H STAGE TRAGEDY
An actor killed himself. Is production to blame?
OW bad was the rehearsal that some say caused Jeff Loeffelholz, a longtime standby in “Chicago,” to kill himself?
The actor’s handwritten notes, which friends spearheading a “Justice for Jeff ” campaign have released on blogs, describe it as a grueling, brutal and humiliating process.
Loeffelholz served as standby for the role of Mary Sunshine, the newspaper columnist who’s always played by a man in drag.
Walter Bobbie, the show’s director, allegedly complained that Loeffelholz was being “too draggy,” while Leslie Stifelman, the show’s musical director, reportedly chastised him for singing the wrong notes.
The actor’s notes say they made him sing the song “A Little Bit of Good” several times, but were never satisfied.
A few days later, on June 29, Loeffelholz was found dead.
But some members of the “Chicago” company find it hard to believe that a rough rehearsal was the only factor in his suicide.
Production sources say Bobbie was indeed frustrated with Loeffelholz’s performance, but that he didn’t scream at him and made him sing the song twice, not five times, as Loeffelholz claimed.
Bobbie’s frustration, sources say, was that the actor’s voice, after 22 years, had changed, and he no longer sang that song with the power he once brought to it.
They also say Bobbie suggested it was time for Loef- felholz to move on, something that’s usually handled by producers.
“Directors should not talk about an actor’s employment,” one veteran producer says.
Loeffelholz had a contract with the show, in which case, if he were fired, the producers would have had to give him a buyout. Some of the actor’s friends believe the alleged rough treatment was meant to get him to quit so the show wouldn’t have to pay him.
Reps for “Chicago” vehemently deny that charge.
While the rehearsal was strained, a source says, Bobbie and Loeffelholz shook hands at the end.
“There was nothing that happened that would lead anyone to think Jeff would go home and kill himself,” the source says.
Bobbie has declined to comment beyond saying, “I am saddened by Jeff ’s tragic passing, for him and for his family.” “Chicago” producers Fran and Barry Weissler have hired lawyer Judd Burstein to investigate the death. But Burstein claims Actors’ Equity has “stymied” his probe by ordering cast members not to cooperate. Equity, meanwhile, is conducting its own investigation. Producers watching from the sidelines don’t think the scandal will hurt the box office. “Chicago” grossed more than $660,000 last week, well above its break-even point, and is on track to have a healthy summer. Even so, some believe the Weisslers should dispel the cloud as fast as they can. “Do they need to throw someone under the bus?” one producer says. “Probably. But do it quickly.”
Bobbie is well-liked. He’s smart, jolly and quick with a quip. Like many directors, he can be tough, but “he’s not Jerome Robbins, for God’s sake,” says one actor who’s worked with Bobbie.
Robbins, the legendary director of “West Side Story” and “Gypsy,” had a reputation for humiliating actors and dancers until they cracked. He couldn’t get away with such behavior today.
“Directors have a lot of power,” another longtime producer says. “But we’re in a different time now. They’re going to have to be careful. Yelling and screaming don’t cut it anymore.”
And forget about sleeping with anyone in the show, which has been going on since “The Oresteia” premiered in Athens in 458 BC.
That showbiz tradition is on the way out.