Tom Kitt wrote an extraordinary amount of music for the 2009 Broadway musical “Next to Normal,” a show that justly won the Pulitzer Prize in 2010.

There are book scenes in this story of a bipolar woman, struggling with grief as a consequence of trauma, and of a family that has to learn that normalcy, as generally understood, is as ill-defined as it is typically illusory. But those scenes never last very long: Kitt’s gorgeous music (and Brian Yorkey’s lyrics) always are barely under the surface, the characters constantly yearning to break into song as that is their only option to communicate what they are feeling.

For that reason, then, there is logic to Paramount Theatre artistic director Jim Corti’s decision to pare down what originally was a show set inside a big suburban house set to the minimum amount of physical stuff needed for this show to sing. That includes, of course, a little hidden cupboard for pills, located in the darkness, since the show implicitly critiques the idea of taking drugs to achieve what for some is as unachievable as it is undesirable.

The philosophy of this beautiful musical really is right there in the title: Next to normal is about as much as most of us can achieve, and that’s nowhere near as bad as it might sound.

Paramount is operating these days both in its huge, historic mainstage and in the Copley Theatre across the street in downtown Aurora — a venue it clearly shares with weddings, given all the chairs I saw set up in the lobby on Friday night, offering a kind of ironic counterpoint to the action on the stage inside this 173-seat theater.

For some people, a Broadway hit like this one might seem like a strange entry on a series with the moniker BOLD Series, but then this piece is far from “Rock of Ages” or “Beauty and the Beast.” It’s bold in theme and it rewards those who see the show in an intimate space.

Corti has found a vulnerable, tuneful singer in Donna Louden, playing the central role of Diana. It’s a famously tough role to sing, not because of the notes but because of the high stakes of almost every song, and although it is atypically gentle, the performance consistently implies existential stakes. I’d say much the same of the honest work of Barry DeBois, who plays her husband Dan, and the sweet-voiced Jake Ziman, who plays her son Gabe. I usually cringe at the doctor scenes, but Devin DeSantis, one of Chicago’s leading theatrical vocalists, roots them very well.

In the crucial closing moments of the piece, wherein daughter Natalie (Angel Alzeidan) has to accept her mother as a flawed but loving soul, the emotional trajectory is still a tad insecure: Alzeidan has summoned all of her character’s anger and frustration but less of what this young woman truly needs, even though she might think otherwise. It’s very difficult: I’d say that’s a work in progress.

But for fans of this score, and there are many of us enthusiasts, this staging is very rewarding. And there’s also a lovely clarity of what Corti is trying to do here: I watched many of the people around me, people who clearly did not know this piece, lean into the material and travel with him, even privileging the journey over the destination.

Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.

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Review: “Next to Normal” (3 stars)

When: Through Sept. 3

Where: The Paramount’s Copley Theatre, 8 E. Galena Boulevard, Aurora

Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes

Tickets: $40-$55 at 630-896-6666 and paramountaurora.com