Next to Normal - Donmar / Wyndham’s

Tony award winning musicals



You really take a blanket statement personally, huh? It's most definitely for everyone, but it's not well known and in a tiny theatre, so in that respect 'masses' of people won't get to see it in it's original production, unless it transfers to a bigger house after the Donmar.

Many happy returns, viserys. 🍺🎂

Hi apubleed, that's exactly how it should work - I did that most recently when I bought tickets for 'The Band's visit'.  You may want to log in a little ahead of time, but basically your being logged in will allow you to access the booking, which you wouldn't yet be able to otherwise.  From that on, it should be a fairly regular booking experience (and hopefully a lucky and successful one!) 

I can't speak for all those who have expressed enthusiasm about this, but I can try to explain why I am excited about this and why I certainly will be booking tickets for this production.  

As an all-round lover of theatre who has always had a soft spot for musical theatre, I have been keeping an eye on what was happening on Broadway since the early noughties.  I was still living in Italy back then, and with no social media yet that meant periodically browsing Playbill.com and Broadway.com as much as getting my hands on recordings of shows that had only just been released. 

By the time Next to normal (n2n) opened on Broadway, I'd been lucky enough to travel to NY a couple of times and to have seen a few shows there, so my interest in new productions and new talent hitting the boards across the pond had been fueled further.  So, it won't come as a surprise that my first contact with n2n happened rather early in its life, and it probably involved me listening to bits of the recording shortly after its release.  However, I have a much more vivid recollection of watching the performance the cast gave at the Tony Awards that year. 

I remember marveling at the emotional intensity of that sequence of numbers and being equally impressed by those "rock" vocals, but I also remember feeling somehow overwhelmed when I first listened to the recording in its entirety.  It's fairly long and a lot of it is... seriously high octane, for lack of a better expression.  Still, that left me curious to learn more about it, and in those days I may have stumbled upon one of those videos that should not exist, and which now on YouTube would probably be titled "NOT next to normal" (or something along those lines). 

I think it was when I finally allowed myself to spend more time with those characters (and I allowed them to actually tell me the story) that I started to appreciate the raw power of a piece of musical theatre that does not shy away from going to a number of dark places, one that - in ways that may be perfectible, and of course if someone sat down to tell the same story 14 years later they'd consider making different choices, etc. - is not afraid of showing you different facets of human vulnerability and imperfection which, no matter how far from your personal experience, are relatable. 

This summer I had the luck and privilege of seeing the immersive production that was on in Barcelona for a couple of months, and I was blown away by Alice Ripley's reprising her original role, by the general display of talent and by the emotional impact of the score.  Sure, having "spent" some time with those characters and those songs through the years will have played a role in my emotional response to the show, but I was with friends who knew little to nothing about it before going in, and they were equally enthusiastic about it afterwards.  

Do the themes, the musical style, the predominance of sung text over spoken lines make it one "not for the masses"?  I don't like to reason in terms of "masses" and "niches": let's face it, it's all a lot more fluid than that.  However, I do think that someone who is not much of a theatre fan and maybe goes to see a show once or twice a year in the hope of being primarily entertained is less likely to choose to see n2n than, say, Mamma mia! or Moulin Rouge.  And this is because even if they have not done much "research" beforehand, they kind of know already what they will get, and that's a good night of fun, spectacle and entertainment.  Do I think there's anything wrong with that? Absolutely not! Sign me up for an evening of laughter and gaiety!   
   
On the other hand, I think that the audiences that will end up going to the Donmar to see n2n will have - for the most part - made a rather conscious choice to do so, maybe because they've heard about it before or because, having just heard about it, they are not put off by the thought of hours of an almost sung-through, predominantly belted contemporary MT score telling the story of a rather dysfunctional family dealing with loss, grief, bipolar disorder and its various possible forms of treatment... and more.    

So I'll let others decide if n2n is "for the masses" or not, but I do think that some people will really love it, while to some other people it may well be close to their personal idea of hell, so... it's all good if they choose to go and see something else that's more in line with their taste and preference! 

It's one of those shows that I feel I ought to like, the premise for the show appeals a lot, but in reality I find a lot of the score dull and unmoving given the high octane emotions involved, and the songs never quite satisfy expectations.

Yes.

When I click 'buy tickets' it says "Online booking for this event opens at 09:00 on 17 Oct 2022. Unfortunately you are not eligible for priority booking on this event.". But in my 'memberships' tab on the account page it definitely recognises I am a 'Donmar Friend'. Is this just outdated info that will correct itself or should I be worried?

Thanks, it has just updated. "Priority booking has not yet opened. It will open on 14 October 2022 at 09:00."

All good, it's working!!

So how are ticket sales going for all you Friends? Have you left anything for the masses? 😉