Broadway star Josh Grisetti left the production of “Legally Blonde: The Musical” due to “personal reasons” just days before he died by suicide at age 44.
In his final Instagram post shared on Wednesday, Grisetti revealed he had to step away from his directing duties for the show’s opening night at the Trentino Music Festival in Italy.
Grisetti’s post included a photo of the cast holding up his image on a phone and a video of them on stage shouting, “We love you, Josh!”
“When you have to leave a production for personal reasons before getting to see the show open, and the cast and team do stuff like this… 🥹🥹😭,” Grisetti began his caption.
The actor said he “literally cried on the plane” over the cast’s “little gesture” that helped him as his “heart [was] hurting.”
“Love this group of misfits right back!! 😍😍😍,” he wrote. “Happy opening, LEGALLY BLONDE — @trentinomusicfestival!! I’m so proud of you all. Knock their pink socks off!!”
Grisetti’s friend and fellow Broadway star, Rob McClure, shared the tragic news of his death over the weekend.
“It is with a shattered heart that I share that the brilliant Josh Grisetti took his own life on Friday,” McClure wrote on Instagram alongside photos of the pair.
McClure said he’s “not ready to even attempt to understand” the tragedy and expressed support for Grisetti’s wife, Mackenzie, whom the late star married in February 2020.
“Communities around the world will never be the same without him. We love you Josh. Just a cataclysmic loss,” the “Good Fight” actor penned.
At the end of his post, McClure told fans that info about Grisetti’s memorial will “come in time.”
Grisetti was born in Washington, DC, in December 1981.
He made his Broadway debut starring as Marty Kaufman in “It Shoulda Been You” in 2015, which earned him a Theatre World Award and nominations for a Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award.
Grisetti solidified his Broadway career by starring as Nigel Bottom in the hit musical “Something Rotten!.”
On television, Grisetti was best known for playing Ralph Emerson in the final season of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” in 2023.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255) or text Crisis Text Line at 741741.
