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Megan Hilty is taking a break from her Broadway run in Death Becomes Her due to a vocal injury.
Calling her work as Madeline Ashton in the new musical “the most challenging and rewarding role” she has “ever taken on,” Hilty, 44, revealed in a Wednesday, June 11 post on her Instagram that she will be “stepping away from [her] beloved DBH family for 3-4 weeks” while she recovers “from a vocal injury that only time can heal.”
In the caption of a black-and-white photo of herself from the June 8 Tony Awards, which she attended in a beaded and feathered beige dress as a nominee for Best Actress in a Musical, she wrote, “It’s hard for me to admit I am human, particularly because performers are often asked to push through and pretend that we’re not. I am so fortunate to work with the best producers, company, & stage managers, who don’t subscribe to that way of thinking and fully support me and my fellow cast mates when our bodies tell us it’s time for a break.”
Death Becomes Her, Julia Mattison and Noel Carey’s musical adaptation of the 1992 comedy film starring Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn, opened last November at New York’s Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. In the Broadway rendition, Hilty plays Madeline, the role originally played by Streep, opposite fellow Tony nominee Jennifer Simard as Hawn’s Helen Sharp. The acclaimed production costars Michelle Williams, Christopher Sieber, Taurean Everett, Josh Lamon and more.
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Asking fans for “patience and understanding” in her post, Hilty pointed out that vocal issues affect many singers. “What we do with our teeny tiny vocal cords is nothing short of a Herculean task – one that most people take for granted and very few actually understand,” she wrote. “I encourage you to do the research and see for yourself how your own vocal cords work – it is fascinating and I guarantee it’ll make you all the more impressed the next time you see a live performance.”
She continued, “We are athletes. And just like a professional basketball player, we are going to get injured from time to time – not because we aren’t good at our jobs, it simply comes with the territory because of the extraordinary demands we put on our bodies.”
Her role “will be filled brilliantly,” she shared, adding, “and I’ll be counting the seconds until I can meet you back at the Lunt-Fontanne.”
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Hilty performed one of her Death Becomes Her numbers, “For the Gaze,” live at the Cynthia Erivo-hosted Tonys on Sunday, June 8. Sunset Blvd. star Nicole Scherzinger triumphed in the Best Actress in a Musical category, beating out Hilty, Simard, Gypsy star Audra McDonald and Boop! The Musical star Jasmine Amy Rogers.
Death Becomes Her is now playing at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre.
