(UPI) — Laura Benanti says she experienced a miscarriage on stage earlier this week.
The 43-year-old actress said in an Instagram post Wednesday that she had a miscarriage Monday while performing onstage on The Broadway Cruise.
Benanti shared the news alongside a photo of her performing in front of the crowd that day.
“On Monday April 3rd, I performed on stage for 2000 people while having a miscarriage. I knew it was happening. It started slowly the night before,” the star captioned the post.
“If it had been our first loss, or even our second, I likely wouldn’t have been able to go on. But unfortunately, I am not a stranger to the pain and emptiness of losing a pregnancy. It is a path I have walked before, hand in hand with my husband. But this time we walked it alongside some of the kindest, most loving humans I will ever have the honor to share space with,” she said.
Benanti thanked the audience, the crew and her fellow performers for their support.
“Thank you to everyone in that audience for the grace your presence allowed. For lifting me out of my grief for that Holy hour,” she said. “Thank you to my band for holding me, unconditionally, in your hearts, and to the crew for working so hard to make me as comfortable as possible. Thank you to my friends and fellow performers for rallying around me and so graciously accommodating my changing needs.”
The actress then thanked her in-laws for shielding Ella, her 6-year-old daughter with her husband, Patrick Brown, who performed with her at one point that day. She also thanked the unborn child she lost, a daughter.
“Thank you to that little soul for choosing me as your home, even for a short time,” Benanti wrote. “Patrick and I are so grateful for the family that we have, and the miracle of our two little girls. One carried by me and one carried by an angel-on-earth.”
“My husband and I are heartbroken but we will move through this together as we, and so many others, have done before,” she said. “I share all of this, not to garner sympathy or attention, but to remind the many people and families who have and will suffer in this way that there is no shame in this kind of loss. That you are not alone. And to remind myself as well.”
Singer Jewel and actresses Kristin Chenoweth and Brenda Strong were among those to show their support for Benanti in the comments.
“Laura. I’m so sorry. Everyone who knows you loves you. You’re an angel on this earth. You are the toughest person i know. Sending Gods love to your fam,” Chenoweth wrote.
Benanti is known for starring in Broadway productions of Gypsy, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown and Meteor Shower. She also played Alura and Astra Zor-El on Supergirl and Quinn Tyler on Younger.