Ninety minutes without pause. At Roundabout Theatre Company’s Laura Pels Theatre, the off-Broadway musical “The Heart” uses electronic dance music to dramatize a race against time that unfolds in a hospital setting. The show’s score, composed by Anne Eisendrath and Ian Eisendrath, pulses with EDM beats that echo the urgency of a life-or-death organ transplant.
The audience meets DJ Steve Aorta as the musical begins, setting a tone more club than clinic. It’s a bold choice. The story tracks a 19-year-old surfer named Simon, played by Nick T. Daly, who is left brain dead following a car crash. Simon’s soul remains onstage throughout, a constant reminder that the organs about to be donated once belonged to a person with a life and dreams.
Simon’s parents, Marianne and Sean, played by Joaquina Kalukango and Jason Tam, arrive at the hospital clinging to hope. Their transplant coordinator, Thomas, portrayed by Lincoln Clauss, delivers the harsh truth with calm empathy: their son will not wake. Clauss’s counter-tenor voice carries through the electronic soundscape with surprising clarity, balancing the clinical and the emotional.
Once the family consents to donation, the musical shifts into high gear. The story moves swiftly from Simon’s death to the surgical team racing to transplant his heart into a recipient whose life depends on it. Director Christopher Ashley, known for “Come From Away,” crafts an ensemble that fluidly inhabits multiple roles. Heidi Blickenstaff appears as Claire, a doctor and mother who learns she will receive a new heart on her 50th birthday.
The clinical setting contrasts with moments of raw emotion. Kalukango’s performance as Marianne captures a mother’s agony and reluctant acceptance. The Eisendraths give her songs like “I Will Never Let You Go” and “Drift Away,” which blend EDM with traditional musical theatre styles. Kalukango’s delivery is powerful and restrained, revealing depths beyond her previous work in “Paradise Square.”
Nurse Cordelia, played by Bre Jackson, offers another layer of humanity. She speaks to Simon as if he can still hear her, defying medical advice. Jackson’s voice adds warmth amid the pulsing beats. Her presence underscores the tension between clinical detachment and personal grief.
The choreography by Mandy Moore is angular and precise, reflecting the sterile environment and the urgency of the medical procedures. Characters move with a linear, almost mechanical rhythm, likened to a game of Pac-Man. This contrasts with the explosive bursts of feeling that emerge, particularly from Kalukango’s character.
Not all moments land smoothly. Kait Kerrigan’s book inserts occasional humor that can feel out of place. The character Dr. Breva, played by Drew Gehling, provides comic relief but also appears in a strange scene involving a petty argument before surgery. The moment interrupts the narrative flow and feels disconnected from the intensity surrounding it.
Sound design by Gareth Owen is layered and immersive. The volume swells during the final company number, “Mend The Living,” a cathartic piece that captures the musical’s rapid pace and emotional weight. The show concludes with a single heartbeat echoing through the theatre, a reminder of life’s fragility and the power of organ donation.
“The Heart” will transfer to Broadway, carrying with it the pulse of electronic music and the urgency of its subject. The production’s blend of clinical precision and human emotion suggests an unusual but effective approach to telling a story about mortality and hope.
According to NY POST.
