Billy Porter exits Cabaret on Broadway due to sepsis diagnosis

The Kit Kat Club is closing its Broadway doors early on Sept. 21, as current “Emcee” Billy Porter battles a “serious case of sepsis,” according to the production team.

“It is with a heavy heart that we have made the painful decision to end our Broadway run,” said producer Adam Speers in a statement. “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.”

“Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club” — as this revival is titled — opened on Broadway in April 2024, with Eddie Redmayne and Gayle Rankin in the lead roles. Following their September 2024 departure, duos Adam Lambert and Auli’i Cravalho, and Orville Peck and Eva Noblezada played the titular roles.

Porter stepped into the role of the Emcee, alongside co-star Marisha Wallace as Sally Bowles, in July. The duo was expected to lead the production’s final 13 weeks — originally scheduled to end on Oct. 19 — before Porter’s illness sidelined him.

“Billy was an extraordinary ‘Emcee,’ bringing his signature passion and remarkable talent,” said Speers. “We wish Billy a speedy recovery, and I look forward to working with him again in the very near future.”

As of Sept. 21, the production will have played 18 preview performances and 592 regular performances. Marty Lauter and David Merino, the production’s longtime alternates for Emcee, will share the role for the final two weeks of performances. Their exact performance schedules — opposite Wallace as Bowles — are forthcoming.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.