Sandy Duncan bows out of Finding Neverland after four shows

Veteran actress Sandy Duncan has cut short her return to the Broadway stage after withdrawing from Finding Neverland.
The stage regular joined the cast of the hit Peter Pan musical on Friday (12Feb16), but on Wednesday morning (17Feb16), producers revealed she had bowed out of the show after just four performances.
“The producers of Broadway’s Finding Neverland regretfully announce that the beloved stage and screen actress Sandy Duncan, who recently joined the magical production in the role of Madame Du Maurier, must take an immediate, yet temporary, leave of absence from the show due to family obligations,” reads their statement.
“The entire company looks forward to warmly welcoming Ms. Duncan back to Neverland as soon as she’s able to return.”
Further details about 69-year-old Duncan’s family duties have not been released.
Her understudy, Kristy Cates, has been drafted in to the role until an official replacement is announced, reports Playbill.com.
Duncan, who had taken over the part of Madame Du Maurier from original castmember Carolee Carmello, had been looking forward to her return to J.M. Barrie’s Neverland, after previously winning a Tony Award nomination for her performance as the boy who never grew up in the 1979 revival of Peter Pan, which ran at the same Lunt-Fontanne Theatre.
“It’s surreal being back at the Lunt-Fontanne where I opened Peter Pan in 1979,” Duncan told the press prior to her stage return. “There’s a real sense of nostalgia for me in joining this company. So many moments and bits of dialogue in Finding Neverland really bring me back to those days in Peter Pan and to all the folks with whom I shared that experience. I’m looking forward to being a part of the story from a different angle and sharing the stage with yet another group of talented actors. I feel extremely fortunate.”
She was slated to star in Finding Neverland until 27 March (16).