Chris Van Patten – Page 33 – Theatre Aficionado at Large

Brief Thought on Best Featured Actor in a Musical

One of the more interesting aspects of yesterday’s Tony nominations wasn’t the exclusion of 9 to 5 from Best Musical, or the lack of [title of show], et al. It was in the Best Featured Actor in a Musical category, where David Bologna was nominated for his performance in Billy Elliot as Michael. Bologna alternates in the role with Frank Dolce, each doing four shows a the week. For the leading category, it was decided that all three actors would share the nomination, but it was certainly not the case here. I’m curious as to whether a joint nomination was even considered. Or perhaps it was an oversight made by the producers, unsuspecting that the character of Michael would garner Tony attention. Regardless, I do feel bad for Dolce who becomes the odd-man out of his cast mates in this horse race. It’s gotta be tough to learn at such a young age that everything about it isn’t appealing…

However, this isn’t the most bizarre nomination involving child actors. That honor goes to the original Broadway production of The Sound of Music in 1960 where it was decided that all seven children (including William Snowden and Joseph Stewart) would share a joint nomination as Best Featured Actress in a Musical. They lost to co-star Patricia Neway.

The Art of Co-Existence, or the Parenting Fail

The road to hell is paved with good intentions. And it’s never been more hilarious than it is here in God of Carnage, the most exhilarating new play I’ve seen in New York since August: Osage County.

When Veronica and Michael invite Alan and Annette over to their moderately upscale Brooklyn apartment on an ordinary weekday afternoon to discuss a playground altercation between their sons, good intent is first and foremost. The situation is civil, yet strained as they seek out to smooth out the rough edges: Alan and Annette’s (Jeff Daniels and Hope Davis) son hit Veronica and Michael’s (Marcia Gay Harden and James Gandolfini) son in the mouth with a stick, knocking out two incisors and causing some serious damage. Veronica’s insistence that Alan and Annette’s son make a meaningful apology to their son starts to unravel the forced placidity. Tensions mount and eventually explode in ways both metaphoric and literal.

God of Carnage is one of those incisive, cutting plays that gleefully exposes the narrow line between the civilized and primitive in human nature . The play by Yazmina Reza (translated into English by Christopher Hampton, her frequent English language collaborator) had a highly successful Olivier-winning run in London’s West End starring Ralph Fiennes and Janet McTeer, directed by Matthew Warchus. That production has transferred to New York for a limited engagement, relocating the setting to the Cobble Hill section of Brooklyn and Americanizing the text.

The four cast members, all of whom were nominated for Tonys (all as leads, I might add) carry the evening off with remarkably astute characterizations. Jeff Daniels is amusingly droll as a work-obsessed attorney whose main concerns lie with a major pharmaceutical case than with his family. Hope Davis is hilarious as his anxiety ridden wife whose nausea coincides with her husbands convenient habit of answering all cell phone calls. James Gandolfini plays the other father, more blue collar sort of man’s man who also happens to have a mortal fear of hamsters. The evening; however, belongs to Marcia Gay Harden, the mild-mannered, cultured, liberal “concerned parent” and author (she’s written a book on Darfur) who melts down to primordial chaos by the play’s end. At the play’s end the living room is a shambles, as are the individuals onstage who have had their hypocrisies tossed at them (some literally). As arguments and accusations are tossed, allegiances shift with the fluidity of a roving cumulus cloud. One minute it’s couple vs. couple, the next, the women vs. the men and on occasion three gang up on one. With each polemic shift, the play’s characters and their situations only become more complex, and as a result more hilarious.

It’s hard not to think of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? while watching a four-hander about bickering couples. However, this play is half the length and the social lubricants only make their grand debut about halfway through the play. Warchus, who directed last year’s first-rate revival of a third-rate farce (Boeing Boeing), once again manages to bring out unexpected humor and nuance in situations that are routinely formulaic. The characters become childlike, throwing tantrums, hurling insults, dropping truth bombs and causing more harm than the instigating incident on the playground. (Warchus also directed the limited engagement revival of Alan Ayckbourn’s The Norman Conquests, playing in rep at the Circle in the Square… we’ll have more on that one in the near future). The play gets off to a strained start, and rightly so: it’s awkward to watch a person trying to parent another person’s children. The tensions build and build, and about twenty minutes into the play, Hope Davis vomits all over Harden’s priceless art books pushing the characters and the audience past the point of no return. At this point all bets are off, and to paraphrase Margo Channing, “Fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be a bumpy afternoon.”

