Weather 
After J. Harrison Ghee announced late last month that they’re on the kidney transplant waiting list, the performer was met with an overwhelming amount of support.
“So many people have reached out — and complete strangers,” Ghee exclusively tells BroadwayWorld. “Somebody on Instagram literally was like, ‘Actually, I just got approved as a donor at NYU, but haven’t been matched with anyone. I’ll put in to see if I can get tested with you to get matched.’”
While that person didn’t have the same blood type as Ghee, this random stranger’s act of kindness helped the 37-year-old immensely. While that person’s kidney will likely go to another experiencing kidney failure, Ghee says it will push them up on the waiting list.
Ghee is navigating the changes to their body after being diagnosed with kidney disease in 2022. Admittedly, Ghee says, they were “operating through life very ignorantly” despite knowing that the condition runs in their family. Both of Ghee’s grandmothers were on dialysis — a life-sustaining medical treatment that substitutes for the normal function of the kidney — and his mother had a kidney transplant in 2012. Ghee’s father had kidney failure when he died in 2023.
“For whatever reason,” Ghee says, “I was just operating in, ‘Oh, that won’t be my story. I’m fine. I’m active. I’m busy. I feel fine.’ I was just moving through life very nonchalantly.”
The same year Ghee was diagnosed with kidney disease, they originated the role of Jerry/Daphne in Broadway’s Some Like It Hot, receiving critical acclaim and winning the 2023 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical — making history (alongside Alex Newell, who also won that night) as the first openly nonbinary actor win the coveted award.
Busy performing eight shows a week, Ghee didn’t think much about their health until the beginning of 2024. “I was flying to Tokyo for a New Year’s concert, and my nephrologist was like, ‘We need to talk next steps.’ And I was like, ‘Excuse me?’” Ghee recalls. “She said, ‘We’re at the point where it’s either dialysis or a transplant.’”
While Ghee’s kidney disease has progressed since their initial diagnosis, they remain optimistic as they await a kidney transplant. Currently, the actor is frequently getting blood taken to check their levels and eating with intention to make sure that their body is processing food and nutrients the best way possible.
As Ghee prepares to hit the road with the Oh, Mary! national tour, they’re listening to their body, given that they experience swelling in their feet and ankles. “Initially I was like, ‘I want to be in heels [in the show].’ It’s like, ‘No. Think about your feet doing this eight times a week,’” Ghee says. “Put your ego aside, and wear a flat.”
At the moment, Ghee is able to refrain from undergoing dialysis. “I’ve been maintaining well enough that we’re trying to hold off from dialysis as long as possible, and we’re not dire,” Ghee assures. “My kidney function is very low, but because I am managing my numbers and understanding everything so well, my doctor’s like, ‘We’re okay for now. There’s no immediate, imminent need to do this,’ because dialysis takes years off of your life.”
However, the beloved performer is ready to make a kidney transplant a reality. “Of course, I would’ve loved to have handled the transplant before [going on tour] and not have this looming over me,” Ghee says. “I had to trust my team. If we’re pushing forward, then when the time comes — if I get this kidney during this tour — I have to trust my team to handle that side of things and say, ‘We need a medical leave of absence.’”
There are “definitely some dark days,” Ghee says, but friends, family and loved ones are stepping up in a way that makes the performer feel like they’re not going through this alone. “So many friends were immediately like, ‘No questions. I didn’t know you were dealing with this. I’m going to get tested [to see if we’d be a match] tomorrow,’” Ghee explains. “People are literally holding me up in a way that is so… It’s wonderful.”
Even Oh, Mary! director Sam Pinkleton acknowledged at a recent press day how beloved Ghee is to the Broadway community. That act of kindness, Ghee says, was “beyond my dream.”
“I moved to New York to become an artist who is respected for who I am and what I do, and I go to sleep at night happy that I get to be the human I dreamed of being as a kid,” Ghee says.
As they prepare to hit the road, Oh, Mary! “is going to force me to focus even more on myself,” Ghee says, adding that it’s giving them “an opportunity to meet the moment and really be who I say I am.”
Oh, Mary!, Ghee says, “is another stepping stone to say, ‘I’m getting closer to my optimus prime.’”
