The Heart Off-Broadway Reviews

*CRITIC'S PICK* “The Heart,” which opened Thursday at the Laura Pels Theater, is something of a miracle: a full-steam-ahead, funny, gut-wrenching show about death and life held aloft by a superb ensemble that includes Joaquina Kalukango and Heidi...

*CRITIC'S PICK* “The Heart,” which opened Thursday at the Laura Pels Theater, is something of a miracle: a full-steam-ahead, funny, gut-wrenching show about death and life held aloft by a superb ensemble that includes Joaquina Kalukango and Heidi Blickenstaff. Crucially, the show’s bold musical choices make Christopher Ashley’s Roundabout Theater Company production feel bracingly fresh.

Performed and staged with Broadway-level excellence, The Heart is a remarkable musical drama well worth seeing. It would not be at all surprising should this exciting production move to a larger theater sometime in the future at higher ticket prices....

Performed and staged with Broadway-level excellence, The Heart is a remarkable musical drama well worth seeing. It would not be at all surprising should this exciting production move to a larger theater sometime in the future at higher ticket prices.

The Heart isn't all seamless incisions. Side effects include mawkishness when the show dips into an inspirational-PSA tone. The electrifying music can overexert itself, and spurts of Gareth Owen’s sound design drown out voices. And Mandy Moore’s ...

The Heart isn't all seamless incisions. Side effects include mawkishness when the show dips into an inspirational-PSA tone. The electrifying music can overexert itself, and spurts of Gareth Owen’s sound design drown out voices. And Mandy Moore’s lively choreography swings big but lands as imprecise and curiously withdrawn from effectively theatricalizing a transplant surgery. And yet, so much of the musical thunders with intoxicating rhythms that can’t be missed.

Director Christopher Ashley brings a clinical polish to the production, which boasts a sleek set by Robert Brill that exploits Amanda Zieve’s lighting and Lucy Mackinnon’s video projections to seamlessly shift from hospital monitors to a dance cl...

Director Christopher Ashley brings a clinical polish to the production, which boasts a sleek set by Robert Brill that exploits Amanda Zieve’s lighting and Lucy Mackinnon’s video projections to seamlessly shift from hospital monitors to a dance club to a gamer’s Twitch screen to the ocean where Simon rides a digital sound wave atop an elevated platform that doubles as a surgical table. Curiously, Mandy Moore’s choreography consists mostly of coordinated walking with sharp turns or basic club moves performed in bloblike clumps. The Heart has the look and feel of a show that drives forward with narrative momentum, but there’s a hollowness to the material that could benefit from a consult with a skilled cardiologist. For all the propulsive energy and antiseptic precision, what’s lacking, sad to say, is heart.

Director Christopher Ashley (Come From Away) and choreographer Mandy Moore smartly navigate the fast-paced character swaps with operating-room precision, supported by design elements that reflect the medical advancements that make such transplants po...

Director Christopher Ashley (Come From Away) and choreographer Mandy Moore smartly navigate the fast-paced character swaps with operating-room precision, supported by design elements that reflect the medical advancements that make such transplants possible. You’ll need to suspend your disbelief when Blickenstaff, a fantastic vocalist, belts out the 11 o’clock number, “Too Young,” while sporting nasal tubing tethered to a portable oxygen pack. But The Heart’s final moment, when internal defibrillator paddles shock Simon’s heart into its second chapter, will leave you breathless, too.

While I’m very fond of “The Heart,” there is the occasional arrhythmia, usually when Kait Kerrigan’s book forces in some random humor. The instinct to lighten up a serious topic is the right one, but some of the jokes are just a tad too chees...

While I’m very fond of “The Heart,” there is the occasional arrhythmia, usually when Kait Kerrigan’s book forces in some random humor. The instinct to lighten up a serious topic is the right one, but some of the jokes are just a tad too cheesy and stick out like a gangrene thumb.