Oh btw, there WERE props (birthday cake, music box, sandwiches, duffle bag in “So Anyway” etc.) so not sure where the “no props” thing came from.
From memory, most songs were severely shortened (Just Another Day, Perfect for You, Better than Before, A Light in the Dark), some were full or nearly full (I Miss the Mountains, I Am the One, I Am the One (reprise), Light), and some songs were cut completely (Everything Else, I’ve Been, Song of Forgetting, Why Stay/A Promise).
There were some book changes, mostly minor. For example, the music recital in “Make Up Your Mind / Catch Me I’m Falling” was cut, as were many spoken scene intros to songs (ie. “McGyver of pot” intro scene to “Superboy and the Invisible Girl&rdquo
So I’d say the majority of the cuts come from shortened and cut songs.
The show moved so quickly. Next to Normal already packs so much into such little time (med numbness, attempted suicide, ECT, memory loss) and so to have it all go by in half the runtime is a bit strange. But it still works. It’s like we enter Diana’s brain (imagine A LOT of neuron motifs) for a 60 min roller coaster ride.