By Joe Contreras, Latin Life Denver Media

Diana’s son, Gabriel, Ethan Peterson, died as an infant, yet he exists as a teenager. At least in his mother’s mind he does. She struggles to cope with her grief going from emotional highs and lows for years. Diana Goodman, Alena Watters, has become delusional, a manic depressant who keeps seeing her son alive and well. She has developed a severe bipolar mental illness.

Diana lives is suburbia, her husband is an architect and along with her teen daughter they appear to be the perfect family. But, they are far from that as each day is an emotional challenge.

Her husband, Dan, James D. Sasser, and daughter Natalie, played by Angelica Concepcion, love her deeply and unconditionally. They support Diana as she seeks treatment after treatment in her quest to get well, to get better, to get, next to normal.

But, they too begin to suffer and struggle with their own emotional challenges. They are becoming collateral damage. Natalie is overshadowed by the ghost of her dead brother, Natalie feels she must be perfect (in music and academics) to get attention, leading to extreme anxiety. She tries to be the “adult” or the stable one in a deeply dysfunctional home, which causes her to repress her own emotional needs.  As her mother’s condition worsens, Natalie’s anxiety causes her to self-destruct, turning to drugs and pushing away her boyfriend, Henry, Aidan Joyce, mirroring her mother’s erratic behavior.

The husband, Dan buries his own pain to remain “the strong one”. Although loyal, he is emotionally broken and tired. He realizes he has been living in his own form of delusion by ignoring the past. He must face the fact that he has not mourned their son and is, in his own way, as trapped as Diana is. As her caregiver he has lost sense of who he is as a person.

Through a rock music score, Next To Normal, currently playing at the DCPA’s Wolf Theatre through May 3, 2026 tells this families’ story as they work to get a life that is tolerable and maybe someday, happy.

A loved one’s mental illness is something many families deal with privately. It’s personal, emotionally draining and no one else needs to know about it. How does a family deal with someone who has developed symptoms they don’t understand.  

The bestselling self-help book, I’m OK–You’re OK  by Dr. Thomas A. Harris, focusing on Transactional Analysis (TA) to improve relationships and mental health published more than 50 years ago may no longer hold up to today’s challenges.

The National Library of Medicine reports that more than 70 percent of homeless people have a mental illness. Their families simply discarded them. Many people don’t realize how pervasive mental illness is. The World Health Organization states that more than 970 million people, one in eight suffer from mental health disorders. Schizophrenia, anxiety, panic or bipolar disorder. Some like, attention deficit hyperactivity (ADHD) disorder start a young age, from 3 to 17 with onset of the disorder usually occurring at seven years old. See below for a brief overview of these disorders.

Diana is fortunate that her family loves her and wants to get her help to deal with her condition. With their support she tries everything from to talk therapy, psychiatric treatments, including intense medication regimens (referred to as “psychopharmacology”) and later, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), to try and manage her hallucinations.

How well does all this treatment work is questionable. The electro shock therapy seems to help with her delusions but have caused her to lose her memory and eventually her husband as she is determined to find her own way through life.

Just as bipolar episodes are filled with dramatic emotional up and downs so is this production. The audience laughs and cries almost at the same time. Next To Normal is quite the experience. You may never see mental illness quite the same way again. You may question what it means to be normal.

Director Nancy Keystone, states in the productions study guide, “As someone who has never really felt normal in my life, I’m not sure what that would that would actually look like.” Likewise, I have often stated everyone has to be a little crazy just to be normal.

The winner of three Tony Awards and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Next to Normal, directed by Nancy Keystone, music by Tom Kitt and Book & Lyrics by Brian Yorkey plays the Wolf Theatre through May 3, 2026.

denvercenter.org is the only official ticket source for DCPA tickets. 

