STAGE WEST: "The Heart" at La Jolla Playhouse

Heartbeats meet club beats in La Jolla Playhouse's "The Heart."                          Photo by Rich Soublet II

            Besides being the organ that pumps life through the body, the heart can be the ultimate metaphor, evocative as it is of the most profound human emotions. That’s no exception in a world-premiere musical at La Jolla Playhouse titled … “The Heart.” It is seen and unseen. Heard and unheard. But ever-present.
            The source material is a 2013 work of medical fiction, “Reparer les Vivants” (Mend the Heart) written by Maylis de Kerangal and later adapted into a film (“Heal the Living”) co-written by its director, Katell Quillevere, and Gilles Taurand. Neither is likely to be familiar to American audiences. No matter.
          With a bit of localizing to San Diego, the premise of De Kerangal’s novel is the same as “The Heart,” which was written by musical-theater playwright Kait Kerrigan: A teenager is brain-dead after an automobile accident and his heart is sought after for organ donation. Onstage, the 19-year-old is a surfer named Simon Lamar, a regular among the waves at Tourmaline Beach. A fictitious “San Diego Medical Center” becomes the flashpoint for a life-and-death decision that will have ramifications long after Simon is gone.
          The Playhouse has an A-team behind this bold and enterprising production: Christopher Ashley directs; Emmy nominated (for the 2025 Oscars telecast) Mandy Moore choreographs. The music and lyrics are by Anne and Ian Eisendrath.
          Yes, that music. The Eisendraths imagined a soundscape in which the hospital-monitored beeps of the human heart, normally in the 60-or-so-beats-per-minute range, are paralleled by the 120 bpm of an electronic music track. It’s an ingenious notion. In reality, “The Heart’s” score is more conventional musical-theater pop and ballads than is it an EDM showcase. Most of its 15 songs (“Strike the Match” is a notable exception) would function just fine without any electronic backdrop or shading. I wanted more. “The Heart” is at its exciting, immersive best when the EDM beats are blasting and the actors are moving kinetically around the stage, when the theater momentarily transforms itself into a techno dance club. (Max McKenna is underutilized as Juliette, Simon’s club-DJ girlfriend, though she does get to preside over a few of these high-octane moments.)
          This heart-racing effect, the ambient composite of hospital, ocean and dance club, is achieved with collaborative technical expertise from scenic designer Robert Brill, lighting designer Amanda Zieve, Gareth Owen’s sound design, Lucy Mckinnon’s video design and of course Moore’s choreography.
          Most of “The Heart” unfolds in a hospital setting, where Simon’s (Zachary Noah Piser) estranged parents (Kenita Miller and Jason Tam) are faced with the agonizing question of whether to allow their son’s organs, including his heart, to be harvested, and they have only hours to decide. A persistent transplant facilitator (Lincoln Clauss) doesn’t exactly inspire magnanimity or sacrifice, while the doctor in charge (Heidi Blickenstaff in one of multiple roles) is blunt and all business. Only an ICU nurse (Bre Jackson) who sings warmly and passionately in the presence of the brain-dead Simon (and is promptly scolded for doing so) provides comfort. “Right Now” is a stirring number.
          It should be said that the nurses and doctors of the hospital are portrayed realistically  (sadly, I know from my own hospital experiences)  – from the dedication and selfless care provided by nurses to an ultra-cocky transplant surgeon like Dr. Breva (Paul Alexander Nolan, redeeming himself for having starred in the Playhouse’s “Escape to Margaritaville”).
          “The Heart” takes place over a 24-hour period, the last part of which concerns the recipient of Simon’s heart, a woman of 50 named Claire (Blickenstaff again) who is partying hard at what she presumes will be her last birthday bash  (“Nobody Gets Out Alive”) when the call comes that there’s a donation waiting for her.
          Blickenstaff is the rightful major presence of this show, a Broadway veteran and a returnee to the Playhouse where she appeared in “Freaky Friday” eight years ago. (Interestingly, New Village Arts in Carlsbad is currently staging “{title of show]”, Hunter Bell and Jeff Bowen’s DIY stage musical in which Blickenstaff was a collaborator; she played herself when the show ran Off Broadway a decade ago.)
          For an 80-minute-long affair, “The Heart” ventures into deeply rooted and intense facets of human existence, posing difficult questions and addressing doubts and faith, not to mention the penetrating mystery of the physical heart itself, its preciousness and life’s preciousness too.
          That’s a lot of ground to cover, even at EDM speed. Its artistic ambitions are high, its intentions noble. If it didn’t touch me on a visceral level, maybe it’s only me being protective of my own heart.

          “The Heart” runs through Sept. 28 at La Jolla Playhouse’s Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre, UCSD.