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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What song does Diana sing about her longing for feeling in Act 1, Scene 4?
(a) "The Break".
(b) "I've Been".
(c) "I Miss the Mountains".
(d) "Everything Else".

2. What refers to a type of affective disorder characterized by euphoric mood, excessive activity and talkativeness, impaired judgment, and sometimes psychotic symptoms, as grandiose delusions?
(a) Manic disorder.
(b) Autism.
(c) Schizophrenia.
(d) Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.

3. What refers to instructions written into the script of a play, indicating stage actions, movements of performers, or production requirements?
(a) Lines.
(b) Dance numbers.
(c) Props.
(d) Stage directions.

4. Next to Normal closed on Broadway after how many regular performances?
(a) 239.
(b) 518.
(c) 733.
(d) 421.

5. What hard-driving rock tune does Diana sing in Act 1, Scene 11?
(a) "Didn't I See this Movie".
(b) "How Could I Ever Forget".
(c) "A Light in the Dark".
(d) "Why Stay".

Short Answer Questions

1. In what year did Next to Normal win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama?

2. Who played the character of Natalie in the original Broadway cast of Next to Normal?

3. What does Diana enter with after dinner in Act 1, Scene 5?

4. From what mental illness does the protagonist of Next to Normal suffer?

5. Who vents her anger at being the child always disregarded in favor of her parents' concern about her brother in Act 1, Scene 7?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Gabe sing with Natalie about in Act 1, Scene 7?

2. What songs are sung by the doctor and Gabe in Act 1, Scene 9? What do they describe?

3. How is the music used in expressing the inner thoughts of the characters in Act 1?

4. Describe the structural elements which stand out in the first scenes of Act 1. How is musical improvisation used as a literary technique?

5. What is revealed about the character of Gabe in Act 1, Scenes 4 and 5?

6. What is sung about and by whom in the songs "Who's Crazy" / "My Psychopharmacologist and I"?

7. What song is performed by Diana and Gabe in Act 1, Scene 10? What does Gabe encourage Diana to do?

8. What triggers Diana's memory flashback in Act 1, Scene 4? What is the memory of?

9. What music opens Act 1, Scene 2? What does Natalie sing about in this song?

10. Describe the central themes in Next to Normal. What does the story of the play revolve around?

(see the answer keys)

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