Billy Porter out of Cabaret 8/20

Just got tickets for tonight. 

binau said: "For clarity was this a scheduled or unscheduled absence?"

Unscheduled. He was scheduled to be out tomorrow through Sunday with David and Marty splitting the coverage

That should boost ticket sales!

It's funny because there is like 400 upvotes on reddit joking that it's the only time ticket sales will go up without the star. In my opinion, this is just fun joking narrative. The sales tonight look terrible, the sales for the rest of the week look terrible. No one knows who Marisha Wallace or Billy's understudy are, and I don't think they care to know either. A few online theatre nerds paying bargain bottom prices at last-minute does not turn around the box office. The show is doomed. 

AlmostFamous3 said: "He was out yesterday as well (unplanned). His understudy was excellent."

Wow, we will pretty much know exactly what Billy's worth is with the grosses next week. 

Assuming he returns to the show - I mean, I assume he will he is contracted to but this must be extremely difficult for his mental health. 

I've never seen a performer that has been so humiliated on Broadway. Beanie comes to mind but that felt like nothing compared to this. Can anyone think of other examples in the last 15-20 years that come close? There must be some but nothing comes to mind. 

Updated On: 8/20/25 at 03:36 PM

binau said: "AlmostFamous3 said: "He was out yesterday as well (unplanned). His understudy was excellent."

Wow, we will pretty much know exactly what Billy's worth is with the grosses next week.

Assuming he returns to the show - I mean, I assume he will he is contracted to but this must be extremely difficult for his mental health.

I've never seen a performer that has been so humiliated on Broadway. Beanie comes to mind but that felt like nothing compared to this. Can anyone think of other examples in the last 15-20 years that come close? There must be some but nothing comes to mind."

The man destoryed the character he was contracted to play, going against the libretto, direction, and basically everything the character has been in this production and every other production from before.

The choices he made to the character are interesting, i'll give him that, and it could work in literally any other show, but cabaret is not the show to do it in. Especially when the chapter hes playing is the actual characterization of the country of Germany at the time. 

He's lost his singing voice, he goes bananas and off the rails in the most terrible ways. He's called the audience 'bitches', begging for applause, and feeding his negative energy into the rest of the cast. It might be for the best that he doesn't return to the show. It's already dead in the streets with the theatre world kicking its cold dead corpse. Best to respect what's left before we put it in the ground for good.

I always felt like the general Broadway sentiment about Beanie was "gosh, she's trying so hard but this is so sad. I wish her well" and it has felt like the sentiment around Billy has been "this performance is offensively bad. I do not wish him well."

I’m inclined to agree re: Beanie that she tried her hardest. From my memory, many people were already rankled because they felt the role of Fanny was ordained for Lea Michele and, unless Beanie delivered a bravura performance for the ages, the mob was already digging her professional grave. And then once they cast Lea, everyone did what they could to sweep Beanie away (including the cast recording). I frankly enjoyed Beanie in the role and thought she was a fine, if not perfect, fit.

Friends of mine in and around the theatre community have privately expressed some concern for Billy and his behavior recently, especially after having seen him in the role. A LOT of them gave the review of “Billy was just…being Billy.”, which is the polite way of saying that it was not good, but they aren’t going to type it out. I am believing that he is indeed his own worst enemy since he doesn’t not have/never had the clout to be as outspoken as he is.

He’s been performing since 1988, so he’s no spring chicken, but it seems as if once he got a taste of the high life, he decided it was time to make a meal of the hand that fed him “The best kind of revenge is success”.

 

morosco said: "It seems as if Porter is his own worst enemy."

Ego can be quite a dangerous suitor.

Seb28 said: "Whowas his understudy and how was he?"

David Merino (usually Lulu)  & Marty 'Marcia Marcia Marcia' Lauter (usually Victor).

David was/is on, for Emcee, both shows today/tonight, Wed Aug 20,  unscheduled absences for Billy.  David is on Aug 21, 7pm & Aug 22, 7pm - both scheduled.

https://www.instagram.com/davidlmerino/

Marty is scheduled on, for the Emcee, Saturday Aug. 23 (both shows) & Sunday Aug. 24 matinee - all scheduled.

https://www.instagram.com/marciax3nyc/

Updated On: 8/20/25 at 06:42 PM

ACL2006 said: "
Henry Goodman as the fired replacement for Nathan Lane’s Bialystock was pretty embarrassing."

Imagine if social media was around then. or whenever Lane called out."

Which happened regularly, right?

God knows there's plenty of valid criticism of Porter, especially with regards to his comments, but incessant bullying of performers is a very Broadway specific ugliness, based on poor bootlegs. 

Some of the pile on has genuinely scared me because I've seen young people throw out racist Trump speak like "DEI-hire" and these people are seeking to uphold the integrity of Cabaret of all things. Death of both empathy and literacy. 

There was similarly very ugly vitriol towards Feldstein, and she hadn't even put her foot in her mouth or had been callous like Billy.