Bret Hanna-Shuford, best known for his turn on Broadway in both “Wicked” and “The Little Mermaid,” has died of complications associated with cancer. He was 46.
News of Bret’s death was confirmed Saturday by his husband Stephen Hanna-Shuford on Instagram. The cause was hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) and T-cell lymphoma.
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“It is with a heavy heart that we share the news that early this morning we said goodbye to the most amazing man, husband and Papa in the universe,” Stephen wrote. “Bret Hanna-Shuford left this world peacefully with love surrounded by his family. Our hearts are broken but we will continue to make him proud of us…”
In a 2016 interview with Fit For Broadway, Bret explained he knew he wanted to perform on Broadway “at a very young age.” As he shared, theater was a major part of his life. “I was driven to Musical Theatre and committed my life to doing it. After spending most of my childhood performing in every play and musical in the Golden Triangle of S.E. Texas, I attended Wagner College. Soon after I got my equity card from Paper Mill Playhouse. Eventually I booked my first Broadway show, ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’. Since then I’ve toured, done film, television, and married Stephen Hanna.”
Bret married his husband, Stephen, in April 2011. Per the New York Times, the pair met in 2006 when Bret hosted a party that Stephen attended. The pair officially began dating in April 2007. “What was so amazing is, we’ve always been in these tumultuous relationships, with playwrights and musicians, so intense and dramatic,” Bret told the outlet. “But here there were no expectations. It was in your own time, whatever you need.”
Bret made his Broadway debut in a 2005 performance of “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” and joined the cast of “Beauty and the Beast” the same year. He was part of the original 2007 cast of “The Little Mermaid,” and his Broadway credits also include “Paramour” and “Wicked.”
His career also included stints on TV in episodes of “Only Murders in the Building” and “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.”
Bret and Stephen also enjoyed vibrant careers as social media influencers under their Broadway Husbands banner. The pair frequently shared content about their careers and about their attempt to start their family via surrogacy (their son, Maverick, was born in March 2022).
In June 2023, Bret told The Bump of the couple’s path to parenthood, “I also think, specifically for LGBTQ+ people, it can feel very lonely when you’re on this path—especially if you’re surrounded by a lot of heterosexual relationships and families. They’re not going to understand all that goes into this [process]—and expecting them to have some sort of compassion or understanding is setting yourself up for disappointment. As much as you can, let go of needing outside validation.”
Bret Hanna-Shuford was born May 20, 1979, in Beaumont, Texas. In addition to his husband Stephen and son Maverick, he is survived by his parents Preston and Deanna and brothers Todd, Eric and Bart.
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