EXCLUSIVE: Michael Esper (Broadway‘s Appropriate, TV’s Trust) and Kayli Carter (TV’s Mrs. America) are among the newly announced cast members for the Manhattan Theatre Club‘s upcoming world premiere Broadway production of David Lindsay-Abaire’s The Balusters.
They’ll join other just-announced hires Ricardo Chavira (TV’s Ballard, the West End’s The Motherf**ker with the Hat), Maria-Christina Oliveras (Broadway’s Between Riverside and Crazy) and Jeena Yi (Broadway’s Network) in the new play to be directed by Kenny Leon.
Previously announced cast includes Marylouise Burke, Carl Clemons-Hopkins, Margaret Colin, Renée Elise Goldsberry and Richard Thomas. Previews begin Tuesday, March 31, 2026, at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre with an opening night on Tuesday, April 21.
The latest from Lindsay-Abaire (Rabbit Hole, Kimberly Akimbo), The Balusters is described as “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.”
Lindsay-Abaire’s previous work at MTC has included the Pulitzer Prize-winning Rabbit Hole, 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.
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.