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Manhattan Theatre Club has announced complete casting for the world premiere of The Balusters, by Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winner David Lindsay-Abaire, directed by Tony Award winner Kenny Leon. Previews will begin Tuesday, March 31, 2026, with an opening night on Tuesday, April 21, 2026 at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre. Tickets are on sale January 15.
The Balusters will feature Drama Desk Award winner Marylouise Burke as Penny Buell; Emmy Award nominee Carl Clemons-Hopkins as Brooks Duncan; Drama Desk Award nominee Margaret Colin as Ruth Ackerman; Tony and Grammy Award winner Renée Elise Goldsberry as Kyra Marshall; and Emmy Award winner Richard Thomas as Elliott Emerson.
Newly announced are Kayli Carter (Off-Broadway: This World of Tomorrow; Television: “Mrs. America,” “Godless,” “Bad Education”) as Willow Gibbons; Ricardo Chavira (Television: “Ballard,” “Desperate Housewives”; Theatre: The Motherf**ker with the Hat at London’s National Theatre) as Isaac Rosario; Michael Esper (Broadway: Appropriate, American Idiot; Television: “Trust,” “Do No Harm,” “Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy”) as Alan Kirby; Maria-Christina Oliveras (Broadway: Between Riverside and Crazy, Amélie, Machinal) as Luz Baccay; and Jeena Yi (Broadway: Network; Off-Broadway: The Bestiary, Good Enemy) as Melissa Han.
About The Balusters
The Balusters is a raucous, wild ride through a small community with big feelings. The Vernon Point Neighborhood Association is a passionate bunch, whether squabbling over historically inaccurate porch railings or debating trash can protocol. Still, no one is prepared for the neighbor-versus-neighbor battle royale that ensues when a newcomer to the board suggests the unthinkable: installing a stop sign on the corner of the enclave’s prettiest block.
David Lindsay-Abaire’s previous work at MTC has included the Pulitzer Prize-winning Rabbit Hole, the Tony Award-nominated Good People, Ripcord, Wonder of the World, Fuddy Meers, and Kimberly Akimbo, which he later adapted with Jeanine Tesori into the Tony Award-winning musical.
Kenny Leon, whose Broadway credits include A Raisin in the Sun (Tony Award), Fences, Topdog/Underdog, Purlie Victorious, Our Town, and Othello, returns to MTC where he directed Rajiv Joseph’s King James in 2023.
The Balusters was commissioned by MTC through the Bank of America New Play Program and is a recipient of an Edgerton Foundation New Play Award. Production support is provided by The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation and the Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater.