STATISTICS ABOUT BPD & OTHER RELATED DISORDERS

According to the World Health Organization,
approximately 970 million people — or 1 in 8 —
lived with mental health disorders as of 2019. More
recent data from the National Institute of Mental
Health indicates that, in 1022, approximately 59.3
million Americans — 23.1% of the US population —
experienced some mental illness.
BIPOLAR DISORDER
• Bipolar disorder affects approximately 2.8%
of the US population, though the National
Alliance on Mental Illness believes the number
may be as high as 5.9%.
• It is estimated that between 40-85% of those
diagnosed with BPD will attempt suicide while
8-10% will succeed.
• Approximately 40% of those diagnosed
with BPD were incorrectly diagnosed with a
different mental health disorder initially.
• With proper treatment, 40-50% of individuals
may no longer meet diagnostic criteria within
two years, and 85-93% within ten years.
SCHIZOPHRENIA
• A psychotic disorder wherein an individual
becomes disconnected from reality
• Approximately 0.25-0.64% of US adults have
schizophrenia.
• It occurs equally in men and women, though
men often experience earlier onset, typically in
their late teens to early 20s.
• Schizophrenia is a chronic, severe disorder
requiring lifelong treatment and support.
ANXIETY DISORDER
• A condition characterized by intense,
persistent feelings of fear
• Approximately 19.1% of US adults have an
anxiety disorder.
• Anxiety disorders frequently co-occur with
depressive disorders or substance abuse.
• The median age of onset is around 21.5 years,
with many experiencing symptoms earlier.
PANIC DISORDER
• An anxiety disorder characterized by intense,
recurrent, and unexpected panic attacks
• Approximately 2.7% of the adult US
population experiences panic disorder each
year.
• Panic disorder typically develops in early
adulthood with a median onset age of 24.
• Roughly one-third of individuals with panic
disorder develop agoraphobia, a condition in
which the individual becomes afraid of being
in any place or situation where escape might
be difficult or help unavailable in the event of
a panic attack.
ATTENTION DEFICIT HYPERACTIVITY
DISORDER (ADHD)
• A common neurotype characterized by
inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity
• ADHD is one of the most common mental
disorders in children and in adolescents.
• ADHD affects six million children in the US
between ages 3 to 17.
• ADHD usually becomes evident in pre-school
or early elementary years. The median age
of onset of ADHD is 7 years, although the
disorder can persist into adolescence and
occasionally into adulthood.
Original source material compiled by Alex
Albritton and Kayla McCrary updated with
current statistics from verywellmind.com and
southdenvertherapy.com.

Winner of three Tony Awards and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Next to Normal deploys wry humor and brutal honesty to explore how a family navigates their darkest hours — and finds the path to new beginnings.

On the surface, Diana has it all — a house in the suburbs, a successful architect husband, and two sharp-witted teens. But beneath this perfect facade is a nuclear family on the verge of exploding, doing everything they can to make it through another day in one piece. Propelled by an unforgettable pop-rock score, this is an honest and unflinching ride through the complexities of mental health and unconditional love.

This groundbreaking musical is a story of love and resilience that hits close to home, making you laugh, cry, and reflect on the struggles that shape us along the way.

In the musical Next to Normal, the character Diana Goodman suffers from bipolar disorder with delusional episodes, stemming from the trauma of losing her infant son. She is haunted by hallucinations of her son, Gabe, who appears as a teenager throughout the show. 

Key details about Diana’s condition and experiences include:

• Mental Health Struggles: Diagnosed as bipolar depressive, she experiences manic highs and deep lows, often described as a “hidden” mental illness masked by suburban life.
• Hallucinations: She sees and interacts with her son, Gabe, who died years prior, leading to a distorted sense of reality.
• Medical Treatment: Throughout Act I and II, she undergoes various psychiatric treatments, including intense medication regimens (referred to as “psychopharmacology”) and later, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), to try and manage her hallucinations.
• Impact on Family: Her condition profoundly affects her relationship with her husband, Dan, and her daughter, Natalie, causing immense strain, feelings of invisibility, and disruption within the home.