Understudy Steps Up for Nathan Lane in ‘The Nance’

Sara Krulwich/The New York Times Mr. Lane onstage in “The Nance.”

The Tony Award-winning actor Nathan Lane injured his foot and leg on Wednesday night during a performance of the Broadway play “The Nance” and had to be replaced by his understudy, Stephen DeRosa. In a telephone interview on Thursday, Mr. Lane said he was due to see a physical therapist and hoped to return to “The Nance” for Thursday night’s performance.

The injury occurred during the first act of the play, which stars Mr. Lane as a 1930s-era burlesque performer, as the actor stepped off of the production’s turntable, which revolves to allow the “Nance” sets to change from the burlesque house to the apartment of Mr. Lane’s character.

“The turntable was moving very quickly and I misjudged it, and had one foot on the stage while the other was still on the turntable, and it pulled my leg,” Mr. Lane said. “It twisted badly. I’m seeing a physical therapist today, and we’ll see. I hope to be back in the show tonight.”

A spokeswoman for the play’s producer, Lincoln Center Theater, said that Mr. Lane’s status for Thursday’s performance would be announced later. Mr. Lane, a two-time Tony winner for “The Producers” and “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” was nominated this year for a best actor Tony for “The Nance,” written by Douglas Carter Beane and scheduled to run through Aug. 11.