NEXT TO NORMAL Original Broadway Cast: Where Are They Now?
BroadwayWorld looks back on the original Broadway cast of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey musical.
It’s been 17 years since Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey’s Pulitzer Prize-winning musical Next to Normal opened on Broadway on April 15, 2009.
When the Michael Greif-directed production began performances at the Booth Theatre, it starred Alice Ripley as Diana Goodman, J. Robert Spencer as Dan Goodman, Jennifer Damiano as Natalie Goodman, Aaron Tveit as Gabe Goodman, Adam Chanler-Berat as Henry and Louis Hobson as Dr. Madden/Dr. Fine.
The musical, about a mother dealing with bipolar disorder, hasn’t been on Broadway since. However, it most recently had a celebrated run on the West End starring recent Tony Award winner Caissie Levy as the Goodman family matriarch.
BroadwayWorld looks at where the original 2009 Broadway cast is now.
Alice Ripley
By the time Alice Ripley was starring as the complicated Diana Goodman in Next to Normal, she had already been nominated for a Tony Award for her performance as Violet Hilton in Side Show. Ripley won the Tony for her performance as Diana at the 63rd annual Tony Awards, and the actress eventually returned to Broadway alongside Next to Normal costar Jennifer Damiano in American Psycho.
In a 2016 interview ahead of American Psycho’s opening, Ripley admitted that she “didn’t really know what I was getting into” with Next to Normal. “I thought I already knew how much I could take because I did Side Show, and that was a huge challenge — huge physical challenge — so going into Next to Normal, I was like, ‘I could do this.’ It’s not the same thing, though; [Next to Normal was] like opening Pandora’s Box. That show is different because you’re dealing with psyche. You’re manufacturing grief every day, and after a while, your body starts to believe it.”
The actress has since performed in concerts across New York City and released music with her band, RIPLEY. In 2022, Ripley reprised the role of Diana in a 60-minute, immersive production of Next to Normal at the Festival Grec de Barcelona in Spain alongside original costar J. Robert Spencer.
Jennifer Damiano
Though Jennifer Damiano was 16 years old when Next to Normal took shape Off-Broadway and 17 when it transferred to the Booth, she had already made her Main Stem debut in Spring Awakening. Her performance as angst-ridden teenager Natalie earned her a Tony nomination before she left the production in July 2010 (she was replaced by standby Meghann Fahy, who went on to star in the HBO hit series The White Lotus, among many other projects).
After Damiano’s run in Next to Normal, she originated the role of Mary Jane Watson in the musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, which had the longest preview period in Broadway history. Following her departure from the production in November 2011, she did other theatrical work — including the Off-Broadway production of Venice — before returning to Broadway in American Psycho.
Damiano was part of the cast of the 2020 Off-Broadway production of Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, which costarred her now-husband Michael Zegen. She married the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel star in January 2025, and the two welcomed daughter Oona Rose Zegen nearly a year later on January 3, 2026. In celebration of Zegen’s first Father’s Day, Damiano shared a photo of their family on Instagram, writing, “@michaelzegen is Dad. Love you so much. Happy first Father’s Day from me and our little strawberry girl 🍓🩵.” She released her EP I’m So Sorry, Mary Jane in June 2025.
Aaron Tveit
Aaron Tveit already had a handful of credits to his name by the time he was starring as Gabe in Next to Normal on Broadway. He briefly left the production to star as Frank Abagnale Jr. in Catch Me If You Can during its out-of-town run at Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theatre in the summer of 2009 — and reprised his performance on Broadway when Catch Me If You Can transferred to the Neil Simon Theatre in 2011.
For a time, Tveit kept busy with film and television work, appearing in Gossip Girl, Ugly Betty, the 2010 movie Howl opposite James Franco, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Graceland and more. He starred as Enjolras in the star-studded 2012 film adaptation of Les Misérables.
Tveit made his U.K. stage debut in the Menier Chocolate Factory’s production of Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins, playing John Wilkes Booth in 2014. Two years later, he starred as Danny Zuko in Fox’s Grease Live! opposite Julianne Hough as Sandy and Vanessa Hudgens as Rizzo.
