Not Since Andrea Leeds Took That Fatal Walk Up The Stairs, In "Stage Door," Has There Been Such A Broadway Tragedy--Only This Time, It Is Real!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                              This one really bothers me, because, unlike the situation in "Stage Door," things don't add up.
                                  So, let's start with Andrea Leeds, and her brilliant, Oscar nominated (Best Supporting Actress) performance  in "Stage Door."  This is a curiosity of film, boasting the greatest female all-star cast, beside "The Women," which it preceded by two years, in 1937.  Shocking as it may be to say, I actually prefer "Stage Door."  Maybe because of its dark turn.

                                 The setting is the Footlights Club, a boarding house for young women trying to break into show business.  Andrea's character, Kay Hamilton, was the toast of last season, in a show she won high praise for. Alas, the show closed; apparently, it did not do much for Kay's career.   Unlike the other girls, who have familial and other help, Kay has no one; she is this story's Fantine.   Though she does not resort to prostitution, but starves herself, and not telling the other girls, saying she has friends in town, social obligations and auditions.  She needs every cent she can hang on to, in order to travel to auditions.

                                  Kay is desperate.  She faints from exhaustion and deprivation, and, when this happens, the girls try and help her along.  In a cruel and unwitting twist of fate (because who knew what the result would be?) Katherine Hepburn, as Terry, gets the lead part.  Kay helps her with opening jitters, and the monologue she does about holding the flowers, because the experience of wanting a child "happened to someone I know" is a key revelation of Kay's past.   In a tragic foreshadowing of what is to come, she tells Terry to go on--no matter what happens.  Terry is appreciative of Kay's kindness, and tells her she wishes she (Kay) could be there at the performance.  Kay says she will--in spirit.  Uh, oh.  Terry moves on, and Kay glances at the stairs.  As a look of shock comes over her face, she advances upwards, hearing in her head, the voices directing her on her opening night, just the year before.  She advances up the stairs, and out of camera range, and then one of the girls is heard screaming.  She announces Kay has just jumped out the window. She has committed suicide.

                                    Can anyone be blamed for Kay's death?   Not really.  Though the girls are saddened, no one suspected she was that desperate. Katherine Hepburn only got the part, because her wealthy father (Samuel S. Hinds) wanted her to experience the humiliation of a Broadway flop.  Instead, Kay's death sort of turns things into a triumph as Hepburn delivers one of her most moving monologues on stage, and to the audience, as she grieves for her dead friend. And allows us, the audience, to do so, too.

The situation surrounding Jeff Loeffelholz is altogether different.  If the world were a right place, I would never have heard of him.  Unfortunately, because of this incident, I now have.  Seeing the revival of "Chicago," which opened at the Shubert, in 1997, having moved from ENCORES! at City Center, and, then, to its current venue, the Ambassador, in 2003, was never on my radar, once Ann Reinking and Bebe Neurwith left it.  Jeff was with the show for its entire run; years ago, there was a dancer, whose name I cannot recall, who was in "CATS" for its entire 19 year run.  I have to give her credit; to be able to do the same role for almost two decades, attests to her strength, what with "CATS" being a such a dance-centric show.  Jeff's work in "Chicago" was vocally challenging, and it is remarkable his voice sustained itself for over two decades, as he, too aged.

Now, Jeff was a stand-in, for the role of Mary Sunshine in "Chicago," and let me tell you, that character is a coveted role.  I don't know if he worked in the ensemble when not doing Mary, but he was always available for the role, when needed, it would seem.  Age is a factor here; he went into this show, at 35, his big break, at the age when most actors who have not "made it" stop, and was doing cabaret acts, and other performances while in "Chicago," up until his tragic death at the age of 57.

Here is where things get dicey.  Like Kay Hamilton, in "Stage Door," Jeff committed suicide.  The cause was a toxic mix of painkillers and alcohol.  The impetus for this was stage bullying by director Walter Bobbie, and musical director, Leslie Stifelman.  But, had the bullying been going on, longer than reported???????  That is what I suspect, and what I want to know!!!!!!!!

Jeff went into the show with a "run of the play" contract, meaning he could not be fired, unless for due cause.  So, he works 22 years, and then they want him out?  What gives here?  I will tell you.

Money, baby.  That is what it is all about.  The producers of the show thought Jeff was costing them too much money, so they roughhoused Walter Bobbie, the director, and Leslie Stifelman, the Music Director, into being the bad guys.

