Broadway star Megan Hilty has announced a medical leave of absence from the Tony-nominated musical Death Becomes Her.
Hilty, who received a Tony nomination for her leading role as Madeline Ashton in the stage adaptation of the 1992 film of the same name, shared the news Wednesday via Instagram.
Calling her Death Becomes Her role “the most challenging and rewarding” she’s ever taken on, Hilty said: “The lengths to which I have gone to make sure I can physically do the show is a job in itself … but I do it joyfully because, as I mentioned before, I LOVE what I do. Which is why it is so painful to say that I will be stepping away from my beloved DBH family for 3-4 weeks while I recover from a vocal injury that only time can heal.”
Hilty’s honest explanation for her absence is a rarity on Broadway as singers typically don’t like to admit to vocal injuries for fear of damaging their careers. As Hilty — a Broadway veteran who previously played Glinda in Wicked and starred in the hit 2012 NBC show Smash — noted, singing eight shows a week with “teeny tiny vocal cords is nothing short of a Herculean task.”
“We are athletes,” she continued. “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.”
She thanked the musical’s production team as well as her fans for their patience and understanding.
Hilty’s post has been met with a wave of support from Broadway colleagues and fans alike.
Erika Henningsen, star of Netflix’s The Four Seasons and currently on Broadway in Just in Time, said: “Yes. Yes. Yes. To all this. And so glad you’re taking time to heal instead of pushing ahead and putting the tiny teeny cords through more. It’s never worth it because GIRL I wanna hear you keep SINGING FOREVAHHHHH. see you in a month.”
Mary Kate Morrissey, a former Elphaba in Wicked on Broadway, wrote: “Thank you for sharing this with your audience and normalizing that just like other star athletes, our muscles can incur stress injuries. I could cry thinking about how on the outside it looks so glam but on the inside, the lifting it takes to keep those two tiny dime sized cords clean is titanic. Just wowed and inspired by your transparency.”
“Megan as a young performer, i truly look up to you and your decision to take care of your self. young professionals often feel like the have to push until their breaking point. you are showing people that its ESSENTIAL to take care of themselves. Wishing you a speedy and healing recovery and I hope that you will come back stronger than ever,” one fan wrote.
Death Becomes Her opened on Broadway in November 2024. Nominated for 10 Tonys, the production also stars three-time Tony nominee Jennifer Simard as Helen Sharp, two-time Tony nominee Christopher Sieber as Ernest Menville, and Grammy winner Michelle Williams as Viola Van Horn. The show is currently in an open-ended run at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre in New York City.
Casting for Hilty’s role while she’s on medical leave has not been announced; however, the current cast includes standby Dee Roscioli as well as several understudies.
The announcement comes days after Hilty performed the musical’s fan-favorite song “For the Gaze” at the Tonys as the sole number to showcase the production to the nationwide audience.
Fans flocked to social media to celebrate the performance, which involved several quick costume changes — designed by Oscar and Tony Award winner Paul Tazewell — and Christopher Gattelli’s flashy choreography.
“Megan Hilty should win a Tony for this performance alone,” one fan wrote on X.
“A fantastic number by Megan Hilty and the DBH ensemble,” another shared.
“I just said “Oh! My God!” out loud like four times. How is Megan Hilty a real person who does this 8 shows a week??” someone else wrote.
“Megan Hilty knocking out three costume changes in the first minute of her number and showing impeccably why Death Becomes Her deserved that costume design Tony!!!!” another said.
Someone else shared: “Megan hilty performing ‘for the gaze’ during pride month was such a good idea.”
