BECOMING NEXT TO NORMAL

Next to Normal began life with electricity. In 1998, writers and college friends Brian Yorkey and Tom Kitt were required to create a 10-minute musical sketch for a theatre workshop project. Inspired by a news piece, they created Feeling Electric, which focussed on a woman receiving Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) for depression.

Despite being a perhaps unconventional musical subject, Kitt and Yorkey believed a full-scale musical on the topic was possible and would find an audience. However, it wasn’t until 2005 that the writers found the time and space to return to the concept, workshopping it further. As they did, they realised that this musical needed to evolve into something a little different than the original concept of Feeling Electric - “something that was much more grounded and much more about this family"* (Tom Kitt).

Debuting off-Broadway in 2008, Next to Normal sold well but garnered mixed reviews, leading Yorkey and Kitt to decide that more work to refine the show was necessary. That work saw the writers focus more on the intimate impact of mental illness on members of the family.

The emphasis on personal connection resonated, and audiences and critics responded enthusiastically. Next to Normal as we know it now was finally born, and it has been entertaining, educating and opening hearts and minds ever since.

*Quoted in Better Than Before: The Making of NEXT TO NORMAL (writerstheatre.org)