More than 15 years after its Broadway debut, the rock musical Next to Normal still has a can’t-look-away urgency in its portrait of a family trying to hold itself together amid grief, memory, and mental illness. And Bowtie Productions is bringing the Pulitzer Prize-winning work back to Toronto audiences in a chamber revival directed by Anthony Goncharov, Artistic Director of Icarus Theatre.
Speaking warmly and candidly over Zoom between rehearsal sessions, Goncharov reflected thoughtfully on both the emotional demands of the piece and the surprising way the production came into his life. “This is one of my favorite shows of all time,” he smiles. “I actually was in my head wanting, thinking, ‘well, when am I going to be able to program this?’ And then when I found out [Bowtie] had their hands on it, I was so sad. I mean, obviously I was happy they were doing it. But I didn’t want to shoehorn myself into the conversation and be like, ‘Hey, can I get involved?’” So when Bowtie Productions approached him after seeing Icarus Theatre’s acclaimed production of Oleanna last summer, it was a big and “very welcome surprise.”
This pairing is more than simple serendipity. It makes strong artistic sense because, unlike many large-scale musicals driven by spectacle and choreography, Next to Normal is deeply rooted in the kind of psychological realism that Icarus Theatre is known for. Unlike a conventional musical, Next to Normal is “almost entirely scene work,” an intensely human drama underscored by music. “There are almost no moments of choreography, or hyper-stylized staging, or anything like that,” he explains. “There are, obviously, some moments where it deals with pretty grand and sometimes fantastical views that heighten things, but overall it’s just about a family dealing with this mental health condition that the mother has.”
With book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey and music by Tom Kitt, Next to Normal follows the Goodman family as they struggle with the long aftershocks of trauma and loss. The mother in question, Diana (April Rebecca), has spent 16 years battling bipolar disorder and delusional episodes, while her husband Dan (Taylor Long) attempts to preserve a sense of stability. Their daughter Natalie (Aveleigh Keller) is wrestling with her own anxieties and desire for independence. Meanwhile, Natalie’s supportive boyfriend Henry (Samel Sunil), the enigmatic Gabe (Christopher Lyon), and Diana’s doctors Dr. Madden and Dr. Fine (Mich Anger) also become entangled in the family’s fragile equilibrium.
Part of what draws Goncharov to the piece is how closely it reflects the complicated real-life realities of care, resilience, and survival. He first encountered the musical early in his life while supporting someone close to him who lived with experiences similar to Diana’s. “As I was learning this person and how they operated—and how I could be supportive—this piece of art came along in my life that was literally about the same thing,” he recalls. “It had a profound effect on me then.”
What has stayed with him over the years since is the musical’s understanding of how people adapt to hardship. During our conversation, Goncharov repeatedly returned to the resilience people discover in impossible situations that are “as difficult as what Diana goes through in the show.” “Especially as I’ve grown older, and life has come around, and people have come and gone — I’m Ukrainian as well, and I have family that are dealing with a war situation. I’ve seen all these people come to some level of normalcy and just be able to get on with their lives. It’s something that really amazes me about people in general.”
Very few pieces of art, he feels, are “able to capture that resilience that people have.” And the idea of resilience has characterized his experience in the rehearsal hall. Goncharov describes a process rooted in close textual analysis and actor collaboration, which allows discoveries to emerge organically, rather than imposes rigid concepts from above. Even after years of admiring the musical, he has found the rehearsal process continuing to reveal new layers, which are more a function of the text’s resilience than the company’s innovation. “Every small detail has been thought about,” he says. “Every time I feel like I have an original idea in this rehearsal room, I look back at what the text says, and these little things in the music—and I just see that, ‘oh, it was right there the whole time.’ It was just kind of waiting for me to find it.”
His staging aims to preserve the ordinariness of the family’s world, rather than heighten it into melodrama. “The really important thing for me in telling this story was making sure that all of the scene work that we did, and all of the staging that we’ve done, feels like a family that’s just in their house, or someone who’s out taking a class—these very normal environments,” he explains. The musical certainly ventures into emotionally and psychologically heightened territory, but Goncharov has grounded the production firmly in recognizable human behaviour. “I try to strip things to the bare minimum in terms of what is actually happening, and then”, he smiles broadly, “add in a bit of the sublime, or that extra little bit.”
The intimacy of Native Earth’s Aki Studio should amplify that effect. Bowtie Productions has built a reputation for immersive and emotionally charged musical theatre, with past productions including Falsettos, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and Tick, Tick… Boom!. Goncharov sees Next to Normal as a natural successor: “Bowtie has had a history of doing musicals that deal with serious and real themes,” he says, “and approaching them with a certain level of maturity and grace.” The director also believes that the musical speaks urgently to the present moment. “It’s a reminder of how resilient we can be, and how much good can come from looking at yourself, and looking at the people around you, and being honest with yourself—and taking care of each other,” he says. “I think Next to Normal really shows us more than anything that if we let that veil down, and we have some compassion for the people around us, that things can be a lot better.”
This spirit of care and camaraderie extends from the page to the stage to the world behind it. Goncharov speaks glowingly about the creative team, including choreographer and associate direction by the Toronto Theatre Critics Award-winning Meredith Shedden, music director Michael Ippolito, costume and props designer Emily Anne Corcoran, lighting designer Niall Durcan, and sound designers Alison Starkey and Erik Richards. “They’re doing really great work on this show,” he enthuses, before gushing about the actors: “Everyone in our cast is really stellar, and fits their role really well. They’ve been working so hard, and have put so much trust in both me and the other members of the creative team.”
Goncharov and the entire Bowtie Productions team’s collective trust, care and resilience will soon meet audiences at Native Earth Performing Arts’ Aki Studio. Expect not to be able to look away.
Next to Normal runs May 30 to June 6, 2026, Tickets and additional information are available at nativeearth.ca.
© Arpita Ghosal, Sesaya Arts Magazine 2026
