"Next to Normal" gets its WNC premiere at 35below

 

Bioflyer Productions in partnership with Asheville Community Theater is proud to present for the first time in Western North Carolina the Broadway hit musical Next To Normal. Directed by

Rock Eblen and with music direction by Sarah Fowler, the musical will open Friday, March 11 and run through Sunday, March 27, 2016 with performances Friday and Saturday nights at 7:30 pm and Sunday afternoons at 2:30 pm. Tickets are available online, over the phone, or in person at the Asheville Community Theatre Box Office. All tickets are $20.

This intriguing rock musical is about Diana, a mother who struggles with worsening bipolar disorder and the effect that her illness and the attempts to alleviate it have on her family. It also addresses such issues as grieving a loss, suicide, drug abuse, ethics in modern psychiatry, and the underbelly of suburban life.

When Next To Normal was named the winner of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, it became just the eighth musical in history to receive that honor. Next To Normal also won the Tonys for “Best Original Score,” “Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical,” and “Best Orchestrations.” Besides the awards it won, Next To Normal was nominated for 2 Drama Desk Awards and an additional 8 Tony Awards, including “Best Musical” and “Best Book of a Musical.”

Bioflyer Productions will present the show with a live band at the intimate 40 seat theater known as 35below, the intimate black box theatre beneath Asheville Community Theatre, 35 East Walnut St. in downtown Asheville. Leading roles feature Asheville veteran performers Beverly Todd as Diana and Daniel Hensley as Diana’s husband Dan. They are joined onstage by Isaac Fulk, Lilly Mills, Dylan Henley, and Archer Faust.

“No show on Broadway right now makes as direct a grab for the heart — or wrings it as thoroughly — as Next to Normal does…brave, breathtaking…a work of muscular grace and power.” – New York Times

“…heart-melting…sensitively crafted show… something inordinately powerful in the music and the story, which have been meticulously woven together by the songwriting team of Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey…beautiful songs that get to the heart of this deceptively complex story — and simply get to the heart.” – Washington Post

For more information about Bioflyer Productions and Next to Normal, visit https://bioflyer.wordpress.com/bioflyer/next-to-normal/. For tickets or information about Asheville Community Theatre, please visit www.ashevilletheatre.org.