Village Theatre’s Blog

Although Next To Normal did not win a Lucille Lortel award on May 5, 2008, it did tie with the show Adding Machine to win an Outer Critics Award for Outstanding New Score on May 12, 2008!

BroadwayWorld.com posted 15 pictures (some of which are shown below) from the performance that was given at Union Square Theatre on behalf of the 23rd Annual Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Achievement Off-Broadway. Get the details and see the remaining 13 pictures here: http://www.broadwayworld.com/viewcolumn.cfm?colid=27706.

Aaron Tveit, Alice Ripley, and Brian d’Arcy James

Alice Ripley and Brian d’Arcy James

Photos by Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.

It’s coming! May 23-25, 2008 at Village Theatre’s First Stage in workshop form.

We asked writers Fred Landau and Skip Kennon what first inspired them to create the musical The Last Starfighter?

FRED: The far-back beginnings were when I was just a year out of law school. The film The Last Starfighter came out, with a video game being a testing ground for greatness. That hooked into the idea that something you’d least expect to change your life would somehow change your life. It was a message I needed to hear and feel at the time, and it hit me almost right away that this was something that could be a subject for a musical - the story of the “little guy” placed in an extraordinary situation. I pretty much filed the idea away in my mind, until I became a student in the BMI Workshop about ten years later…

SKIP: When I had first seen the film, I’d also thought the material could make a terrific musical, but was sure I couldn’t get the rights. Fred had been presenting The Last Starfighter at the BMI Workshop, first in Maury Yeston and Susan Schulman’s workshop classes, then in Nancy Golladay’s class, and after a while, he showed me what he had done. Once we had a sense that we could tell Jonathan Betuel’s story in stage terms, and that we were the right ones to work on it together, Fred and our agent made the basic inquiries and found out the rights to musicalize the screenplay might be available. So I jumped at the chance to work on it, and we decided to pursue the rights together.

More information on the workshop presentation can be found here: http://www.villagetheatre.org/vo_last-starfighter-08.shtml

Village Theatre will hold general auditions for its 2008-2009 Season on May 27, 2008 in downtown Seattle at Theatre Puget Sound (4th floor, Seattle Center House, 305 Harrison, Seattle, Washington), and on May 28-30, 2008 in downtown Issaquah at the Francis J. Gaudette Theatre (303 Front Street North, Issaquah, Washington). Auditions are by appointment only. The season includes four musicals and one play for the Mainstage, as well as readings, workshops, and developmental productions from Village Theatre’s Village Originals new musical program. To make an appointment, call Village Theatre at (425) 392-1942 x108 between 12:00 PM and 4:00 PM Monday through Thursday, beginning Monday, April 28, 2008. For more information, visit our website: http://www.villagetheatre.org/auditions.shtml

Next To Normal has been nominated for three Outer Critics Circle Awards, including Best Off-Broadway Musical, Best New Score, and Best Actress in a Musical (Alice Ripley). The Outer Critics Circle Awards are decided upon by theatre critics from newspapers and other media outlets outside of New York City. Check out the full article here.

But wait, that’s not all! It was announced this morning that Next To Normal has also been nominated for two Drama League Awards. The nomination catagories include Distinguished Production of a Musical and Distinguished Performance Award for Brian d’Arcy James. The Drama League Awards honor distinguished productions and performances both on Broadway and Off-Broadway, in addition to recognizing exemplary career achievements in theatre, musical theatre, and directing. The full article can be found here.

For those who may not know, Brian Yorkey used to be the Associate Artistic Director for Village Theatre. During his seven year tenure, he directed a variety of productions and served as a creative mind behind such shows as Play It By Heart (book), Making Tracks (lyrics/co-book), The Wedding Banquet (book/lyrics), and Next To Normal (formerly Feeling Electric, book/lyrics). Brian dedicated a large portion of his time to the Village Originals program. It was through this program that Next To Normal came to life, and to see it receive so many great honors is a wonderful accomplishment for Brian and Village Theatre.

Luckily for us, Brian Yorkey is coming back to co-direct Village Theatre’s upcoming production, Elton John and Tim Rice’s AIDA.

When asked about her relationship with Louisa May Alcott’s story Little Women, Shanna Marie Palmer had some interesting feedback to offer. Take a look!

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 Of course I heard about the book Little Women while growing up, however I never actually read it back then. I am sort of ashamed to admit it because now after having read the story I know there are a lot of people out there who are devoted to Alcott’s books. My relationship with the story began in August of 2006 when I was a part of the reading in the Festival of New Musicals at Village Theatre. While I was thrilled to join the cast as Amy March at first, I was definitely a little curious about taking on the role of the youngest of the March girls.

Shanna Marie Palmer as Amy March in “Little Women” on Village Theatre’s Mainstage

 After day one, however, it was very clear that Amy was going to be my biggest challenge. Through the reading I fell in love with the depths of these very different yet connected women. I read the novel after the reading and watched all of the film versions. There was something about the complexity of strength in each of the March girls that really intrigued me. After hearing that Little Women would return for the Mainstage season I was elated! To be cast, re-investing in the role of Amy, is a dream come true. To get another chance to develop her and be a part of this new work is an honor. Though our relationship has been relatively short, the beauty of this story is now one I hold dear to my heart.

-Shanna Marie Palmer

Looks like Next To Normal (formerly Feeling Electric) got its next gig with Arena Stage; check it out at Playbill.com. Arena Stage is one of America’s major regional theaters, specializing in the production of new and classic American plays. This is great news — congrats Next To Normal!

This has gotten us feeling a little nostalgic, so let’s listen to A Light In The Dark, from the 2005 workshop performance of Feeling Electric (now called Next To Normal).

At long last, Glimmerglass (which we commissioned in 1995 for a developmental production) just had its world premiere at the Spirit of Broadway Theatre in Connecticut. Their great photos of the show range from rehearsal to production shots — they make you feel like you were really there. Congratulations Glimmerglass!

Fans of Next To Normal (formerly Feeling Electric) will be delighted to hear that the show has received three Lucille Lortel Award nominations, for Outstanding Musical, Outstanding Featured Actor (Aaron Tviet), and Outstanding Lighting Design (Kevin Adams). Congratulations!

We’ve been keeping tabs on Next To Normal since it began as a staged reading at Village Theatre in March 2002 and a workshop June 2003 (pictured above). In 2005, the show was included in New York Musical Theatre Festival, and it recently closed an off-Broadway run at Second Stage Theatre. We post updates on this show (and other Village Originals shows) on the “Where Are They Now” section of our website.