In Tveit’s return to Broadway, he played Christian in the stage adaptation of Moulin Rouge!; however, the production was put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which temporarily shut down Broadway. The 74th Tony Awards, which celebrated the 2019-20 Broadway season, were significantly pared down due to the effects of the coronavirus, and that year, Tveit was the only person nominated for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical — making history as the sole nominee. Due to the lack of Broadway openings, the only other performer who would’ve been eligible in Tveit’s category was Chris McCarrell, who starred in The Lightning Thief. Tveit still needed 60 percent of the total ballots cast to take home the trophy. Upon winning the award, he said in his speech, “This means more to me than I can ever say.”
Tveit, who was also seen on Broadway in Sweeney Todd and in the TV series Schmigadoon!, most recently starred as Freddie Trumper in the Broadway revival of Chess. He is married to actress and dancer Ericka Hunter Yang, with whom he shares a daughter.
J. Robert Spencer
Before J. Robert Spencer played loyal husband Dan Goodman opposite Alice Ripley’s troubled Diana, the two were both part of the 1997 production of Side Show, in which Spencer was a swing. In a 2009 interview, he said, “I learned so much from watching Alice. I had always thought musical theater was very grandiose and over the top, but she could do so much with absolute stillness. She just captivated me. Now that I’m with her on stage, I feel like I’m right in the zone with her because of the journey I’ve had artistically over the past 10 years, as well as where I am as a husband and a father.”
Spencer, who previously originated the role of Nick Massi in Jersey Boys, received a 2009 Tony Award nomination for his work in Broadway’s Next to Normal. After leaving the production, he went on to perform in other shows, including the 2014 New York Musical Theatre Festival production of Bayonets of Angst, for which he received a New York Musical Theatre Festival Award for Excellence for Outstanding Individual Performance. He also formed his own company, 7 Spencer Productions, for which he produces, writes, directs and acts in films.
The actor, who shares son Geddy and daughter Raine with actress Jenny-Lynn Suckling, returned to Next to Normal for the 60-minute, immersive production in Spain alongside Ripley. He documented his time in Spain via his Instagram, saying in one video, “This is more than just a fantastic show — it really heals people. How do you make a masterpiece out of a masterpiece? And this immersive version is that.” The proud father of two shares photos and videos of his children on Instagram and keeps fans up to date on his solo performances and new music.
Adam Chanler-Berat
Adam Chanler-Berat made his Broadway debut in Next to Normal, reprising his performance as lovestruck stoner Henry from the musical’s Off-Broadway debut at Second Stage Theatre and out-of-town run at Arena Stage. He stayed with the show through its closing performance on January 16, 2011.
Following Next to Normal, Chanler-Berat was cast in the role of Boy in Peter and the Starcatcher, which transferred from Off-Broadway’s New York Theatre Workshop to Broadway’s Brooks Atkinson Theatre in early 2012. He returned to Broadway as Nino in Amélie and as Dauphin, Charles VII in the play Saint Joan. He has also racked up a handful of Off-Broadway and regional credits, including Rent, Fly By Night, Assassins, Sunday in the Park With George, A New Brain, The Jonathan Larson Project, Mother Russia and more.
Chanler-Berat went on to play teacher Jordan Glassberg in the Gossip Girl reboot on HBO Max. Despite his success and busy work schedule — with The New York Times calling him “one of his generation’s most in-demand voices” — he told the publication he’s just always striving to do good work, admitting: “How do I come in and not mess things up, or get in anyone’s way?”
Louis Hobson
Louis Hobson made his Broadway debut playing Dr. Madden and Dr. Fine in Next to Normal, remaining with the production until it closed. Following his time in the musical, he appeared on Broadway in The People in the Picture, Bonnie & Clyde and Leap of Faith.
Originally from Puyallup, Washington, Hobson has done a lot of theater work in Seattle, where he also became artistic director of Balagan Theater before the company shuttered in 2014. According to his Instagram, he is very actively producing theater these days, working on The Hunger Games: On Stage in London, John Proctor Is the Villain and the Arena Stage production of Damn Yankees (which is slated to return to Broadway in 2027).
In celebration of John Proctor Is the Villain’s closing on Broadway, Hobson wrote on Instagram, “Producing is always such a roll of the dice, but the minute I read the script and saw this team that was assembled we knew that it was a gamble worth making. Could not be more proud to be supporting new theater, and new voices on Broadway, and such a Vibrant and powerful story.”
Photo Credit: Walter McBride
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