Next To Normal is an intimate exploration of family and loss. At its heart is Diana Goodman, a suburban wife and mother living with bipolar disorder and haunted by her past. Donmar Artistic Director Michael Longhurst directs this powerful rock musical about a far‑from‑average family.
On the larger canvas, director Michael Longhurst allows the weight of betrayal, the exultation of connection and the soaring jubilation of familial happiness to bump into the top of the rafters. The material itself still has shortcomings – its treatment of mental illness feels more slapdash and non-specific than it needs to be (highlighting the musical is already showing its age against the backdrop of a fast-paced subject matter). Even so, it may have been marvellous at the Donmar, but it’s a must-see now.
The creative elements here are impossible to enthuse about: lightweight characters, flimsy music, forgettable costumes. The house they occupy looks like a student flat designed by a bored computer. And yet, the crowd loved it.
| 2008 | Off-Broadway |
Original Off-Broadway Production Off-Broadway |
| 2009 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
| 2010 | US Tour |
1st National Tour US Tour |
| 2010 | US Tour |
2nd National Tour US Tour |
| 2013 |
Weston Playhouse Production |
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| 2020 | Washington, DC (Regional) |
Kennedy Center Broadway Center Stage Production Washington, DC (Regional) |
| 2024 | West End |
West End |
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