The production has wasted no time in touting its nominations, with signs already erected on the marquee. One of them reads: “Nominated for 6 Tonys, including the ENTIRE CAST.” All four actors have earned the nominations and deservedly so, though I have to say Harden as Veronica is the standout among a cast of winners (and at this point is my pick for the Tony award on June 7). I also want to add: this is the first time any of the four actors have appeared on Broadway in over a decade, and I’ve got to say, it’s good to have them back.

The show is currently running in a limited engagement at the Jacobs Theatre until August 2. Run, don’t walk.

Quote of the Day: Stockard Channing

“I’m on a train going to Paris, where I will be in about ten minutes. So I may get cut off, because we’re going into a tunnel. I’m literally in the suburbs of Paris. I’ve been on vacation. I’m going to Paris for a few days, then I go back to London then back to the States. Someone called me on the train, and then my British cell phone promptly died on me.”

Stockard Channing’s official reaction to Playbill.com on receiving a Tony nomination

And they’re off…

The 2009 Tony Award Nominations:

Best Play

Dividing the Estate
Author: Horton Foote
Producers: Lincoln Center Theater, Bernard Gersten, André Bishop, Primary Stages

God of Carnage
Author: Yasmina Reza
Producers: Robert Fox, David Pugh & Dafydd Rogers, Stuart Thompson, Scott Rudin, Jon B. Platt, The Weinstein Company, The Shubert Organization

Reasons to Be Pretty
Author: Neil LaBute
Producers: Jeffrey Richards, Jerry Frankel, MCC Theater, Gary Goddard Entertainment, Ted Snowdon, Doug Nevin/Erica Lynn Schwartz, Ronald Frankel/Bat-Barry Productions, Kathleen Seidel, Kelpie Arts, LLC, Jam Theatricals, Rachel Helson/Heather Provost

33 Variations
Author: Moisés Kaufman
Producers: David Binder, Ruth Hendel, Goldberg/Mills, Latitude Link, Arielle Tepper Madover, Bill Resnick, Eric Schnall, Jayne Baron Sherman, Wills/True Love Productions, Tectonic Theater Project, Greg Reiner, Dominick Balletta, Jeffrey LaHoste

Best Musical

Billy Elliot, The Musical
Producers: Universal Pictures Stage Productions, Working Title Films, Old Vic Productions, Weinstein Live Entertainment

Next to Normal
Producers: David Stone, James L. Nederlander, Barbara Whitman, Patrick Catullo, Second Stage Theatre, Carole Rothman, Ellen Richard

Rock of Ages
Producers: Matthew Weaver, Carl Levin, Jeff Davis, Barry Habib, Scott Prisand, Relativity Media, Corner Store Fund, Janet Billig Rich, Hillary Weaver, Toni Habib, Paula Davis, Simon and Stefany Bergson/Jennifer Maloney, Charles Rolecek, Susanne Brook, Israel Wolfson, Sara Katz/Jayson Raitt, Max Gottlieb/John Butler, David Kaufman/Jay Franks, Mike Wittlin, Prospect Pictures, Laura Smith/Bill Bodnar, Happy Walters, Michele Caro, The Araca Group

Shrek The Musical
Producers: Dreamworks Theatricals, Neal Street Productions

Best Book of a Musical

Billy Elliot, The Musical; Lee Hall
Next to Normal -Brian Yorkey
Shrek The Musical – David Lindsay-Abaire
[Title of Show] – Hunter Bell

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre

Billy Elliot, The Musical
Music: Elton John
Lyrics: Lee Hall

Next to Normal
Music: Tom Kitt
Lyrics: Brian Yorkey

9 to 5: The Musical
Music & Lyrics: Dolly Parton

Shrek The Musical
Music: Jeanine Tesori
Lyrics: David Lindsay-Abaire

Best Revival of a Play

Joe Turner’s Come and Gone
Producers: Lincoln Center Theater, André Bishop, Bernard Gersten

