Next to Normal at The South Asia Institute

Nina is overjoyed to be starring as Diana in the South Asian premiere adaptation of Next to Normal, presented at The South Asia Institute! Ticket information can be found here.

Next to Normal, with book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey and music by Tom Kitt, explores how one suburban household copes with crisis and mental illness. Winner of three 2009 Tony Awards, including Best Musical Score and the 2010 Pulitzer Prize, Next to Normal was also chosen as "one of the year's ten best shows" by critics around the country, including The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, Rolling Stone and The New York Times.

Diana (Nina Jayashankar), Dan (Adrian Thornburg), Natalie (Asha Grace), and Gabe (Arjun Shah) all seem like one big happy bi-racial Hindu-Punjabi South Asian family living in the Chicago Suburbs. Dan works an office job. Diana is a stay at home mother. Gabe is the star athlete at his school. Natalie is a straight-A student and has a wonderful boyfriend, Henry (Joey Faggion). However, their world is anything but normal. Diana has been battling bipolar disorder for the past 16 years. Dan has spent these 16 years trying to take care of his wife, along with the help of–while simultaneously neglecting–their kids, Natalie and Gabe. Through faith, religion, medication, trips to the doctor (Michael J. Santos), and family support, Next to Normal explores how one family struggles with finding light in the darkness.