Next to Normal

Kristen Hall's Next to Normal poster concept

I was entered in a poster contest for Center Stage of South Carolina's new musical, Next to Normal. Naturally I did not win, but that's just the story of my life. LOL

 The winning poster was very cute (although cuteness has nothing to do with the plot and overall emotion of Next to Normal). The emotional impact of the winning poster was one of endearing childlike innocence and it was crafted so that it looked like it was made out of a small child's building blocks and cartoon sketches. Very cute! I will post it here once the finished version is available. :)




Plot of Next to Normal: (SPOILER ALERT) Next to Normal revolves around a distraught and broken family. The main character is the mother, who is a manic-depressive, Schizophrenic, fractured woman who hallucinates about her dead infant son who was born out of wedlock. She believes that the son has grown up and is a young man. Her daughter feels rejected and "invisible" and therefore turns to drugs. The husband, who is trying to hold the house together, begins to feel the strain of holding together a family that is pulling apart. He hallucinates and has emotional, confused breakdowns as well. Although the wife firmly believes that her son is still alive, the husband knows he is dead and refuses to say the son's name. The story ends with the mother leaving the family and the father recognizing his hallucination.  The story does not have a happy ending although it is poignant and does have some resolution. Center Stage has “cleaned up” the script, although they still aim it at a PG-13 audience.