Joaquina Kalukango joins THE HEART for Roundabout’s Off-Broadway run
Roundabout Theatre Company has completed the company for the Off-Broadway engagement of THE HEART, with Joaquina Kalukango joining the musical as Marianne Lamar and Heidi Blickenstaff returning as Claire. Announced on 20 August 2026, the casting confirms the performers who will take the transplant-centred work to the Laura Pels Theatre in New York for a limited season beginning in October. The update names all nine principals and four understudies, setting the company for the musical’s next production step after its 2025 La Jolla Playhouse world premiere.
The principal company also includes Lincoln Clauss as Thomas Driscoll, Nick T. Daly as Simon Lamar, Drew Gehling as Dr. Breva, Bre Jackson as Cordelia Owl, Max McKenna as Juliette Brooks, Wren Rivera as Marthe and Jason Tam as Sean Lamar. Together with Kalukango and Blickenstaff, they complete the named principal cast on Roundabout’s current production page.
A four-person understudy company completes the acting ensemble. Daniel Brackett will cover Simon and Thomas, while Gareth Keegan covers Sean, Dr. Breva and Thomas. Q. Smith covers Claire, Cordelia and Marianne, and Emily Somé covers Juliette, Cordelia and Marthe. Every principal role has at least one named cover; Thomas and Cordelia each have two.
Kalukango joins the project after receiving Tony and Drama Desk Awards for PARADISE SQUARE; she was previously nominated for a Tony for SLAVE PLAY. Blickenstaff brings continuity from the musical’s earlier stages. Her official Roundabout biography says she has been involved with THE HEART since its development and appeared in the La Jolla production.
Broadway.com’s reporting on the 2025 La Jolla Playhouse world premiere shows that six of the nine current principals are returning in the same roles: Blickenstaff, Clauss, Jackson, McKenna, Rivera and Tam. The La Jolla run played from 19 August to 21 September. For New York, Kalukango succeeds Kenita Miller as Marianne, Daly succeeds Zachary Noah Piser as Simon, and Gehling succeeds Paul Alexander Nolan as Dr. Breva.
Roundabout has not publicly detailed revisions to the book, score, orchestrations or staging since La Jolla, so the confirmed casting continuity should not be read as evidence that the production is otherwise unchanged.
THE HEART adapts Maylis de Kerangal’s 2014 novel Réparer les vivants. Its story follows two families and a medical team during the 24-hour journey surrounding a heart transplant, placing the families and clinicians within the same tightly contained period.
The documented development chronology includes a New York Stage and Film presentation on 2 and 3 August 2024. Broadway.com listed Blickenstaff, Gehling and Rivera among the publicly announced participants. Blickenstaff and Rivera can therefore be traced through the presentation, the La Jolla premiere and the coming Roundabout engagement, while Gehling links the presentation with the current New York company.
When tickets for Roundabout’s engagement went on sale on 22 July 2026, Broadway.com reported that the cast and additional creative personnel were still to be announced. The full company now listed by Roundabout is therefore a subsequent development rather than part of the earlier ticketing announcement. The updated listing also supplies the design, music-production and casting departments that remained pending in July.
THE HEART has a book and additional lyrics by Kait Kerrigan, with music and lyrics by Anne Eisendrath and Ian Eisendrath. Ian Eisendrath also provides music supervision. Christopher Ashley directs the Roundabout production, Mandy Moore choreographs and Wendy Bobbitt Cavett serves as music director.
The production team includes scenic designer Robert Brill, costume designer Sarafina Bush, lighting designer Amanda Zieve, sound designer Gareth Owen, video designer Lucy Mackinnon, and hair and wig designer Alberto ‘Albee’ Alvarado. Juan Ariza and Elin Sandberg are credited with music production. Casting is by The TRC Company, with Tara Rubin, CSA.
For Australian readers, McKenna’s participation provides the clearest local connection. Their Roundabout biography lists the SBS series WHILE THE MEN ARE AWAY, the Australian national tour of JAGGED LITTLE PILL and Sydney Theatre Company’s MURIEL’S WEDDING among their credits. Ian Eisendrath’s biography also records music supervision, arranging and conducting work on COME FROM AWAY in Australia.
Those credits establish previous Australian work, not plans for a local staging. No Australian production or tour of THE HEART has been announced. Roundabout’s engagement is Off-Broadway, and no transfer to a Broadway theatre has been announced.
The production is scheduled to begin previews on 8 October 2026 and officially open on 29 October. Performances are currently set to continue through 6 December at the Laura Pels Theatre in the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre, 111 West 46th Street. No extension beyond that date has been announced, making the first preview the next confirmed milestone.
