Pick Me Up Theatre’s poster for Next To Normal at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York
AFTER directing Cole Porter’s Anything Goes with such pizzazz, Andrew Isherwood takes the reins again for Pick Me Up Theatre’s spring production of Next To Normal at Theaytre@41, Monkgate, York.
Winner of three 2009 Tony Awards including Best Musical Score and the 2010 Pulitzer Prize, Brian Yorkey and Tom Kitt’s intimate exploration of family and illness, loss and grief explores how one suburban household copes with crisis and mental illness.
Dad Dan is an architect; Mom rushes to pack lunches and pour cereal; their daughter and son, Natalie and Gabe, are bright, wise-cracking teens, appearing to be a typical American family. Their lives are anything but normal, however, because mother Diane has been battling manic depression for 16 years.
Combining Yorkey’s book and lyrics with Kitt’s music, Next To Normal takes audiences into the minds and hearts of each character, presenting the family’s story with love, sympathy and heart.
Isherwood’s cast comprises Monica Frost as Diane; Dale Vaughan as Dan; Niamh Rose as Natalie; Matthew Warry as Gabe; Fergus Green as Henry and Ryan Richardson as Dr Fine/Dr Madden.
Isherwood is joined in the production team by musical director James Robert Ball and producer/designer Robert Readman.
Pick Me Up Theatre in Next To Normal, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, March 25 to April 4; 7.30pm except March 29; 2.30pm, March 28, 29, April 4. Box office: https://tickets.41monkgate.co.uk/seasons/eb56fa81-e805-45d4-99e5-81e3cdf15cf9.