Next to Normal: The Show and The Weekend

Last night we saw a show at the opera house in Denver called "Next to Normal."  It is a Pulitzer and Tony award winning show that is a musical about a bipolar woman and how her mental disorder affects her and her family.   How can this be a musical, I was wondering before I saw it.  It's not a dancing, big production kind of musical, but more like an operetta sort of thing.  The show was thought-provoking and entertaining.  A very worthwhile evening at the theater.  And we were impressed by the beautiful opera house at the Denver Performing Arts Center.

At some point in the show, the bipolar woman's daughter wistfully hopes that their family can at least be "next to normal" since she realizes that her family will never be "normal" (I question what normal is, even under the best of circumstances, since the definition of "normal" must certainly vary from individual to individual).

This weekend was the first in Denver when we had no real projects to work on and no holidays interfered.  I planned what would be a "normal" weekend, doing some fun things and taking advantage of our spectacular location.  Friday night, we saw Rob Riggle (formerly of The Daily Show and SNL) do standup at a comedy club 2 blocks from our apartment.  Very funny and not something we've done in a while.  Saturday we relaxed and did a few minor errands.  Sunday we had an old friend and his family over for brunch while it snowed.  My only disappointment was that they didn't get to see our great view since the mountains disappeared during the snowstorm. (I'm pleased to report that the mountains returned this morning to their previous positions outside our windows.) Then, as mentioned above, we walked the five or so blocks to the performing arts center in the evening to see a terrific show.

Our first fun, relaxing weekend in Denver.  So was it a "normal" weekend?  Not quite. Still not feeling like it's home, but like the show title, the weekend was "next to normal" and that's pretty good.