Actress Sara Chase Details “Secret Double Life” of Battling Cancer While on Broadway

Actress Sara Chase is sharing insight into her private health battle.

The 41-year-old recently shared that while preparing to bring the role of Myrtle Wilson to Broadway in The Great Gatsby musical in 2023, she was also undergoing treatment for early stage fallopian tube cancer. During this time, she initially chose to keep her battle quiet from her colleagues.

"I found myself living a secret double life,” Sara wrote in an Aug. 28 essay published on Today.com. “In the early mornings I would meet with doctors, get blood work done and then run down the street to Broadway rehearsals, stashing my hospital bracelets along the way.”

“Two weeks after my diagnoses, I secretly got a full hysterectomy, oophorectomy and cervix removal,” Sara continued. “Four days after that, I was on stage singing and dancing in full costumes and wigs like nothing had happened.”

Although she received positive results following her surgeries—allowing her to perform on opening night—the Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt actress detailed the difficult emotions she felt during her journey.

“As my cast and crew looked for opening night outfits, I secretly looked for wigs and scarves in case I needed them,” she shared. “As people were telling their friends and family about this new Broadway show they were in, I was telling friends and family about what to expect in the next coming months. My colleagues met with stylists; I met with oncologists.”

When it came to why Sara—whose own mother, grandmother and great aunt all battled cancer—didn’t confide in her Great Gatsby cast and crew about her health, sha admitted she felt it was “something I had to do by myself.”

And part of that came down to her own processing of the news.

"I went into rehearsal the next morning and didn’t tell anyone,” she explained. “Mostly because I was in denial. If I said it out loud, it would be true. Or maybe I thought someone would try and take my dream away from me. Or people might treat me differently. Best to keep it to myself until absolutely necessary, I thought.”

Sara eventually told her castmates about her diagnosis and took a leave of absence from the show to continue treatment—she’s set to return to the stage adaption of the F. Scott Fitzgerald novel next month—but she is now full of optimism.

"I’m also comforted by the fact that soon I’ll be back on stage,” she wrote. “And this time, I know I’ll be even stronger.”