Dramatic surprises are nothing new at Broom Street Theater, known for experimental shows and often raw, original productions. Yet on Friday no one was expecting the night to be upended the way it was — when Broom Street artistic director Callen Harty suffered a heart attack while appearing in the play "Dancing With My Other."

The play, in its premiere, was written by the late Kathie Rasmussen, a friend of Harty's and a mainstay on the Madison theater scene, who died last year of heart failure.

Minutes after curtain call, Harty was rushed by ambulance to UW Hospital, where he spent two days in intensive care. He is now doing well and may be discharged Wednesday, Lauri Harty, his niece, said Monday.

"It was surreal, because it's opening night and then — the ambulance comes," she said.

Lauri Harty directed "Dancing With My Other," the dark, and at moments funny, story of a woman released from prison after killing her husband. Callen Harty, 51, played two small roles near the end of the play, which required a quick costume change, his niece said. The heart attack hit during the performance, but "I don't think he realized it was one," she said.

Eighteen members of the playwright's family had flown in from around the country to see the play, and the intimate theater's 52 seats were filled, Lauri Harty said.

"I was up in the (sound and light) booth watching, and saw Callen lying on the floor offstage. But we do that after our scenes, because it's hot under the lights," she explained. "I asked him if he was OK and he said, 'I don't know.' Then the show ended and I turned on the lights and saw that something was really wrong."

Heather Renken, a playwright, actor and former board member for Broom Street Theater, was seated in the audience next to Callen Harty's partner, Brian Wild, who was concerned when Harty didn't appear at curtain call.

"Within the next minute or two, Lauri came out and grabbed me and asked me if I had an aspirin," said Renken, who ran across the street to a gas station to buy aspirin, only to find the station closed. By then an ambulance was approaching, she said.

Wild and Harty's niece left for the hospital, but others stayed at the theater for a planned reception.

"Kathie's family was there, and feeling quite celebratory after seeing Kathie's wonderful work," Renken said. "There was cake and champagne, and people just sort of stood around for a long time once they had realized what had happened. It was very somber. I think there were a lot of good wishes coming Callen's way that evening."

"Dancing With My Other" will resume its five-weekend run on Friday with different actors in Harty's roles.