A Rockin', Groundbreaking, Original Musical in "Next to Normal"

On Tuesday, April 7th, the long-awaited cast album of the new rock-musical Next to Normal by Brian Yorkey (Libretto and Lyrics) and Tom Kitt (Music) was released exclusively to iTunes. The score will also be released on CD in mid-May from Sh-K-Boom records.

Next to Normal, according to press notes, is a contemporary musical that explores how one suburban household copes with crisis. With provocative lyrics and an electrifying score,

Next to Normal shows how far two parents will go to keep themselves sane and their family's world intact.

This rock-musical features Alice Ripley (The Who’s Tommy, Sunset Blvd and The Rocky Horror Picture Show) as Diana, Aaron Tveit (Wicked, Hairspray) as Gabe, J. Robert Spencer (Jersey Boys) as Dan, and Jennifer Damiano (Spring Awakening) as the family in crisis.Mr. Yorkey and Mr. Kitt’s rock-ballad infused score is fresh, pulsing and exciting something that has been absent from the musical theatre for quite some time. The composing team has filled the score with beautiful ballads like “I Miss the Mountains”, “Light in the Dark” and “So Anyway” as well as rock-concert caliber numbers like “I’m Alive”, “You Don’t Know” and “Didn’t I See this Movie”. Each track propels the story forward without a dud in the bunch.

Although the recording captures outstanding performances from Mr. Tveit, Ms. Damiano and Mr. Spencer all of who sing their hearts out and their heads off, the singular stand-out performance is that of Ms. Ripley as the tortured suburban housewife, Diana. Ms. Ripley is a fantastic belter, with a seemingly endless range, sings with rich low tones and soars to the stratosphere in her upper register and gives listeners an emotionally charged, authentic, passionate and genuine performance; thank goodness her performance has been preserved on this recording.

I recommend this cast recording to anyone who loves show-music and to anyone who may be worried about the state of the American Musical. I believe that with composers like Mr. Yorkey and Mr. Kitt and with shows like Next to Normal the American Musical has a bright and shining future.