Mary Stuart
New Version: Peter Oswald
Producers: Arielle Tepper Madover, Debra Black, Neal Street Productions/Matthew Byam Shaw, Scott Delman, Barbara Whitman, Jean Doumanian/Ruth Hendel, David Binder/CarlWend Productions/Spring Sirkin, Daryl Roth/James L. Nederlander/Chase Mishkin, The Donmar Warehouse

The Norman Conquests
Producers: Sonia Friedman Productions, Steven Baruch, Marc Routh, Richard Frankel, Tom Viertel, Dede Harris, Tulchin/Bartner/Lauren Doll, Jamie deRoy, Eric Falkenstein, Harriet Newman Leve, Probo Productions, Douglas G. Smith, Michael Filerman/Jennifer Manocherian, Richard Winkler, Dan Frishwasser, Pam Laudenslager/Remmel T. Dickinson, Jane Dubin/True Love Productions, Barbara Manocherian/Jennifer Isaacson, The Old Vic Theatre Company

Waiting for Godot
Producers: Roundabout Theatre Company, Todd Haimes, Harold Wolpert, Julia C. Levy, Elizabeth Ireland McCann

Best Revival of a Musical

Guys and Dolls
Producers: Howard Panter and Ambassador Theatre Group, Tulchin/Bartner, Bill Kenwright, Northwater Entertainment, Darren Bagert, Tom Gregory, Nederlander Presentations, Inc., David Mirvish, Michael Jenkins/Dallas Summer Musicals, Independent Presenters Network, Olympus Theatricals, Sonia Friedman Productions

Hair
Producers: The Public Theater, Oskar Eustis, Andrew D. Hamingson, Jeffrey Richards, Jerry Frankel, Gary Goddard Entertainment, Kathleen K. Johnson, Nederlander Productions, Inc., Fran Kirmser Productions/Jed Bernstein, Marc Frankel, Broadway Across America, Barbara Manocherian/Wencarlar Productions, JK Productions/Terry Schnuck, Andy Sandberg, Jam Theatricals, The Weinstein Company/Norton Herrick, Jujamcyn Theaters, Joey Parnes, Elizabeth Ireland McCann

Pal Joey
Producers: Roundabout Theatre Company, Todd Haimes, Harold Wolpert, Julia C. Levy, Marc Platt

West Side Story
Producers: Kevin McCollum, James L. Nederlander, Jeffrey Seller, Terry Allen Kramer, Sander Jacobs, Roy Furman/Jill Furman Willis, Freddy DeMann, Robyn Goodman/Walt Grossman, Hal Luftig, Roy Miller, The Weinstein Company, Broadway Across America

Best Special Theatrical Event

Liza’s at The Palace
Producers: John Scher and Metropolitan Talent Presents, LLC; Jubilee Time Productions, LLC

Slava’s Snowshow
Producers: David J. Foster, Jared Geller, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Judith Marinoff Cohn, John Pinckard

Soul of Shaolin
Producers: Nederlander Worldwide Productions, LLC; Eastern Shanghai International Culture Film & Television Group; China on Broadway

You’re Welcome America. A Final Night with George W. Bush
Producer: Jeffrey Richards, Jerry Frankel, Steve Traxler, Home Box Office Inc., Gary Sanchez Productions, Bat-Barry Productions, Ken Davenport, Ergo Entertainment, Ronald Frankel, Jon B. Platt, James D. Stern, The Weinstein Company, Tara Smith/b. Swibel, Dede Harris/Sharon Karmazin, Arny Granat

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play

Jeff Daniels, God of Carnage
Raúl Esparza, Speed-the-Plow
James Gandolfini, God of Carnage
Geoffrey Rush, Exit the King
Thomas Sadoski, Reasons to Be Pretty

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play

Hope Davis, God of Carnage
Jane Fonda, 33 Variations
Marcia Gay Harden, God of Carnage
Janet McTeer, Mary Stuart
Harriet Walter, Mary Stuart

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical

David Alvarez, Trent Kowalik, and Kiril Kulish – Billy Elliot, The Musical
Gavin Creel, Hair
Brian d’Arcy James, Shrek The Musical
Constantine Maroulis, Rock of Ages
J. Robert Spencer, Next to Normal

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical

Stockard Channing, Pal Joey
Sutton Foster, Shrek The Musical
Allison Janney, 9 to 5: The Musical
Alice Ripley, Next to Normal
Josefina Scaglione, West Side Story

