Cabaret Sets Earlier Closing as Billy Porter Departs Due to Sepsis

The Broadway production of Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club will end its run earlier than planned at the August Wilson Theatre. The final performance will now be Sunday, September 21, rather than the originally announced Sunday, October 19.

In addition, star Billy Porter has departed the company due to a recent diagnosis of sepsis. Understudies Marty Lauter and David Merino, who have been playing the Emcee since Porter’s initial absence several weeks ago, will share the role for the duration of the run.

Merino is set to play the Emcee September 9-11 and September 19-21, with Lauter playing the role September 12-18.

The current cast is led by Marisha Wallace as Sally Bowles, Calvin Leon Smith as Clifford Bradshaw, Tony Award nominee Steven Skybell as Herr Schultz, Ellen Harvey as Fraulein Schneider, and Henry Gottfried as Ernst Ludwig. Also in the cast are Michelle Aravena as Fritzie/Kost, Gabi Campo as Frenchie, Jada Simone Clark as Helga, Colin Cunliffe as Hans, Marty Lauter as Victor, David Merino as Lulu, Julian Ramos as Bobby, MiMi Scardulla as Texas, Paige Smallwood as Rosie, and Price Waldman as Herman/Max. Swings for the production are Maya Bowles, Pedro Garza, Christian Kidd, Corinne Munsch, Chloé Nadon-Enriquez, and Karl Skyler Urban.

The Prologue Company, the dancers and musicians that welcome audiences to the club, includes dancers Sun Kim and Deja McNair-Kyles and swing Ida Saki. The musicians of the Prologue are Brian Russell Carey (piano & bass), Francesca Dawis (violin), Keiji Ishiguri (dedicated substitute), Déa Thatcher (accordion), and Michael Winograd (clarinet).

Based on the play by John Van Druten and stories by Christopher Isherwood, Cabaret features music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb, and a book by Joe Masteroff. Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club is directed by Rebecca Frecknall, with club, scenic, and costume design by Tom Scutt and choreography by Julia Cheng.

The creative team also includes music supervisor Jennifer Whyte, music director Meghann Zervoulis Bate, lighting designer Isabella Byrd, sound designer Nick Lidster, hair and wig designer Sam Cox, makeup designer Guy Common, prologue director and Cabaret associate director Jordan Fein, and prologue composer and prologue music director Angus MacRae.