Best Of Tucson®

Best Marriage of Mental Illness and Musicals

Arizona Theatre Company's Next to Normal

It's always exciting to welcome Arizona Theatre Company's fresh season, but last year the Temple of Music and Art positively exploded with the energy of the company and the audience as the Pulitzer Prize-winning musical Next to Normal lit up downtown. Composer Tom Kitt and lyricist Brian Yorkey have created a smart and unapologetic musical about a family's heartbreaks as they cope with mom's mental illness. Under the direction of David Ira Goldstein, the small, talented company created a celebration of the power of vulnerability as they shared this story in music. Never morose, depressing, trivial or punch-pulling, Next to Normal is an amazing piece of theater, and ATC nailed it.