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play

John Glover, Waiting for Godot
Zach Grenier, 33 Variations
Stephen Mangan, The Norman Conquests
Paul Ritter, The Norman Conquests
Roger Robinson, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play

Hallie Foote, Dividing the Estate
Jessica Hynes, The Norman Conquests
Marin Ireland, Reasons to Be Pretty
Angela Lansbury, Blithe Spirit
Amanda Root, The Norman Conquests

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical

David Bologna, Billy Elliot, The Musical
Gregory Jbara, Billy Elliot, The Musical
Marc Kudisch, 9 to 5: The Musical
Christopher Sieber, Shrek The Musical
Will Swenson, Hair

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical

Jennifer Damiano, Next to Normal
Haydn Gwynne, Billy Elliot, The Musical
Karen Olivo, West Side Story
Martha Plimpton, Pal Joey
Carole Shelley, Billy Elliot, The Musical

Best Scenic Design of a Play

Dale Ferguson, Exit the King
Rob Howell, The Norman Conquests
Derek McLane, 33 Variations
Michael Yeargan, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone

Best Scenic Design of a Musical

Robert Brill, Guys and Dolls
Ian MacNeil, Billy Elliot, The Musical
Scott Pask, Pal Joey
Mark Wendland, Next to Normal

Best Costume Design of a Play

Dale Ferguson, Exit the King
Jane Greenwood, Waiting for Godot
Martin Pakledinaz, Blithe Spirit
Anthony Ward, Mary Stuart

Best Costume Design of a Musical

Gregory Gale, Rock of Ages
Nicky Gillibrand, Billy Elliot, The Musical
Tim Hatley, Shrek The Musical
Michael McDonald, Hair

Best Lighting Design of a Play

David Hersey, Equus
David Lander, 33 Variations
Brian MacDevitt, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone
Hugh Vanstone, Mary Stuart

Best Lighting Design of a Musical

Kevin Adams, Hair
Kevin Adams, Next to Normal
Howell Binkley, West Side Story
Rick Fisher, Billy Elliot, The Musical

Best Sound Design of a Play

Paul Arditti, Mary Stuart
Gregory Clarke, Equus
Russell Goldsmith, Exit the King
Scott Lehrer and Leon Rothenberg, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone

Best Sound Design of a Musical

Acme Sound Partners, Hair
Paul Arditti, Billy Elliot, The Musical
Peter Hylenski, Rock of Ages
Brian Ronan, Next to Normal

Best Direction of a Play

Phyllida Lloyd, Mary Stuart
Bartlett Sher, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone
Matthew Warchus, God of Carnage
Matthew Warchus, The Norman Conquests

Best Direction of a Musical

Stephen Daldry, Billy Elliot, The Musical
Michael Greif, Next to Normal
Kristin Hanggi, Rock of Ages
Diane Paulus, Hair

Best Choreography

Karole Armitage, Hair
Andy Blankenbuehler, 9 to 5: The Musical
Peter Darling, Billy Elliot, The Musical
Randy Skinner, Irving Berlin’s White Christmas

Best Orchestrations

Larry Blank, Irving Berlin’s White Christmas
Martin Koch, Billy Elliot, The Musical
Michael Starobin and Tom Kitt, Next to Normal
Danny Troob and John Clancy, Shrek The Musical

"The Varsity Drag"

It’s been pretty well established that the Freed unit at MGM was the zenith for movie musicals during the Golden Age of Hollywood. However, when it came to adapting stage hits for film they were seldom faithful to their source material. In some cases, a film musical only retained the title and maybe a song or two and nothing else. The 1947 version of Good News directed by Charles Walters fared better than most, but wasn’t spared in being overhauled. (A 1930 film was made and quickly forgotten; clips are bonus material on the DVD). The song order was changed, songs were dropped and others composed specifically for the film. Comden and Green had their first screenplay assignment bringing the 1927 smash to a late forties sensibility, and supplied the words for “The French Lesson.” Roger Edens, Ray Henderson, Kay Thompson, Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane all contributed new material. Edens, Martin & Blane were Oscar-nominated for “Pass that Peace Pipe,” a showcase for Joan McCracken, a vibrant musical comedy dancer who is (unfairly) recognized as a footnote in musical theatre lore as Bob Fosse’s first wife.

