now NEXT TO NORMAL and received the 2009 Tony Award for Best Original Score by Kitt and Yorkey, Best Leading Actress by Alice Ripley (Sunset Boulevard, Side Show), and Best Orchestrations by Michael Starobin and Tom Kitt.

BCT's production of NEXT TO NORMAL aims to explore the complex source material of this musical and address present day concerns including ethics in psychiatry, electroconvulsive therapy, substance abuse, depression, and suicide. Beautiful City Theatre's production intends to portray one family's attempts at coping with grief, loss and despair, through the combination of Kitt and Yorkey's vibrant music and Virtu'O's intricate choreography. This intensely emotional, and ultimately hopeful, musical aims to move audiences by shedding light on what it means to live with mental illness.

NEXT TO NORMAL stars Tara Bissett as Diana, Simon Fortier as Dan, Kevin Raymond as Gabe, Tristan Roy as Dr. Madden/Dr. Fine, as well as BCT alumni Eleni Metrakos (Godspell, Circle Mirror Transformation) as Natalie and Adam Daniel Koren (The Full Monty, Measure for Measure) as Henry.

Tickets are $40 Adults, $30 QDF & Equity members, $25 Seniors, $20 Students.

Information about group discounts available by emailing info@beautifulcitytheatre.com

Tickets available for purchase at www.centaurtheatre.com or by calling (514) 288-3161

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