Cabaret will end its Broadway run on Sept. 21, a month earlier than expected, after lead actor Billy Porter was diagnosed with a “serious” illness, the venue where the show is taking place announced on social media.
Porter, 55, was recently diagnosed with a “serious case of sepsis,” New York’s Kit Kat Club said Sunday in a statement on Instagram.
“His doctors are confident that he will make a full recovery but have advised him to maintain a restful schedule,” the statement read.
As Porter rests, actors Marty Lauter and David Merino will take over his roll as “Emcee” for the final two weeks of the show.
Related: Billy Porter Gets Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame: ‘My Dreams Have Always Been Big’
Sepsis is a life-threatening condition that occurs when the body’s immune system has an extreme reaction to an infection. It can cause organ damage, shock, organ failure or even death, according to the World Health Organization.
According to Playbill, the Cabaret revival was scheduled to close on Oct. 19. Producers told the outlet they’re disappointed to shutter the show early.
“It is with a heavy heart that we have made the painful decision to end our Broadway run on September 21,” producer Adam Speers said in a statement to Playbill.
“On behalf of all the producers, we’re so honored to have been able to bring this version of John Kander, Fred Ebb, and Joe Masteroff’s important masterpiece, Cabaret, to New York and to have opened the doors to our own Kit Kat Club for the year and a half we have been here.
“Billy was an extraordinary Emcee, bringing his signature passion and remarkable talent,” Speers added.
“We wish Billy a speedy recovery and I look forward to working with him again in the very near future. I personally invite audiences to return to the Kit Kat Club one last time to see the incandescent Marisha Wallace as Sally Bowles, alongside the remarkably talented Marty and David, two actors who have been giving soul-stirring performances as Emcee since we first opened last April.”
The cast of the revival also includes Calvin Leon Smith as “Clifford Bradshaw,” Steven Skybell as “Herr Schultz,” Ellen Harvey as “Fraulein Schneider,” Henry Gottfried as “Ernst Ludwig,” and Michelle Aravena as “Fritzie/Kost.”
Some fans expressed disappointment in the comments section of the Kit Kat Club’s Instagram post, saying they purchased tickets and made travel plans to attend shows after Sept. 21.
They suggested the understudies be allowed to continue performing until the end of the show’s originally scheduled run.
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