Auditions January 2 & 3. 2013

Next To Normal will be directed by Artistic Director Randy Wolfe with Musical Direction by Brent Decker. Audition requirements: All auditionees must be prepared to sing 16 bars from any "Rock Opera" to fit the same style of Next To Normal. Auditionees may also sing from the score of Next To Normal. All auditionees will also be expected to do "cold readings" from the script. Next to Normal is a rock musical with book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey and music by Tom Kitt. Its story concerns a mother who struggles

with worsening bipolar disorder and the effect that her illness has on her family. The musical also addresses such issues as grieving a loss, suicide, drug abuse, ethics in modern psychiatry, and suburban life.

Next to Normal received several workshop performances before it 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. After an Off-Broadway run, the show then played at the Arena Stage in its temporary venue in Arlington, Virginia from November 2008 to January 2009.

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. The previous musical to win the Pulitzer was Rent, in 1996, The Pulitzer Board called the show "a powerful rock musical that grapples with mental illness in a suburban family and expands the scope of subject matter for musicals

What A Do Theatre is committed to enhancing the cultural life of the cities of Springfield, Michigan by presenting live, thought-provoking, professional theatre that reflects and challenges the values and beliefs of the community.  What A Do Theatre, an equal opportunity employer who seeks diversity in the workplace, is a not-for-profit, 501 (c) (3) organization for the presentation of musical or theatrical works operating as a non-Equity theatre with the goal of working under an agreement with the Actor's Equity Association.  For more information, please visit www.whatado.org.