Laura Benanti experienced a miscarriage while out at sea.
The Tony Award-winning actress, 43, shared a photo taken from onboard The Broadway Cruise's voyage from New York to Bermuda, in which she is seen performing in front of a crowd of passengers. In the post's caption, she revealed, "On Monday April 3rd, I performed on stage for 2000 people while having a miscarriage."
Benanti is one of ten musical theater stars who joined the March 31 to April 5 round-trip voyage and explained that she "knew it was happening" before her performance.
"It started slowly the night before," she penned in her Instagram post on Wednesday. "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."
Benanti and her husband, Patrick Brown, are parents to daughters Ella, 6, and Louisa, born in July via surrogate.
"My husband and I are heartbroken but we will move through this together as we, and so many others, have done before," she added. "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 me as well."
While it is unclear how long Benanti had been pregnant, the Broadway star thanked her in-laws for being there for her daughter Ella.
"Thank you to my remarkable Mother-in-law and Father-in-law for shielding Ella from the reality of this experience and giving her the time of her life while 'Mama's back hurt.' Thank you to that little soul for choosing me as your home, even for a short time," she added.
In the post, Benanti added that she was surrounded by "some of the kindest, most loving humans," acknowledging the cruise's passengers and staff.
"Thank you to everyone in that audience for the grace your presence allowed. For lifting me out of my grief for that Holy hour. Thank you to my band for holding me unconditionally in your hearts and the crew for working 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," she wrote.
In the comments section, Benanti received support from friends and followers.
"I'm so proud of you! This moved me immeasurably - your Grace, heart, vulnerability, and courage all together - heroically divinely feminine 🤍," wrote Jewel.
Expressed fellow theater star Lindsay Heather Pearce, "Love to you, warmth to you, and comfort in these days to come 💛🙏🏻."
Benanti opened up about a previous miscarriage during a conversation with PEOPLE in 2020.
"It started to make me feel angry that there's some deep-seated misogyny in our culture where women are not allowed to mourn the loss of their pregnancy," she expressed. "I felt like the only thing that would make me feel a tiny bit less crazy about losing my pregnancy was feeling like perhaps I could help other women not feel alone because I felt so alone."
.jpg "Laura Benanti Reveals She Had a Miscarriage During a Performance: 'I Knew It Was Happening'")
