The surprise Broadway hit musical "Next to Normal" has been added to the Milwaukee Rep's Quadracci Powerhouse Theater lineup for next season. Artistic director Mark Clements will direct the production, which will open Dec. 9 and continue through Jan. 15. 2012.
"Next to Normal" won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for drama, an unusual achievement for a musical. It is a serious, densely challenging piece of brilliant theater about a wife and mother's descent into bipolar disorder and the effect on her family. The mostly rock 'n' roll score reflects the dissonance in the woman's troubled brain.
The musical fills one of two holes that were in the Powerhouse Theater 2011-12 season when the Rep announced the new season a couple of months ago. The identity of a drama set to open in October has yet to be revealed.
Damien has been around so long, he was at Summerfest the night George Carlin was arrested for speaking the seven dirty words you can't say on TV. He was also at the Uptown Theatre the night Bruce Springsteen's first Milwaukee concert was interrupted for three hours by a bomb scare. Damien was reviewing the concert for the Milwaukee Journal. He wrote for the Journal and Journal Sentinel for 37 years, the last 29 as theater critic.
During those years, Damien served two terms on the board of the American Theatre Critics Association, a term on the board of the association's foundation, and he studied the Latinization of American culture in a University of Southern California fellowship program. Damien also hosted his own arts radio program, "Milwaukee Presents with Damien Jaques," on WHAD for eight years.
Travel, books and, not surprisingly, theater top the list of Damien's interests. A news junkie, he is particularly plugged into politics and international affairs, but he also closely follows the Brewers, Packers and Marquette baskeball. Damien lives downtown, within easy walking distance of most of the theaters he attends.
