“Normal”‘s Pulitzer: Board Nixed Jury
The success of “Next to Normal” on Broadway — a new musical without stars and about contemporary subject matter — has been heartening. Nonetheless, had I been on the Pulitzer jury, I certainly wouldn’t have voted for it over the other finalists, which included Sarah Ruhl’s first-rate play, “In the Next Room.” Theatre mavens who suspect slight chicanery with “Normal”‘s win won’t be surprised to learn that the mandarins at Columbia University’s journalism school, where the Pulitzers are administered, ignored the advice of its drama jury in favor of its own, pro-“Normal” sentiments. This isn’t the first time.
