Furnish told the London Times that the play is "an astonishing, emotionally compelling piece of writing and a moving, fantastic piece of theater that the younger generation needs to see. Elton and I are focused on making sure that they do."

Furnish said the original production "shamed" pop star John into doing more to help in the fight against AIDS, including creating the Elton John AIDS Foundation two decades ago. He added, "Elton and I would both like to make the production as widely seen as possible, and that includes helping fund and mount future versions of it wherever we can...AIDS treatment and prevention budgets are being cut in the US and there is not enough sex education in schools. Governments in the US, UK, everywhere, could and should be doing more to fight AIDS...I knew that fear [at the beginning of the AIDS crisis], and seeing it on stage was very upsetting. It also shows the beginnings of smashing that fear and the power of gay men harnessed by uniting."

"The story of a city in denial," The Normal Heart, according press notes state, "unfolds like a real-life political thriller — as a tight-knit group of friends refuses to let doctors, politicians and the press bury the truth of an unspoken epidemic behind a wall of silence. First produced by Joseph Papp at New York's Public Theater, the play was a critical sensation and a seminal moment in theater history. So ahead of its time was this play that many of the core issues it addresses — including gay marriage, the healthcare system and, of course, AIDS — are just as relevant today as they were when it first premiered."