HEAT Industry Reading to Feature David Iacono, Jack Dylan Grazer
David Iacono, Owen Painter, and Laurie Hernandez join the cast of Makaio Toft's new work.
Producers have announced an invitation-only reading of HEAT, a new play by Makaio Toft, directed by Mack Brown. The presentation will be held in New York City on August 21st, 2026.
Set over the course of one summer in New Haven, HEAT follows three lifelong friends as they attempt to launch a food truck in the uncertain aftermath of graduation. As grief, ambition, class, and masculinity pressurize their friendship, the play asks what happens when the people who know us best are also the people we are most afraid to outgrow.
The cast will feature Laurie Hernandez (&Juliet), David Iacono (Summer I Turned Pretty, Jurassic World), Jack Dylan Grazer (IT, Luca), and Owen Painter (Wednesday).
The creative team includes assistant director Ella Lao, stage manager Hannah Frye-Ginsberg, stage directions reader Thomas Sanders, and general management intern Jesse Mair.
Makaio Toft is a NYC-based writer and director. She holds a BFA in Dramatic Writing from NYU Tisch School of the Arts and has produced three original plays through IRT Theater's 3B Development Residency, including the first production of her play HEAT. Writing across theater and film, her work aims to make audiences laugh first and realize what they're laughing about later. 35kproductions.com
Mack Brown is a Brooklyn-based butch director. They build precise new musicals and genre-defying theatre work about misfits making miracles. Mack has developed work with Ars Nova, Roundabout, NYTW, MCC, 24 Hour Plays, Hermitage Artist Retreat, and Fault Line Theatre. They are an Ars Nova Artist in Residence for the 2025-'26 season along with their collaborators Murphy and Emerson Smith. They were the Roundabout Directing Fellow for RTC's 2022-23 season, and currently work as Lead Facilitator of the Roundabout Directors Group. Mack has been an associate and assistant director on and off Broadway and they are a recipient of the 2025 SDCF Abe Burrows Award for Assistant Directors. mack-brown.com
David Iacono is a Brooklyn-born actor and LaGuardia High School graduate known for his growing career in film and television. He starred as Xavier Dobbs in Jurassic World Rebirth and has appeared in The Summer I Turned Pretty, Dead Boy Detectives, Fear Street: Prom Queen, Cinnamon, The Flight Attendant, City on a Hill, and Hightown. His film credits also include Joker and St. Vincent. He will next star as Wes in the upcoming Better Than the Movies adaptation. Iacono is represented by UTA, Rebel Creative Group, and Vainshtein Law.
Laurie Hernandez, the two-time Olympic medal-winning gymnast, made her Broadway debut in the hit musical & Juliet, in the role of Charmion. A member of the U.S. Women's Gymnastics 'Final Five' at the 2016 Rio Olympics, Hernandez won a gold medal with the team and a silver medal on the balance beam. She is also the champion of Dancing with the Stars and has continued to build a career across television, theater, and entertainment.
Jack Dylan Grazer can most recently be seen starring in the Andrew DeYoung feature Friendship opposite Paul Rudd and Tim Robinson, which premiered at TIFF last year to great reception before being acquired by A24. Known for his lead role in Luca Guadagnino's HBO series We Are Who We Are as well as his starring roles in DC/Warner Brothers' Shazam! as well as Warner Bros' It franchises, Jack can also be heard voicing the lead role of 'Alberto' in Disney's Academy Award-nominated feature Luca. Jack also played a young Timothée Chalamet in Felix van Groeningen's Beautiful Boy and was previously named by The Hollywood Reporter as one of the top 30 stars under 18. His additional credits include the Sony feature Downtown Owl and Bill Pohlad's Dreamin' Wild. Jack can next be seen opposite Liam Neeson as the lead in FilmNation's 4 Kids Walk Into A Bank.
Owen Painter can be seen heavily recurring in The Shards, Ryan Murphy's highly anticipated FX adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis's novel of the same name. He will next be seen as the male lead opposite Kathryn Newton and Storm Reid in Roxy Sorkin's feminist thriller Hot Year. The film was produced by Wagner Entertainment and Killer Films. Owen is most known for his work in Wednesday, the global Netflix phenomenon. Painter previously starred as the younger Lucas in Hulu's Tiny Beautiful Things, and also appeared in a guest-starring role on the critically acclaimed series The Handmaid's Tale. He is represented by Gersh, Industry Entertainment, and Gang, Tyre, Ramer, Brown & Passman.
HEAT is produced by Zachary Hausman (Saturday Night Live, Like Father), Jennifer O'Grady (Like Father), and Rose Gendelman (Outside Tonight, Subway Takes).
To request an invitation, please email heatplayrsvp@gmail.com.
