Music
UPDATED, 6:30 AM: Moulin Rouge! The Musical company member Patrick Clanton, who has served as standby for the roles of Harold Zidler and Toulouse-Lautrec, will take over the Zidler role temporarily after Megan Thee Stallion plays her final performance today.
Clanton will begin his run as Zidler on Saturday, May 2, playing through Sunday, May 17. As announced this week, Megan Thee Stallion plays her final performance tonight. Eric Anderson, who played Zidler from 2022 to 2024, returns to the role on Tuesday, May 19.
Clanton made his Broadway debut in Moulin Rouge! in 2022, appearing in the ensemble and as the Zidler/Toulouse-Lautrec standby. He has appeared on tour in the Tony-winning revival of Oklahoma! directed by Daniel Fish, as well as School of Rock and Sister Act. On TV he’s appeared in Fox’s Best Medicine.
PREVIOUS, April 27: There’s going to be an unexpected casting change for Broadway’s Moulin Rouge! The Musical this week.
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Multi-Grammy winner Megan Thee Stallion said Monday that her final performance as the impresario Zidler in the show at the Al Hirschfield Theatre will be on Friday, May 1. Making her Broadway debut, she was to have played the role through May 17.
“Unfortunately, my last performance on Moulin Rouge! The Musical will be May 1,” she said in a statement. “It’s been such an honor to be part of Moulin Rouge and I’ve met so many amazing people in this theater! Y’all work so hard and I have so much respect for the dedication, the stamina, the work ethic, the time and the effort y’all put into the work! Every single person at the Moulin Rouge has inspired me to go harder as an entertainer. I’m so grateful for the cast and crew that made this experience so meaningful. Y’all are really some of the kindest human beings I’ve ever met! To all the Hotties that showed up or planned to attend, thank you for supporting me during this incredible journey!”
She did not elaborate on a reason for the early departure.
Megan Thee Stallion began her eight-week engagement in the show on March 24 and ran into some trouble a week later. She was taken to a local hospital after falling “very ill” during the March 31 performance. The following day, she put out a statement saying she was “running on empty” that night, having been diagnosed with extreme exhaustion, dehydration, vasoconstriction and low metabolic levels. She returned two nights later to a full house.
Since she joined the cast, box office receipts have soared, going from the $872,702 for the pre-Megan week ending March 1 to beyond $1 million for each week after her arrival. The show’s most recently available weekly gross, for the week ending April 19, $1,663,269.
Producers will announce a replacement actor for what would have been Megan’s last two weeks of shows in the coming days.
The news comes on the heels of Moulin Rouge! The Musical‘s run being extended for five weeks, now set to wrap on August 30.