The nominees for the highly competitive 63rd Annual Tony Awards were announced this morning; Next To Normal received 11 nominations that include Best Musical, Best Book of A Musical, Best Original Score, and Best Direction of a Musical. Brian Yorkey—formerly Village Theatre’s associate artistic director—was nominated for his work as book writer and lyricist for Next To Normal.
Yorkey’s relationship with Village Theatre runs deep. “One of the very lucky things I have in my life is the Village Theatre, because it’s really home to me,” Yorkey comments in a recent interview with the now defunct Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Yorkey is a graduate of Issaquah High School and has been around Village Theatre for years. He is a KIDSTAGE alum, dedicated to the program—in 2002 Yorkey and Tom Kitt (composer for Next To Normal) wrote an original musical called In Your Eyes for the KIDSTAGE Company Originals program. Additionally, Yorkey has worked on a number of well-received Mainstage productions including Making Tracks, The Wedding Banquet, AIDA (co-directed with Steve Tomkins), and most recently The Important of Being Earnest. Village Theatre is thrilled to have him return next season to direct the Neil Simon play Lost in Yonkers.
Next To Normal (formerly Feeling Electric) began as a staged reading at Village Theatre in March 2002. The creative team went on to develop the production further as a Village Originals workshop in June 2005. “We are so excited for Next To Normal and very happy for Brian and Tom. I have seen each version of Next To Normal and the work they have done to get to this Broadway production is absolutely amazing,” Robb Hunt, executive producer for Village Theatre.
Congratulations N2N! Read more about Next To Normal with City Arts Magazine here.
