Broadway Performer and Influencer Bret Hanna-Shuford Dead at 46 After Battling Rare Cancer

Former Broadway performer and influencer Bret Hanna-Shuford has died. He was 46.

“It is with a heavy heart that we share the news that early this morning, we said goodbye to the most amazing man, husband and Papa in the universe,” Bret’s husband, Stephen Hanna-Shuford, wrote in a Saturday, January 3, statement via their “Broadway Husbands” Instagram page. “Bret Hanna-Shuford left this world peacefully with love surrounded by his family. Our hearts are broken but we will continue to make him proud of us.”

Bret, who is survived by Stephen and their 3-year-old son Maverick, was diagnosed with T-Cell Lymphoma last year. (T-Cell Lymphoma, according to the Lymphoma Research Foundation, is a rare form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma that can develop in lymphoid tissues, such as the lymph nodes and spleen.)

“It’s officially been a month since visiting the hospital and getting a series of [misdiagnoses] until discovering that I have T-Cell Lymphoma,” Bret wrote via Instagram in September 2025. “It’s been a frustrating journey that finally feels like there’s a solution. It’s going to be a long recovery, longer than I even thought.”

Bret resided at a local hospital while undergoing treatment, including chemotherapy, this fall.

“Happy Thanksgiving! So grateful that we got to spend some time together today with papa at the hospital,” Stephen wrote via Instagram in November 2025. “We are hopeful about his new treatment.”

Weeks later, Stephen visited Bret to celebrate the Christmas holiday.

“We are so grateful for your love and support,” they wrote in a joint post last month. “Looking forward to a new year and hope to see you all soon.”

After announcing Bret’s death, several members of their theatrical community offered their condolences.

“This news is absolutely heartbreaking and I’m so so sorry for your loss,” Busy Philipps wrote via Instagram comment on Saturday. “You both have brought such light and beauty and hilarity into the world and I’m just sending you and your family so much love and my deepest condolences.”

Sharna Burgess, for her part, said that she was “devastated” to hear of Bret’s death.

“I am devastated hearing this. I am so so sorry. Sending you and Maverick so much love and courage and strength,” Burgess, 40, replied. “You are an extraordinary human and father and husband and Maverick is so lucky to have you with him. Brett will always be with you.”

Beanie Feldstein, Michael Buckley, Ryan Ratelle, Keiko Lynn and Kara Lindsay also offered their support in the comments section.

“Oh my heart just broke into a million pieces,” Broadway vet Lindsay, who battled stage II breast cancer in 2024, wrote. “Bret, you are so loved and will be missed here on earth. Praying for you, Stephen, and your sweet son. I’m so very sorry for your loss.”

Playwright and director Tim Federle also remembered working with Bret in their early careers.

“Endless crazy costumes and inside jokes with the infinite @bretshuford, who we’ve lost but will never be forgotten,” Federle, 45, wrote via his Instagram Stories on Saturday. “We were dancing fish together and understudies and dressing roommates, and he left a handprint on a lot of hearts.”