Next to Normal starts season journey

Theatre Lawrence is pleased to announce the first recipient of the Louise ImMasche Striving Artists Project is Anj Marie Riffel and her musical Chasing Nirvana . The show will receive a production at Theatre Lawrence Oct. 2 and 3, 2026. Information about auditions and participating in the first staging of this original musical will be available in the coming weeks. Anj Marie Riffel wears a stack of hats professionally and passionately — including writer, editor, designer, and songwriter — with an enduring love of artistic expression. Her short plays have been featured on stage at Theatre Lawrence for New Works Night. When she’s not searching for her missing iPhone or the meaning of life, Anj can be found wading heart-deep in creative pursuits and loving her people. The Striving Artists Project honors the legacy of Louise ImMasche and the art they created by fostering a space and providing resources to small artists with big shows. This project aims to provide an opportunity to kinder those like Louise – unyielding in their dreams, a need to tell their stories, and looking to go big with the chances they are provided. About the show: Travel back to the heyday of Gen X, when twentysomethings were trying to figure out who they were beyond the walls of Shermer High School—and discovering that reality does indeed bite. Presley Martin is an endearingly awkward, hot mess of a musician who’s hoping her band might be the next Nirvana. While reaching on tiptoe for the stars, she loses her balance and winds up flirting with rock bottom instead. With the resurgence of 1990s culture, CHASING NIRVANA feels simultaneously nostalgic and current. Driven by catchy 90’s alt-rock music, the story appeals to a multi-generational audience, as it examines life’s big questions: Who will love me? Why am I here? What really matters? Packed with heart, humor, and a healthy dose of pop-culture wisdom, we follow Presley’s journey as she navigates a Bermuda love triangle and risks losing herself in the void between two very different dreams. Will she find her own sense of nirvana?

Chris McCoy is an arts educator, theatre director, and nonprofit professional based in Kansas City and is excited to join Theatre Lawrence as Development Director.