BE MORE CHILL Star Lauren Marcus Discusses Her Struggles with Alopecia

Be More Chill is headed to the New York stage for its highly anticipated run Off-Broadway. The show comes with a hoard of fans ready to show their love for the cast and creatives. Cast member Lauren Marcus recently revealed her own personal journey, publicly announcing her diagnosis of alopecia, an auto-immune disease that causes hair loss.

Marcus wrote a first-person piece for Yahoo in which she tells of her first symptoms to the diagnosis to figuring out how to move on with her life by shaving her head. She says the response she received from fans was immense.

"The reaction was insane, especially from the Be More Chill fans," she writes. "People were so sweet. Some even started sending me bald fan art."

She also says, "It's very weird being so in the public eye right now and not looking the way I wish I looked." But despite this, she mentions that the best part is "the fans telling me that it's helping them in some way."

Read Marcus's full piece here, and watch the song she wrote about her hair loss, "Funeral", below:

Be More Chill, the original musical with music and lyrics by Joe Iconis (NBC's "Smash", The Black Suits, Broadway Bounty Hunter) and a book by Joe Tracz(The Lightning Thief, Netflix's "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events") will have its long anticipated New York premiere production this summer. Stephen Brackett directs and Chase Brock choreographs the limited 9-week, off-Broadway engagement July 26 - September 23 at The Irene Diamond Stage at The Pershing Square Signature Center (480 West 42nd Street, NYC). Tickets are now on sale at TicketCentral.com, (212) 279-4200.

Based on the cult sensation novel by Ned Vizzini, Be More Chill is the story of Jeremy Heere, your average, nothing-special teenager at Middleborough High in nothing-special New Jersey. That is, until the day he finds out about "The Squip." Thus begins a journey that pits Jeremy's desire to be popular against his struggle to remain true to his authentic self. Be More Chill is an honest, edgy, super-hilarious look at coming of age in the digital age, set to some of the most exciting songs in contemporary musical theater. This original musical comedy looks at modern issues like depression, bullying, and anxiety through the lens of sci-fi films of the 50s, horror flicks of the 80s, and teen movies of the 90s. Little Shop of Horrors meets The Breakfast Club in this celebration of outcasts, teenaged or otherwise.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos