an early team read-through for Blue Devil Productions' “Next to Normal" at Davenport Central High School -- July 10 through 12.
Friday, July 10, through Sunday, July 12
Davenport Central High School Performing Arts Center, 1120 North Main Street, Davenport IA
Winner of three 2009 Tony Awards and the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the wildly acclaimed Broadway hit Next to Normal receives a Blue Devil Productions "alumni staging" at Davenport Central High School from July 10 through 12, the New York Times raving that this ecstatically praised pop/rock musical “throbs with an emotional intensity” and “is steeped in an inescapable, aching compassion for people crippled by pain.”
Its book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey and music by Tom Kitt, the musical heartbreaker Next to Normal explores how one suburban household copes with crisis and mental illnes. The production finds Dan, the father of the Goodman family, an architect, while mother Diana rushes to pack lunches and pour cereal. Their daughter Natalie and son Gabe are both bright, wisecracking teens, and together, the Goodmans appear to be a typical American family. Yet as we come to discover, their lives are anything but normal, because Diana has been battling bi-polar disorder for 16 years. As the musical explores Diana's conflicted mental state and the effect it has on those who love her, Next to Normal pulls audiences into the minds and hearts of each character, presenting the Goodmans' story with love, sympathy, and heart that, according to the Chicago Tribune, “hits the target with empathy and surprising wit.”
With Blue Devil Productions' musical designed to help promote mental-health awareness, a half-dozen of the Quad Cities' mental-health centers will be represented with lobby tables during the show's run. And featured in Next to Normal's cast are a sextet of gifted Davenport Central alumni: Jack Bevans as Dr. Madden and Dr. Fine; Ryan Driscoll as Henry; Peyton Reese as Diana; Mia Roldán as Natalie; Micah Roldán as Gabe; and Jeremy Winestein as Dan.
Blue Devil Productions would like to advise audience members that Next to Normal includes depictions of bipolar disorder, grief, self-harm, drug use, medical trauma, and suicide, and is not intended for young audiences.
Next to Normal will be presented in the Davenport Central High School Fine Arts Auditorium July 10 through 12, with performances on Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday at 2 & 7 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m. Admission is $12-15, and more information and tickets are available by visiting DCBlueDevilProductions.ludus.com/index.php.
