It’s raining good news over at the Booth Theatre on Broadway.

Less than two weeks ago, the unlikely hit, Next to Normal, defied expectations and announced that it had recouped its investment.

Yesterday, in another “shocking” turn of events (get it?), N2N took home the biggest drama prize of them all . . . The Pulitzer!

To say that this was a surprise, would be like saying Alice Ripley’s character in N2N is just “in a mood.”

From the sound of the fallout, the choice was a surprise to the prize.jpgckin’ insiders as well.

First, Charles McNulty of the LA Times, and a member of the Drama Jury that was chosen by the Pulitzer Board to give recommendations on nominees, ripped the board a new one for ignoring the Jury’s recs in his article entitled, “On The Year’s Drama Award, The Pulitzer Board Blew It.”

Then came Patrick Healy’s revelation that “a lot” of Pulitzer Board Members saw N2N the night before their important vote for the winner (and you and I both know that awards are most likely to go to shows that are “fresh” in voters’ minds, right?).

And this morning, the HE in DidHeLikeIt Himself, Mr. Ben Brantley, wrote a very interesting op-ed piece in the New York Times expressing his frustration about the process, having been the Chairman of the Drama Jury in 2007, when the board overrode the Jury’s recommendations as well.

Whatever happened, it’s a fantastic story for a show that almost didn’t make it to Broadway and has now not only recouped, but also been awarded an incredible distinction.

Will this big prize have an impact at the BO?  Let’s watch and see . . . (my guess is that the people who the Prize means the most to have already seen the show, although I’d also bet that the ad agency is designing a big sign for the front of the theater to trumpet this news to all those tourists).

Congratulations to everyone involved for this incredible honor.  I’m sure they are all thrilled.

In fact, I heard a rumor that that lead character was so happy about the big win, it cured her depression.

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Normal is only the 8th musical to take home the P Prize, and it’s in great company.  Can you name the other seven?  Give it a shot, then click here for the answer.