The plot, if you want to call it that, involves the star player for the college football team (an unlikely Peter Lawford) who needs to be tutored in French by the charming all-American Connie Lane (the lovable June Allyson) in order to pass his exam and win the “big game.” Complications ensue when a golddigger (Patricia Marshall, who is perhaps best known as Mrs. Larry Gelbart) sets her sights on our hero. I’ll give you three guesses how the story turns out and the second two don’t count. While the film isn’t in the upper ranks of MGM classics like The Band Wagon or Singin’ in the Rain, it is considerably charming. In pulling out the stops, MGM also placed Mel Torme on the scene as one of the college cohorts, getting his own reprise of the show’s famed ballad “The Best Things in Life Are Free.”

The show was revived at the tail end of the nostalgia craze of the early 70s that brought about No, No Nanette and Irene, among others. Starring Alice Faye and John Payne, the show went out on a considerable road tour before coming to NY with Gene Nelson replacing Payne. The show was revised to build up the senior roles (professors) to give Faye and Payne/Nelson considerably more stage time ultimately deflecting the show and its energy away from the kids. The revival was met with critical indifference and lasted 16 performances at the St James Theatre. (A live cast album was made as a souvenir for the show folk out there and features the sole Broadway performance of the late, great Alice Faye). Another reworking of the show was crafted in 1993 and is licensed as an updated alternative to the original piece. While we’re on it, this would be one helluva a fun show for Encores.

“The Varsity Drag” was originally an act one showstopper led by the soubrette (McCracken’s character) but for the sake of creative license (and because the song is pure joy) it became the film’s finale, choreographed by Robert Alton. It’s one of those big 20s style numbers that’s insanely catchy (plus it teaches you the basic steps in its lyrics) and I just love it. Here’s a clip from the 1947 film.

Non-Competitive Tony Winners Announced

The nominations for the big awards will be revealed tomorrow at 8:30AM, but the Tony Awards committee has announced the winners of its Special Tony Awards today. Congratulations to Jerry Herman, Phyllis Newman, Shirley Herz and all the folks at the Signature Theatre Company in Arlington, VA.

Herman, composer of audience favorites Milk and Honey, Hello, Dolly!, Mame, and La Cage Aux Folles as well as cultist delights Dear World, Mack & Mabel and The Grand Tour, will receive the Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre.

The annual Regional Theatre Award goes to the Signature Theatre Company, as recommended by the American Theatre Critics Association. The award also includes a grant of $25,000 from Visa (who also happens to be one of the main Tony sponsors). As per the press release: “For 20 years, Signature Theatre has broadened and brightened the region’s cultural landscape with its bold productions of challenging new and established works.”

Newman is receiving the inaugural Isabelle Stevenson Award, established to honor a member of the theatre community “who has made a substantial contribution of volunteered time and effort on behalf of one or more humanitarian, social service or charitable organizations.” Newman founded the Phyllis Newman Women’s Health Initiative in 1995 and has raised $3.5 million dollars and helped 2,500 in the entertainment industry.

Herz is his year’s recipient of the Tony Honors for Excellence, given to someone in the industry ineligible for Tony recognition in established categories. She has worked as a press agent for over 200 on and off Broadway for over fifty years, starting as Rosalind Russell’s personal press rep during the run of Wonderful Town.

Your Intermission Interview: 1956

I love collecting theatre memorabilia, whether it be Playbills from older shows, cast albums on LP and other formats and souvenir programs. Leafing through “The PLAYBILL for the Sam S. Shubert Theatre” for the original Broadway production of Pipe Dream, I came across this page entitled “Your Intermission Interview” which presents a checklist of the shows on the boards. This idea has been modified into the “How Many Have You Seen?” pages in the contemporary theatre Playbill which isn’t as participatory. I thought I’d share it:

YOUR INTERMISSION INTERVIEW

How many of these hits have you seen?

If your score is 14 or more you are a star; 13, you are featured; 12, you’re a bit player; less than 12, you need more rehearsals at the box office.