Here is Walter Bobbie.  I have admired his work, and have, until now, never heard a bad thing said about him.  If the director here had been Joe Mantello, Julie Taymor, or Diane Paulus, well, I would not have been at all surprised.  And we all know how mercurial and dangerous, Jerome Robbins, Michael Bennett, and Julie Arenal (who was a bitch on the orginal "HAIR") could be, so this kind of behavior does go on.  But I have never heard anything said about Walter Bobbie.  He may have been doing the producers' dirty work, but he should have said, "No, I am not going to destroy and strip an actor of his dignity."  

Now, I find myself looking at him, differently.  To think he and I share the same birthday--November 18, except he is 9 years older--that makes me ashamed.  

The story goes that Jeff was called in for a fresh-up rehearsal on June 22.  Nothing wrong with that.  I get it, and I have been through them.  It never hurts to review the material, to make sure things have not been forgotten, and to keep lethargy from sinking in.  Nothing Bobbie or Stifelman did, in this respect, is wrong.  But turning the rehearsal into their own personal destruction session, where they cut down Loeffelholz , by having him relentlessly sing "A Little Bit Of Good," Mary's big number, was cruel and unusual punishment.  First, the song was in the actor's bloodstream, and he probably knew it better than anyone there; second, it is vocally demanding on the voice, and to have him repeat this again and again was inhumane.  Loeffelholz, a sensitive type, wanted to merely cooperate, and stay with the show; but he must have been aware this was a trap to goad him into leaving.  And just look at that smirk on Bobbie's face; he knew what he was doing, the producers probably promised him more money, if he would destroy Loeffelholz.  

Which brings us to Music Director Leslie Stifelman.  I had never heard of her, till this incident, either.  Now, I am sure she is a talented musician, knows her stuff, and I am certainly not going to fault her, for being a lesbian!  But, I am telling you, just looking at that face, I can detect, right away that she is a Bitch On Wheels!!!!!!!!!!!  And she just loves it!  Which means Bobbie may have a trace of remorse for Loeffelholz, but she didn't!!!!!!!!  She LOVED it, because she LOVES being a Bitch On Wheels!!!!!!!!!  Don't EVER work for one of these types, girls!!!!!!!!!!  Step right up, and puke, when you see them!!!!!!!!!!!

The greater blame falls on her.  I am sure she played the music right, and I am sure the actor sang it correctly.  She was just trying to goad him.  And she knew it!!!!!!!!

Now, while I despise these two for what they did, I don't know if they can be held accountable.   And this is where some questions of mine come in.

Was this one incident enough to unhinge Jeff?  Or had things been building up to this?  My suspicions tell me the latter.  No one, unless with serious mental problems, takes their life after one bad rehearsal.  Or a bad work day.  There is more than is not being told.

Here is Jeff, with his lovely partner, Peter De La Cruz. My heart goes out to Peter, who I am sure is devastated.  How could, I ask, Jeff leave this world, when he had so much love beside him??????? Other things had to have been going on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The rehearsal was on June 22.  Jeff died exactly a week later, on the 29th.  Obviously, something had been building, because I cannot believe the rehearsal alone pushed him over the edge. It was the rehearsal, PLUS what ever had come before!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  And just what was that, anyway?

Obviously, the rehearsal rattled him, though he stood his ground, in the midst of being humiliated like this, in front of other cast members.  Who, by the way, should have stepped in, and called Bobbie and Stifelman on their shit!

What I am getting at is, when Loeffelholz left that rehearsal, was he then officially out of the show, or not?  That's what I want to know.

If I seem angry, it is not only because I am saddened for Jeff and his loved ones, but I have known such behavior myself, in both the theater and the workplace.  At the last, several years back, I was subjected to the same sort of treatment, by those who know whom they are, and whom I will reveal in the coming years.  I had a loving partner, but I did what Jeff should have done.  I adapted the attitude of Neely O'Hara, and, in effect, said, "I'll leave this stinking show, with dignity!!!!!!!!!!"

I retired.

What I am getting at is, I wish it did not have to have been this way for Jeff.  And if "Justice For Jeff" sees this, you have my permission to reference me.

As for Walter Bobbie and Leslie Stifelman, they are not out of the woods yet.  I hope they are brought up on charges, especially that Bitch On Wheels!  Bobbie at least expressed token sorrow to Jeff and his loved ones.  Bitch On Wheels said nothing!  Which is why she is what she is!

It is a pity these two did not work with me.  They would learn what a bitch REALLY is!

Rest In Peace, Jeff, and may you get justice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!