The Balusters is about the changing of cultural identity. 

One such morphing greets the audience smack upon entering MTC’s Friedman Theatre on Broadway: stereotypically speaking, the pre-show soundtrack clashes with what we’d expect to hear accompanying Derek McLane’s set decor.

Which connects to a line later in David Lindsay-Abaire’s play, when Richard Thomas’ local senior bemoans how the music played by his neighbors has gone from the classical of his youth (more conventionally befitting the furnishings), to today’s hip-pop (the pre-show soundtrack) — a microcosm of the play’s overarching interest in societal makeovers.

The track list for Kenny Leon’s production has one more ace up its sleeve. Not only do the lyrics from the concluding “DtMF” — “I should’ve taken more pictures when I had you . . . I hope my people never move away” — overlap with Thomas’ nostalgic photo presentation from a few scenes prior, its usage draws an implicit parallel between The Balusters’s concerns and the uproar surrounding Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show; both revolve around the discord over what Americans want to represent THEIR America, which is another way of asking what we want our American communities to be.

To underscore the fact that “DtMF” is an important part of The Balusters’s firmament — and not merely exit music for the audience on their way out — the song abruptly ends as soon as the actors leave the stage.

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When a production designs a gorgeous set, the moment the curtain rises can dazzle, a jolt of voltage that immediately excites the audience for what’s to come; Lex Liang’s set for the McCarter’s Mrs. Christie is but the latest example.

A curtain reveal on Derek McLane’s set for The Balusters would gin up a similar cooing transition, and the decision to elide such easy brownie points allows for — and speaks to the importance of — the initial establishment of theme through the aforementioned juxtaposition between tunes and digs.