Tony Roberts Becomes Ill at Preview on Broadway
An afternoon preview performance of the Broadway revival of “The Royal Family” was canceled shortly after curtain time on Sunday, after one of its stars, Tony Roberts, fell ill moments after taking the stage.
Tony Roberts was slurring his speech in a preview performance, which was canceled.
Post a Comment in ArtsBeatAudience members said that Mr. Roberts, 69, a veteran of stage and screen who has appeared in films by Woody Allen and Sidney Lumet, was greeted with applause when he appeared onstage, about 15 minutes after the performance began at the Samuel J. Friedman Theater, on West 47th Street. But when Mr. Roberts spoke, his words were slurred and unintelligible.
“He was mumbling and talking gibberish,” said Ellen Belson, 63, a lawyer from Armonk, N.Y., who was in the audience with her husband and two friends, “At first I thought it was part of the show.” Ms. Belson said that Mr. Roberts took a seat, slurred a few more lines, and then the curtain fell.
Moments later, a theater staff member asked if there was a doctor in the house — three people came forward — and a second announcement informed the audience that the performance had been canceled.
Mr. Roberts was taken by ambulance to St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center, where he was in stable condition Sunday evening, according to the hospital’s spokesman, Jeff Jacomowitz. It was not clear, Mr. Jacomowitz said, when the actor would be released.
Aaron Meier, a press representative for the Manhattan Theater Club, which is producing the show, said that Mr. Roberts’s understudy, Anthony Newfield, was expected to take over the role for the Sunday night performance. The official opening of the revival, a 1927 comedy by George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber, is scheduled for Thursday.
On BWW.TV
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