Billy Porter is battling sepsis

Billy had been due to continue in the role until the musical's run came to a close on 19 October.

Producer Adam Speers said in a statement: "His doctors are confident that he will make a full recovery but have advised him to maintain a restful schedule these next couple of weeks.

"Billy was an extraordinary Emcee, bringing his signature passion and remarkable talent, We wish Billy a speedy recovery and I look forward to working with him again in the very near future."

The producer admitted it had been a "painful" decision to end the show's run early.

The statement continued: "It is with a heavy heart that we have made the painful decision to end our Broadway run on September 21. On behalf of all the producers, we're so honoured to have been able to bring this version of John Kander, Fred Ebb and Joe Masteroff's important masterpiece, Cabaret, to New York and to have opened the doors to our own Kit Kat Club for the year and a half we have been here.

Emcee alternates Marty Lauter and David Merino will play the role for the final two weeks of the run opposite Marisha Wallace as Sally Bowles.

Adam concluded: "I personally invite audiences to return to the Kit Kat Club one last time to see the incandescent Marisha Wallace as 'Sally Bowles,' alongside the remarkably talented Marty and David, two actors who have been giving soul-stirring performances as 'Emcee' since we first opened last April."

Billy previously described his role in Cabaret as a "gift and such a blessing", particularly after he was turned down when he tried to audition for a 1998 revival.

He told People magazine: "I feel really great to be doing this.

"This show in particular, at this time in American history, it's really important for me.

"Art has the power to heal, art has the power to transform. My art is my calling, my purpose, my ministry, my resistance, my activism, my hope, my joy, my love. It's everything to me. And so to be able to express myself this way is such a gift and such a blessing.

"It is not lost on me that in the 60-year history of this piece, we are the first all-black leads, the three leads in a commercial production.

"My mom used to always say, 'God's delay is not denial.' I made a commitment decades ago that my art would be my ministry, and I feel right in the centre of that by doing this show.

" So, I'm really grateful. And I want to focus on the change. The world has actually changed. 30 years ago, this wasn't possible. I'm in the part now. So I just want to make sure that we're saying that part, that we're talking about the good. It's very easy to lean into the negative, but I want to lean into the positive."