“Moulin Rouge! The Musical” had a big plan to increase its grosses this spring as it neared the end of its Broadway run: Enlist the rapper Megan Thee Stallion to make a splashy debut as the musical’s mistress of ceremonies.
But after a week of performances, the performer fell ill midway through a show on Tuesday night and was rushed to a hospital. Another performer stepped in to play Zidler, a nightclub impresario in turn-of-the-century Paris, and finish the show.
A spokesman for Megan Thee Stallion said in a statement on Wednesday that the performer had been evaluated at a hospital and diagnosed with “extreme exhaustion, dehydration, vasoconstriction and low metabolic levels.”
“Megan has since been treated, discharged and is now resting,” the spokesman said. “Megan is incredibly grateful for the prayers and well wishes from her supporters and is looking forward to resuming her role as Zidler.”
Megan Thee Stallion will miss the show’s two performances on Wednesday, but the spokesman added that the rapper would return to the musical on Thursday.
In a post on Instagram, Megan Thee Stallion called the episode “a real wake-up call for me.”
“I’ve been pushing myself past my limits lately, running on empty, and my body finally said enough,” she wrote. “It honestly scared me. I thought I was gonna faint on stage, I really tried to push through my performance but I just couldn’t.”
She added, “I just need one day to rest, reset, and take care of myself the way I should have been.”
The singer has already improved the show’s box office grosses. Last week, her first in the show, “Moulin Rouge!” grossed $1.6 million at the box office, an increase of 39 percent over the previous week.
Michael Paulson is the theater reporter for The Times.
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