The groundbreaking story, currently being staged by the Denver Center Theatre Company, is among the three best musicals of this century

Any chatter about what might be the best new musical so far this century pretty much ended on Aug. 6, 2015. That was the day “Hamilton” bowed on Broadway.

But right next to “Hamilton” is surely “Next to Normal.” You can find out why for yourself through May 3, as the groundbreaking musical is being staged by the Denver Center Theatre Company in the Wolf Theatre.

Me? I judge musicals not only by what I see on the stage but by what I see going on in the audience. 

For “Hamilton,” that meant seeing the national touring production at the Buell Theatre performed for an audience made up almost entirely of students from Denver’s poorest high schools.

Spoiler alert: When Vice President Aaron Burr fires the gunshot that will kill the former treasury secretary in an 1804 duel, the action moves into slo-mo, “The Matrix”-style. In the excruciating seconds it took the bullet to find its way into Hamilton’s abdomen, one distraught young woman who clearly was never taught this story in history class pierced the silence by letting out a long, guttural cry of “Nooooo…” that shook the house and reminded all of us of the immediate power of the live storytelling experience.

When “Next to Normal” bowed on Broadway 17 years ago this month, it rewrote all the rules for musical theater. And by 2011, it was rewriting the rules for dinner theater. By then, I was watching the first homegrown production of the musical at the now-closed Carousel Dinner Theatre in Fort Collins. I was seated at a table for six. But on this night, it was just one random, middle-aged couple having an uncommonly quiet night out – and me.

Not long into the performance, the already teary woman stood up, moved to her husband’s side of the table and wordlessly collapsed into his protective embrace – and stayed there for the rest of the ride. He clung to her throughout as if she were a passenger in a speeding, doorless car.

It was magical.

There are really two kinds of theater audiences: Those who crave catharsis and challenge, and those who want entertainment and escape. “Next to Normal” is for those seeking substance. Or understanding about a tough, silent subject that’s rarely the topic of conversation in any living room … much less a Broadway musical.

Clearly, it was striking this Fort Collins couple very close to home. Not surprising, given that nearly four in 10 U.S. adults are estimated to be affected by depression or anxiety, either personally or through a close friend or family member, according to the American Medical Association.

“Next to Normal” presents an uncomfortably knowable suburban family navigating the choppy waters of bipolarism, depression, unresolved loss, prescribed narcotics and electroshock therapy. It revolves around prototypical bohemian parents Diana and Dan and their teenage kids, jock Gabe and overachieving Natalie.

When we meet Diana, she seems like a perfectly normal housewife. She’s ushering the kids to school after sneaking in a morning quickie with her sweetheart of a husband. The Diana we meet is almost like a Stepford wife living in the illusion that everything’s great.

One line that has echoed in my brain for all these years: “Most people who are happy … haven’t thought about it enough.”

By the end of the opening song (“Just Another Day”), it’s clear she’s a woman torn between a man and a memory, caught in the throes of a 20-year struggle that threatens to implode a family that is nuclear in more ways than one. And we’re with Diana all the way as doctors try to corral her brain demon, drug it, shock it and burn it out of existence.

“Next to Normal” harkens to the earliest tradition of theater as catharsis. It’s a no-holds-barred, roller-coaster ride, from its pulse-pounding songs to its eviscerating performances. It’s theater that leaves a bruise. 

And as the ending scene plays out – and not in the happy way you expect from traditional musical theater – there is an audible symphony of sniffles that makes plain the desperate need for theater that serves as a kind of communal support group. In this case, set to a smoking beat.

It’s not the kind of musical you enjoy, exactly, if you have fully participated in it. You experience it, appreciate it, let it seep in … and then wrestle with the hold it has on you.

I’ll never forget how Alice Ripley, who originated the role of Diana, described playing it for four brain-frying years:  “It is like a razor blade,” she told me. “It feels like walking a tightrope.”

How revolutionary was it at the time?

When I spoke with Lin-Manuel Miranda back in 2010, he said he never set out to change the language of Broadway with his rap-infused Broadway darling “In the Heights.” No, “Spring Awakening” and “Next to Normal” had already done that. “‘Next to Normal’ was the new normal,” he said.

The cynic in me was therefore unsurprised to receive an email this week offering 50% off for tickets to all of next week’s Denver Center performances. (You can, too: Just use the promo code NORMAL). That kind of thing only happens when a show isn’t selling up to expectations. This one should be.

“Next to Normal” is the rare musical to have won the Pulitzer Prize for drama, an award usually reserved for plays. It’s given for the words, which in the case of a musical means its dialogue and song lyrics. “Hamilton” and “A Strange Loop” are the only other musicals similarly honored this century.

But awards can be funny. One thing “Next to Normal” has in common with “Wicked,” “Passing Strange,” “The Book of Mormon” and “Hadestown” is that none of them won the Tony Award for best musical. (“Next to Normal” lost to “Billy Elliot” in 2009). Then again, the Tony Awards also snubbed earlier non-winners like “Chicago,” “West Side Story,” “Gypsy” and “Hair.”

