Roundabout has released the first production photographs of The Heart, its new musical at the Laura Pels Theatre, and the staging they reveal is built out of light: an operating room framed in glowing blue panels, a wall of pink pixels, and a pulse line that sweeps across the stage.
The pictures are by Joan Marcus, and Roundabout shared them on October 13 with a line that sums up the evening's scale: "Nine actors, dozens of characters, a pulse-pounding 90 minutes." The production began previews on Thursday, October 8, as we reported ahead of the first performance, and plays a limited run through Sunday, December 6.
The source is Maylis de Kerangal's 2014 novel Réparer les vivants, in which a young surfer's death sets off 24 hours in which two families and a hospital team are bound together by a single heart. Kait Kerrigan wrote the book and additional lyrics, and Anne Eisendrath and Ian Eisendrath wrote the music and lyrics. Christopher Ashley, Roundabout's artistic director, directs, with choreography by Mandy Moore.
Joaquina Kalukango and Jason Tam. Photo by Joan Marcus.
Much of what the photographs capture is the design. Robert Brill's set is a bare, reflective floor inside a rounded frame, and Lucy Mackinnon's video turns its back wall from surgical tiling into a city at night or a field of light. Costumes are by Sarafina Bush, lighting by Amanda Zieve and sound by Gareth Owen.
Nick T. Daly. Photo by Joan Marcus.
The company is Heidi Blickenstaff as Claire, Lincoln Clauss as Thomas Driscoll, Nick T. Daly as Simon Lamar, Drew Gehling as Dr. Breva, Bre Jackson as Cordelia Owl, Tony winner Joaquina Kalukango as Marianne Lamar, Max McKenna as Juliette Brooks, Wren Rivera as Marthe and Jason Tam as Sean Lamar.
Nick T. Daly, Max McKenna and the company. Photo by Joan Marcus.
The Heart runs 90 minutes with no intermission at the Laura Pels Theatre, in the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre at 111 West 46th Street. Tickets are available on our The Heart page.
