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When the Lights Are Bright Again: Letters and images of loss, hope, and resilience from the theater community Hardcover – November 1, 2021
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It began as an artist’s desperate desire to express himself inside a worldwide pandemic, but in one year’s time it has grown into a theater industry and country-wide outlet for healing, grief, justice, and hope in the theater community.
The Covid-19 pandemic revealed what a world without live performance looks and feels like. This book captures a small fraction of the powerful and transcendent internal heartbeat that never went away within the theater community. When the Lights Are Bright Again immortalizes the stories, struggles, and successes of an industry that was the first to be shut down and one of the last to return.
Andrew Norlen weaves more than 200 letters from Broadway theater veterans, devout theatergoers, teenage dreamers aching for their day in the spotlight, long-time ushers, designers, creatives, and countless other arts workers with a brand-new, breathtaking photo series by Broadway photographer Matthew Murphy.
Not only has the creation of this book allowed the theater community to grieve and express themselves in a new way, but for every copy purchased, a portion of the profits will directly benefit The Actors Fund. This book will continue to help support arts workers to thrive and receive financial stability for decades to come with every copy sold.
When The Lights Are Bright Again is a love letter to the arts community and every theatergoer, but, above all else, it is a meditation on the human experience. There is something for every broken, tired, and angry soul inside this book: hope.
There is light in all of us—there always has been!
- Print length240 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherApplause
- Publication dateNovember 1, 2021
- Dimensions8.79 x 0.77 x 11.38 inches
- ISBN-101493066595
- ISBN-13978-1493066599
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From the Publisher

A love letter to the arts community
There is something for every broken, tired, and angry soul inside this book: hope.

Dear Cameron,
When the lights are bright again you will weep tears of joy. This year has been so challenging and yet so rewarding. I’ve always been a person who prides themselves on having many other interests other than theatre… I never wanted my career to be my identity. Don’t get me wrong, I love what I do… this year really reminded me how MUCH I love it… This community is unlike any other and all of us who are lucky enough to work in the theatre industry know that.

Dear Elizabeth,
When the lights are bright again, I hope you will really, really take in the preciousness of every live audience. I hope you will be able to hug your castmates and hold them tightly—and that you do it often. I hope you buy stock in waterproof mascara (you’re going to need it!). I hope that watching and performing in live theatre can once again give you a vessel to process your deepest unnameable feelings… I hope the harmony you’ve so missed creating with other voices is a theme which vibrates beyond singing, beyond the stage, and beyond your work in the theatre.

Dear James,
So…How are you? It’s been just over one year since the beginning of a change we could not have foreseen. It’s also the day after the 2nd anniversary of your show that made you a principal after 19 years on Broadway… We have lost some luminous lights that we never imagined we would. Yes. That makes my heart heavy at times, but our lights are still connected. When the lights are bright again? That fire that has become embers will be stoked… When that curtain does finally rise—ALL our lights will join and burn brighter than ever before!

Dear Jim,
May I start by saying that you’re looking especially fetching today? When the lights are bright again, I know you will remember the dark days of the past year. Life has ups and downs, and it’s the down times that make the good ones so much more golden… I’m proud that you, and so many like you, not only survived this insanity—but flourished. When the chips were down, you continued to do what you loved most, thanks to the kindness of many. You took your Party to the interwebs and entertained the masses. I know better than anyone you did it as much for yourself, but we’ll keep that to ourselves.
Editorial Reviews
Review
We communicate. That’s what theater people do. We reach out in the dark to illuminate the human condition. Cut off by the COVID lockdown it's amazing, although not surprising, that the theater people in this book still found ways to let the people in the dark know - You are not alone.
-- Harvey Fierstein, American actor and playwrightAbout the Author
Andrew Norlen, originally from Troutdale, Oregon, is a New York City-based artist. With a BFA from The Boston Conservatory of Music, Norlen was most recently in the closing tour company of Broadway's Kinky Boots. His podcast, Everyday Heroes, is a space where he elevates female identifying voices. Norlen is the creator of When the Lights Are Bright Again and writer of Defining Brave, his memoir. Follow his journey @Anorlen and AndrewNorlen.com.
Matthew Murphy is a New York City-based photographer specializing in theater, dance, and portrait photography. His work is featured in the books Hamilton: The Revolution, Come From Away: Welcome to the Rock, Dear Evan Hansen: Through the Window, and Jagged Little Pill: You Live, You Learn. He travels worldwide photographing productions and lives in New York with his husband and their two dogs.
Product details
- Publisher : Applause (November 1, 2021)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 240 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1493066595
- ISBN-13 : 978-1493066599
- Item Weight : 2.52 pounds
- Dimensions : 8.79 x 0.77 x 11.38 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #582,286 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #224 in Broadway & Musicals (Books)
- #239 in Musicals (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Originally from Troutdale, Oregon, Andrew Norlen is a New York City-based artist. With a BFA from The Boston Conservatory of Music, Norlen was most recently in the closing tour company of Broadway's hit, Kinky Boots.
His podcast, Everyday Heroes with Andrew Norlen, is a space where he elevates female identifying voices. You can listen on Spotify, Apple Podcast App, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Andrew is the creator of—When the Lights Are Bright Again: letters and images of loss, hope and resilience from the theater community—published by Applause Books.
Andrew is a proud, queer man who strives to normalize male vulnerability. His upcoming memoir—Defining Brave: a young mans journey through grief and romance leads him to resiliently embrace who he is—is fueled by his deep desire to champion young men and teens to speak up, live their truth, and not apologize for who they are. It also addresses his difficult and yet transformative relationship with his mother and her own struggle with his queerness.
Follow his journey @Anorlen on instagram and subscribe on his website at AndrewNorlen.com for updates about his next publications.
For press inquires, sponsorships, partnerships or representation inquiries please visit his website: AndrewNorlen.Com and the "connect" tab!
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Reviewed in the United States on January 23, 2022
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Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 7, 2021

I didn’t want it to end, I could just keep reading and reading.