I Guess He Stayed Too Long At The Fair!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                               I am still trying to make sense of Jeff Loeffelholz' tragic death.  An investigation is under way, and I hope someone, or ones, is held accountable.

                                But his death also, unfortunately, says something about shifting cultural attitudes, today, which do not benefit anyone.

                                 Our society expects individuals to earn a living, and support themselves, and/or others.  Unless, of course you're the Baroness Pauline De Rothschild, which, believe me, I would love to have been, and, in spite of it, try to do my best to live up to such standards.  Just read what I write on here.

                                  I think I can understand the place where Jeff was coming from.  He had been raised with a strong work ethic, as was I.  When I was growing up, in the Sixties, around me, the message given was if one got a job, one did not leave it, unless for extraordinary reasons.  By the time I was of age to look for a job, prospective employers focused on two things--work experience, which, if one was young, was limited, meaning one had to prove oneself, or too much experience; in vulgar parlance "job hopping."  Too much of this was on looked on unfavorably.

                                  Today, it seems the opposite applies.  People are regarded as disposable, yet are still expected to support themselves.  It gets more difficult to blend the two.  The job situation today is one is looked upon as less than, for staying with a job for a long time.  Nowadays, job hopping is considered a virtue, favoring the employer, who can hire the next person for less, and the worker, who now is regarded as "ambitious" rather than "non-committal," for hopping around.

                                   I learned that Jeff was offered the role of Mary Sunshine full time.  Now, I have to be honest, that might have been something I would have leapt at. But, I have to hand it to Jeff--he was as practical as he was artistic.  He knew if he took the role full time, his contract would be rewritten.  Instead of a run-of-the-play document, he would be up for renewal, every six months to a year.  Which meant, any time the contract was up, he could be let go.  He made the smart choice--for him.  He stayed with the show.

                                  Had he assumed the role full time, I am sure as soon as the contract was up, he would have been out.  That was not part of his plan.  Let's face it, few shows run 22 years, so Jeff knew he was lucky.  Had "Chicago" been a limited run, or closed sooner, Jeff would have been out, but I think he would have kept up a career.  Combined with our culture's now prevailing attitudes, and Walter Bobbie's cruelly admitting to Jeff he disagrees with Equity and run of play contracts, plus his and Bitch On Wheels' (Leslie Stifelman),  treatment of Jeff being pointedly vicious and  abusive long before that June 22 rehearsal, someone needs to be brought up on charges.

                                   There is nothing wrong with staying in a job you love.  People have to work.  They have to survive amidst a culture that, sadly, devalues them, no matter what the profession.

                                      What is the poor, singular individual, supposed to do?????????????????