Burgess On Leave from MERMAID Due to Injury

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 8/5/08 at 5:27pm

"Alan Mingo, Jr. will play the role of Sebastian during the Aug. 5 performance of Disney's The Little Mermaid at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre.

Mingo, Jr. is stepping into the role created by Tituss Burgess. Due to a foot injury, Burgess, a production spokesperson told Playbill.com, is "on a temporary medical leave of absence and will return to [the production] upon recovery." As of press time, the Mermaid spokesperson was unable to confirm whether Burgess' injury occurred during a performance of the family-friendly musical..."

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/120141.html

[GIZMO2]

Posted: 8/5/08 at 5:30pm

Updated On: 9/28/08 at 05:30 PM

[jake6970]

Posted: 8/5/08 at 5:31pm

Sad news. I hope he gets better. The good news is, Alan Mingo is amazing as Sebastian!

[EugLoven]

Posted: 8/5/08 at 5:35pm

YIKES! Best wishes for a safe and speedy recovery, T.B.

[Craig]

Posted: 8/5/08 at 8:51pm

There's nothing in that article that says he was injured on the job, Gizmo2.

I wish Titus a speedy recovery...

[broadwayboy522]

Posted: 8/5/08 at 9:34pm

Well I just saw him on Saturday and he was fine, wonder what happened?

[GIZMO2]

Posted: 8/5/08 at 10:30pm

"There's nothing in that article that says he was injured on the job, Gizmo2."

Thanks for clarifying, Craig. You're absolutely right.

So how was he injured? Just curious.

And like all of you, I too wish him a speedy recovery.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 8/5/08 at 10:45pm

"There's nothing in that article that says he was injured on the job, Gizmo2."

In addition, I don't think Sebastian was on Heelys to begin with...

[timote316]

Posted: 8/5/08 at 10:48pm

Sebastian doesn't swim. He's a crab.

And Alan Mingo, Jr was a complete treasure when I saw his second or third performance back in January. I vastly prefer him to what I hear of Burgess on the cast recording (and yes, I know its not the same as being live).

[Jonny boy]

Posted: 8/7/08 at 1:42pm

I spoke with him yesterday.... He is at home just taking it easy. I guess he cracked a bone in one of his feet and could do further damage by dancing on it so, he has to take some time off to heal.
I can imagine that it would be a nice break after months and months of 8 shows a week....

[broadwayfan7]

Posted: 8/7/08 at 2:59pm

Get better soon, Titus.

[wickedfanatic34]

Posted: 8/7/08 at 3:44pm

Yeah, i was there on August 5th. Alan Mingo Jr. was fantastic! As was the rest of the cast.

[Vespertine1228]

Posted: 9/27/08 at 8:10pm

Is Tituss Burgess officially not in The Little Mermaid anymore? I saw him last night taking in Betty Buckley's 8:30 set at Birdland. Last Sunday he was signing at the flea market celebrity table during Mermaid's matinee. A few weeks ago I saw him having dinner in Hell's Kitchen on a Thursday around 9 o'clock.

Surely this can't all be some extended vacation, and I haven't heard anything about a foot injury since this thread was started. Anyone have an update? Is he just calling out of the show?

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 9/27/08 at 8:24pm

How is it that you keep running into him? It sounds like you're stalking him.

[Schmerg_The_Impaler]

Posted: 9/27/08 at 8:41pm

Ooh, wow. I love Tituss (as a performer, I mean), and I hope he gets better soon! "Little Mermaid" seems to have some sort of injury curse going on-- here's hoping no one else gets hurt. (Luckily, I know all of those understudies are freakishly talented, so I bet Alan will be amazing.)

On a side note, I have a question-- when I saw Little Mermaid, I took note of Alan Mingo, Jr.'s name, because, erm, I thought it was funny. Then, I saw Les Miserables at Wolf Trap about two months later, and there was a slightly similar-looking performer named C. Mingo Long. Anyone know if they're related?

[broadwayboy522]

Posted: 9/27/08 at 8:44pm

Well I just looked on Playbill.com and it listed Alan Mingo Jr. as Sebastian. So maybe his medical leave turned into him just leaving the show? I have no idea though but playbill.com is usually pretty up to date on that sort of stuff

[adamgreer]

Posted: 9/27/08 at 8:46pm

Well, I saw him at the flea market, too and asked him when he'd be back, and he said, "hopefully later this fall."

I know that's incredibly ambiguous, but that's what he said.

[Patash]

Posted: 9/27/08 at 9:46pm

I think it's really unfair to call him a crab. If you had such a foot injury you might be crabby too!

[WishingOnlyWounds2]

Posted: 9/27/08 at 9:54pm

"So maybe his medical leave turned into him just leaving the show?"
He's still in the cast according to the website.

http://disney.go.com/theatre/thelittlemermaid/index.html#/company/broadwaycast/

[Marianne2]

Posted: 9/27/08 at 10:55pm

If it's a broken foot, that actually could take a long time to heal, depending on the extent of the injury. Also, we really don't know how much pain he is in.

[Tchi4Lif188]

Posted: 9/27/08 at 11:38pm

He's coming back to fulfill his contract starting at the end of October and I believe he will officially be leaving at the end of December. Until he returns, Alan Mingo is going on as Sebastian.

[winston89]

Posted: 9/27/08 at 11:41pm

There really isn't anything wrong with him doing things while he is hurt. I can understand that it is going to hurt and cause more damage if he is dancing on stage. But, there really isn't a problem with him going out and doing stuff.

[manaboutown]

Posted: 9/28/08 at 12:05am

wow..Mermaid really seems to have many bad injuries....hope he's back soon

[Vespertine1228]

Posted: 9/28/08 at 1:16am

Thanks for the information. And no, I'm not stalking him. It's theatre in New York. You see the same people everywhere.

Hope he continues to heal.

[Marianne2]

Posted: 9/28/08 at 2:28am

Actually Winston, I'm sure most people would like to get fully healed or as best as they can first to avoid with permanent damage to whatever they injured, or end up needing surgery. The first, they can kiss their careers goodbye.