NEW YORK — “Dawson’s Creek” star James Van Der Beek made a surprise video appearance during Monday night’s sold-out Broadway reunion despite being too ill to attend in person.

The 48-year-old actor, who revealed last November that he has Stage 3 colorectal cancer, announced on Sunday he was sidelined by health issues. He was due to join other cast members from popular late 1990s coming-of-age drama for a live reading of the series’ first episode at the Richard Rodgers Theatre. In his place was “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, who took the stage at the home of his long-running Broadway show.

“I have been looking forward to this night for months and months ever since my angel Michelle Williams said she was putting it together,” Van Der Beek said in a prerecorded video before the table read. “I can’t believe I’m not there. I can’t believe I don’t get to see my cast mates, my beautiful cast in person.”

After thanking his castmates and fans, van der Beek announced his replacement. “And, obviously, on Dawson’s Creek, I had no understudy, but this is Broadway, and I needed one. So we figured we’d try to find somebody who had never understudied in this theater before.”

Miranda joined Williams, Katie Holmes, Joshua Jackson, Mary Beth Peil, John Wesley Shipp, Mary-Margaret Humes, Nina Repeta, Kerr Smith, Meredith Monroe and Busy Philipps all came out for the charity event to support Van Der Beek and benefit the nonprofit F Cancer.

Once the reading ended Van Der Beek returned on screen to introduce Norm Lewis, who performed “The Music of the Night” from the Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “The Phantom of the Opera.”

The Tony-nominated stage veteran made history in 2014 as the first African American actor to star in the title role of the Broadway production.

Academy Award-winning filmmaker Steven Spielberg — Dawson’s hero in the series — also appeared on the big screen, saying, “Dawson, we made it. Maybe someday, I will get to have a Dawson’s closet.”

Another original “Hamilton” star, Renée Elise Goldsberry, served as the narrator of the event. The Tony winner, who played Angelica Schuyler, closed out the night by singing the Paula Cole classic “I Don’t Want To Wait,” which was the show’s theme song. She was joined on stage by the cast and Van Der Beek’s wife and children.

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