Now, here’s a little “Next to Normal” trivia: Denver-born Tony Award-winning actor Annaleigh Ashford played daughter Natalie in the very first workshop production of “Next to Normal.”

“Everyone has some sort of connection to mental illness,” she said. “And from the very first downbeat, this is music that touches your soul.”

I got the chance to interview writers Brian Yorkey and Tom Kitt when their 2015 musical “If/Then” launched its national tour in Denver (with Idina Menzel along). Yorkey, who went on to pen the controversial teen-suicide serial “13 Reasons Why,” told me that he and Kitt wrote “Next of Normal” while heavily under the influence of “Spring Awakening,” “The Who’s Tommy” and “Hedwig and the Angry Inch.”

(He also told me the best “Next to Normal” trivia of all: That the original title was “Feeling Electric,” and writing it distracted them from completing their primary creative purpose at the time. They were writing a musical adaptation of “Jerry Maguire.” (And, yes: There is a song out there somewhere called “Show Me the Money.”)

“I would love to believe that the success of ‘Next to Normal’ gave courage to other writers and other producers,” Yorkey said, citing the subsequent success of “Fun Home” and “Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson.” The fact that “Next to Normal” actually earned its money back and then some, Yorkey said, “was thrilling.”

Some call “Next to Normal” a story about mental disease. Others about loss. Ripley says it’s about grief.

“The suppression of grief,” she clarified. “The suppression of a lot of emotions, actually.”

She believes the musical has struck such a resonant chord with women because its depiction of this one mother in crisis is really a tale that thousands of American housewives have lived through since the 1960s.

My intent with this essay was not to proffer a specific review of the current Denver Center production. (It’s certainly a game-changer for Colorado Springs actor Aléna Watters, a solid Broadway veteran of mostly musical comedies.) But your own reaction will likely be proportional to your own lived experience with mental illness.

There’s no denying that this musical has saved lives, a measure far greater than dollar signs. Through its raw and accurate portrayal of mental-health struggles, “Next to Normal” has provided audiences sitting in the literal dark a deeply relatable, therapeutic experience that fosters understanding and hope. It has made them feel seen and less alone. It has helped to destigmatize pursuing mental-health treatments while obliterating boundaries in the musical theater. That’s how you win a Pulitzer Prize.

“Tom and I set out to write a show that was very personal to us, and for many years we didn’t know that it would matter to anybody else,” Yorkey said. “We learned that it told a story that many people hadn’t seen before in the musical theater.

“Music has a way of digging in and seeping into your subconscious, which is perfect for a story like ours. We learned that at a certain point, the show doesn’t just belong to us. It belongs to all of those people who respond to it and claim it in some way as their own.”

Love it or loathe it, like the song of the same title: “It’s alive.” And that’s the best kind of theater there is.

Promo code NORMAL. Use it. You won’t regret it.

John Moore is the Denver Gazette’s Senior Arts Journalist. Email him at [email protected].

‘Next to Normal’/If you go

• What: Musical
• Presented by: Denver Center Theatre Company
• When: Through May 3 at the Wolf Theatre, Denver Performing Arts Complex
• Info: 303-893-4100 or denvercenter.org

John Moore’s 10 best musicals this century:

• 1. “Spring Awakening”
• 2. “Next to Normal”
• 3. “Hamilton”
• 4. “The Book of Mormon”
• 5. “Come From Away”
• 6. “Wicked”
• 7. “Hairspray”
• 8. “Fun Home”
• 9. “Passing Strange”
• 10. “The Scottsboro Boys”

Pulitzer Prizes for Drama: Musicals

• “A Strange Loop” (2020)
• “Hamilton” (2015)
• “Next to Normal” (2009)
• “Rent” (1996)
• “Sunday in the Park with George” (1985)
• “A Chorus Line” (1976)
• “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” (1962)
• “Fiorello!” (1960)
• “South Pacific” (1950)
• “Of Thee I Sing” (1932)

Tony Awards: Best Musical since 2001

• 2025: “Maybe Happy Ending”
• 2024: “The Outsiders”
• 2023: “Kimberly Akimbo”
• 2022: A Strange Loop”
• 2020-21: “Moulin Rouge! The Musical”
• 2019: “Hadestown”
• 2018: “The Band’s Visit”
• 2017: “Dear Evan Hansen”
• 2016: “Hamilton”
• 2015: “Fun Home”
• 2014: “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder”
• 2013: “Kinky Boots”
• 2012: “Once”
• 2011: “The Book of Mormon”
• 2010: “Memphis”
• 2009: Billy Elliot the Musical
• 2008: “In the Heights”
• 2007: “Spring Awakening”
• 2006: “Jersey Boys”
• 2005: “Monty Python’s Spamalot”
• 2004: “Avenue Q”
• 2003: “Hairspray”
• 2002: “Thoroughly Modern Millie”
• 2001: “The Producers”