Ignite Theatre presents Next To Normal December 21, 2012

Ignite Theatre presents

Next To Normal

Music by Tom Kitt; Book by Brian Yorkey

Directed by Keith Rabin Jr.

Musical Direction by Jason Tylor Vaughn

Ignite Theatre presents the Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winning musical "Next To Normal" December 21, 2012 through January 6, 2013 at the Aurora Fox Arts Center, 9900 E. Colfax, Aurora, CO 80010. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m.; Sundays at 2:30 p.m. with a special performance on Wednesday, December 26 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $25 Adult, $18 Student, $22 Group (6+) and available online at www.ignitetheatre.com or by calling 720-362-2697.

The details of this Pulitzer Prize-winning musical are best discovered through the gorgeously textured score and the plain-spoken, but absorbing narrative. "Next To Normal" tells the story of a mother who struggles with a worsening bipolar disorder and the family's efforts to keep it from tearing them apart.

Peter Marks of the Washington Post says, "It’s a work that sings from a bruised heart, not a contented one. But that doesn’t mean it’s a downer. Far from it. With an achingly poignant score by composer Tom Kitt and lyricist Brian Yorkey, “Next to Normal” seeks to find a melodic language for a wrenchingly every day ordeal: one woman’s up-and-down journey through mental illness." New York Times critic Ben Brantley describes "Next To Normal" as "a feel-everything musical, which asks you, with operatic force, to discover the liberation in knowing where it hurts."

The cast includes Margie Lamb (Diana Goodman), Zach Stailey (Dan Goodman), Madison Kitchen (Natalie Goodman), Casey Andree (Gabe Goodman), Alejandro Roldan (Hanry) and David W Kincannon (Drs. Fine and Madden).

"Next To Normal" debuted off-Broadway in 2008 winning the Outer Critics' Circle Award for Outstanding Score and receiving nominations for Drama Desk Awards for Outstanding Actress (Alice Ripley) and Outstanding Score. The musical opened on Broadway in April 2009. It was nominated for eleven 2009 Tony Awards and won three, Best Original Score, Best Orchestration and Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical for Alice Ripley. It also won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, becoming just the eighth musical in history to receive the honor.

"Anything that had an important story that felt like only musical theatre could tell that story in that way - that was what influenced "Next To Normal". So, I was as much influenced by the anger and huge emotion that I felt after seeing "Cabaret"; the visceral, jaw-dropping electricity of "Rent" and "Tommy"; anything with that kind of story - that unexpected, beautiful, human story - was what led me on the road to something like “Next To Normal.” -Tom Kitt, Pulitzer Prize Winning Composer of Next To Normal.

Ignite Theatre presents "Next To Normal" - The Tony award winning-musical about one family's journey through mental illness. Dec. 21, 2012 - Jan. 6, 2013. Fri/ Sat at 7:30 p.m.; Sun at 2:30 p.m.; Industry Night - Wed, Dec. 26 at 7:30 p.m. $25 Adult | $22 Group (6+) | $18 Student

720-362-2697 or www.ignitetheatre.com - All performances at Aurora Fox Arts Center, 9900 E. Colfax, Aurora, CO 80010.