Next to Normal will now play at the Booth Theatre

David Stone, James L. Nederlander, Barbara Whitman, Patrick Catullo, and Second Stage Theatre have announced that the upcoming Broadway musical, Next to Normal, will now play Broadway's Booth Theatre instead of the previously announced Longacre Theatre.

The show will still open on 15 Apr 2009, and preview from 27 Mar 2009 as originally scheduled.

"When the Broadway transfer of Next to Normal was being planned, my producing partners and I were looking for an intimate 800-seat theatre for this 6-person musical," explained producer David Stone. "We were happy to book the Longacre Theatre and were willing to make the concession of closing the balcony to create our desired capacity. However, when the Booth Theatre became available and was offered, we knew it was the right space for Next to NormalL without alteration."

The musical will arrive on the Great White Way direct from its critically-acclaimed engagement at Washington D.C.'s Arena Stage.

Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey's musical, Next to Normal, directed by Michael Greif (Rent, Grey Gardens), opened at Off-Broadway's Second Stage Theatre on 13 Feb 2008 and was significantly reworked in a subsequent out-of-town run at Washington D.C.'s Arena Stage, where it opened on 10 Dec 2008.

The musical's unusual trajectory from a New York Off-Broadway premiere to an out-of-town regional theatre engagement and then back to Broadway is unprecedented.

"Anyone who has been involved with the creation of an original musical knows that much of the work happens in the rewriting," says producer David Stone. "From the day after Next to Normal opened off-Broadway through opening night at Arena Stage, Tom Kitt, Brian Yorkey, and Michael Greif were committed to improving and rewriting this show with a level of dedication and focus I have seldom seen from a creative team. The path to Broadway for Next to Normal has been highly unconventional and, in retrospect, the best thing that could have happened to this musical."

"A second chance is something you rarely get as a writer," explained composer Tom Kitt. "While the critical response to Next to Normal at Second Stage was encouraging, we knew there were major changes we had to make to the show. Brian and I really listened to the critical response and the audience reaction and were fortunate to have the chance to keep working. We've written five new songs and cut substantial material that was not landing. The result is the musical that Brian and I always wanted it to be."

In his review of the Arena Stage production, Peter Marks of The Washington Post, wrote, "Next to Normal is a moving, blisteringly honest, and inordinately powerful new musical, sung with a wallop by a six-member cast that includes the astonishing Alice Ripley, and dexterously directed by Michael Greif. Writers Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey have stocked the musical with beautiful songs that get to the heart of the story- and simply get to the heart." And Jayne Blanchard in The Washington Times called the show, "A transcendent production of a powerful new American musical with a bristling, contemporary rock score, smart lyrics and raw energy."

Next to Normal is a contemporary musical that explores how one suburban household copes with crisis, and shows how far two parents will go to keep themselves sane and their family's world intact.

The musical recently received five Helen Hayes Award nominations for its Arena Stage engagement, including Outstanding Non-Resident Production, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Non-Resident Production (Alice Ripley), Outstanding Lead Actor in a Non-Resident Production (J. Robert Spencer), and Outstanding Supporting Performer in a Non-Resident Production (Aaron Tveit and Jennifer Damiano).

For its sold-out Second Stage Theatre engagement, Next to Normal won the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Score and also received the following accolades: Lucille Lortel Award nominations for Outstanding Musical, Outstanding Featured Actor (Aaron Tveit), and Outstanding Lighting Design (Kevin Adams); Drama Desk Award nominations for Outstanding Actress in a Musical (Alice Ripley) and Outstanding Music; Outer Critics Circle Award nominations for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical and Outstanding Actress in a Musical (Alice Ripley); and a Drama League nomination for Outstanding Musical, among others.

The Broadway production will feature the entire Arena Stage cast: Alice Ripley, J. Robert Spencer, Aaron Tveit, Jennifer Damiano, Adam Chanler-Berat and Louis Hobson.

Ripley, Tveit, Damiano and Chanler-Berat were also in the Second Stage Theatre production.

Next to Normal features set design by Mark Wendland, costume design by Jeff Mahshie, lighting design by Kevin Adams, and sound design by Brian Ronan.