MUSICAL

□ FANNY – Majestic – Ezio Pinza, Walter Slezak
□ THE PAJAMA GAME – St. James – John Raitt, Eddie Foy Jr., Helen Gallagher
□ PIPE DREAM – Shubert – Helen Traubel, William Johnson
□ SILK STOCKINGS – Imperial – Hildegard Neff

COMEDY

□ BUS STOP – Winter Garden – By William Inge
□ THE CHALK GARDEN – Barrymore – Gladys Cooper, Siobhan McKenna
□ THE DESK SET – Broadhurst – Shirley Booth
□ THE MATCHMAKER – Royale – Ruth Gordon, Eileen Herlie, Loring Smith
□ THE PONDER HEART – Music Box – David Wayne
□ JANUS – Plymouth – Margaret Sullavan, Claude Dauphin, Robert Preston

DRAMA

□ A HATFUL OF RAIN – Lyceum – Shelley Winters, Ben Gazzara
□ INHERIT THE WIND – National – Paul Muni, Ed Begley, Tony Randall
□ THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK – Cort – Joseph Schildkraut, Susan Strasberg, Gusti Huber
□ THE LARK – Longacre – Julie Harris, also starring Boris Karloff
□ TIME LIMIT – Booth – Arthur Kennedy, Richard Kiley

Casting Susan Blackwell

I’m gunning for [title of show] to get a little bit of Tony love on Tuesday. It was the first new musical to open this season and as you are well aware, I found myself enjoying it immensely. (Much to the surprise of my constituents). Here’s hoping that all four stars receive the Tony recognition they deserve.

In [title of show], Susan Blackwell (who this very moment is doing a “Die Vampire Die” workshop at The Brookfield Theatre for the Arts with our friend Alicia) presented an idiosyncratically madcap based on herself; one who loved to perform and sing, but was also told she doesn’t “sing good enough to be in a musical.” Contrary to that assessment, I found Blackwell to be a perfect musical theatre comedienne. She possesses a good character voice with succinct comic sensibilities rounded out by a vulnerability revealed during the showstopping “Die, Vampire, Die, ” one of the many audience favorites in the little musical that could.

Tall and lithe, Blackwell strikes an imposing classical figure onstage, I could easily see her taking on one of the Greek tragediennes or a drawing room comedy. Blackwell’s audience appeal lies in her fearless ability to be herself and I haven’t seen her onstage since the closing performance of [tos] back in October. That is far too long for my liking so I decided that I would take it upon myself to present the casting directors of the Broadway and the regionals with a brief list of ideas for future reference…

Auntie Mame/Mame: Vera Charles
Into the Woods: The Baker’s Wife or Witch
Damn Yankees: Gloria
Annie: Miss Hannigan
Do Re Mi: Kay Cramm
Bells Are Ringing: Ella Peterson
Sail Away: Mimi Paragon
The Mystery of Edwin Drood: Princess Puffer
She Loves Me: Ilona
The Man Who Came to Dinner: Maggie Cutler, Lorraine Sheldon or Nurse Preen
A Little Night Music: Charlotte
Flora, the Red Menace: Flora
The Sound of Music: Elsa
Grey Gardens: Little Edie
On a Clear Day You Can See Forever: Daisy
On the Town: Hildy or Madame Dilly
I am the Camera/Cabaret: Sally Bowles
My Sister Eileen/Wonderful Town: Ruth Sherwood
Follies: (when she’s older) Phyllis
Holiday: Linda Seton
The Philadelphia Story: Tracy Lord
Falsettos: Trina
City of Angels: Donna/Oolie
The Boys from Syracuse: Luce

Well, dear readers, what roles would you like to see Ms. Blackwell take on?

Musical Twitter?

It’s an interesting idea using new media and technology to promote a show, but does anyone think this is a bit ridiculous (if original)?

Being reported from NBC News:

Next to Normal will become the first Broadway show to Twitter a full performance.

“For the first time ever, the full story of a Broadway musical will be told via Twitter. Follow the characters of Next to Normal as they tweet their story – all the lows, all the highs – day by day, song by song. Experience it like you never have before. No Twitter account required!” the show announced on its official website this week.

The opening tweet from the @N2NBroadway account earlier this week announced “Starting May 5, follow the characters as they tweet their story – all the lows, all the highs – day by day, song by song.”

The twitterformance (OK, that’s not really a word,) will run through June 7. Next to Normal IRL life has an open-ended run at the Booth Theatre, located at 222 W. 45th St.