Beetlejuice Cast Member Death

[CPannullo]

Kerry Butler tweeted about the passing of a caste member yesterday. Does anyone know what happened?

https://twitter.com/kerrybutlernyc/status/1142480284274823169?s=21

My thoughts and prayers to the family of the cast member and the Bettlejuice company. It’s never an easy thing to go through 

[CATSNYrevival]

Cue the inappropriate jokes.

[DoTheDood]

https://twitter.com/KerryButlerNyc/status/1142510458315911168?s=19

He was a production assistant with the show, but it's still very obvious he meant a lot to the cast and crew. It's really a shame

[LesWickedly]

Just to clarify, per her Twitter, he was their production assistant. So very sad.

[jpbran]

A production assistant. Must be difficult/weird going on knowing a co-worker just passed away. 

[BrodyFosse123]

Not really. I went back to work the day after my father passed away suddenly, and we had a close relationship. I come from an entertainment industry family with “the show must go on” thinking so out of respect to him, I didn’t let real life interfere with work. Audra McDonald went right back into the revival of 110 IN THE SHADE the day after her father passed. This is more therapeutic than dwelling on grief for days. It helps enormously to refocus on something else if only for a few hours.  People flipped out when they saw she didn’t miss performances.  Boy, was she judged and dissected.  

[TheQuibbler]

I think it’s more that this show has a more flippant attitude about death than other shows and so it seems little awkward?

[Bette's Turban]

BrodyFosse123 said: "Not really. I went back to work the day after my father passed away suddenly, and we had a close relationship. I come from an entertainment industry family with “the show must go on” thinking so out of respect to him, I didn’t let real life interfere with work. Audra McDonald went right back into the revival of 110 IN THE SHADE the day after her father passed. This is more therapeutic than dwelling on grief for days. It helps enormously to refocus on something else if only for a few hours. Peopleflipped out when they saw she didn’t miss performances. Boy, was she judged and dissected."

This is not about you.

[taylortrensch]

bww users truly have a habit of turning a thread into something about them huh .

 

 

 

[Lauren2]

From Sophia insta story it seems it was suicide.

[DoTheDood]

Lauren2 said: "From Sophia insta story it seems it was suicide. "

I feel like because a lot of jokes in the show talk about suicide in a humorous way, they might not want that to neither confirm or deny if it as an accident or not. Honestly I feel it is probably more respectful to not speculate on that more, as that's probably the wishes of the cast/crew unless they decide to talk about it directly.

[Lauren2]

I’m not speculating. I haven’t seen the show so I don’t know what they talk about but her and I have seen others that have posted about him talk about reaching out to someone and have been posting the national suicide prevention line so that is why I said that. Maybe check what I said I saw before you critic something.

[DoTheDood]

Lauren2 said: "I’m not speculating. I haven’t seen the show so I don’t know what they talk about but her and I have seen others that have posted about him talk about reaching out to someone and have been posting the national suicide prevention line so that is why I said that. Maybe check what I said I saw before you critic something."

Oh sorry, I wasn't meaning to imply you were speculating, I just could see someone mentioning it might be one thing and the rest of the board running with it before anything is publicly given. I just didn't want people to speculate off what you said. Again, sorry for the misjudgment, that was not what I what intended. 

[BenjaminNicholas2]

A sad story, but to hell with the most overused term 'thoughts and prayers'

[Alex Kulak2]

Oh my God, he dated a drummer for a show I was in a few years ago. He posted about it on Facebook yesterday. That’s so awful.

[Popular]

This is heartbreaking. I know what it’s like to lose someone to suicide- my best friend was found in her home exactly a year ago yesterday.

If that is the case (and it does seem to be from Sophia’s IG story) I applaud her using her platform to acknowledge the mental health crisis in this country. Maybe in time she will feel more comfortable actually saying the word SUICIDE, but it’s very soon after and it can get complicated if wishes of the family are trying to be honored, etc.

I send the entire production, and the rest of his loved ones my deepest condolences.

[AngusN]

Has this anything to do with the threats at the stage door?

[Alex Kulak2]

I thought those were made against Alex Brightman?

[dearalanaaaa]

Alex Kulak2 said: "I thought those were made against Alex Brightman?"

It was mostly Alex, but it effected a lot of people backstage. Most of them didn't come out the stagedoor for a week or so after the threat.

[trpguyy]

Production Assistants are employed only during the production period; not after opening. And he was working on a different/current show, so I can’t imagine the Beetlejuice stage door played a role.

[GavestonPS]

jpbran said: "A production assistant. Must be difficult/weird going on knowing a co-worker just passed away."

Indeed. And if you had lived in New York (or San Francisco or Los Angeles) in the 1980s, it was a monthly--sometimes weekly--event.

(This is in no manner condescension if you weren't around during that dark period.)

[GavestonPS]

taylortrensch said: "bww users truly have a habitof turning a thread into something about them huh .





"

Well, it is a chat forum. It's not surprising that posters relate their own experiences to news announcements. When Brody posted his own story, we didn't know the identity of the deceased nor his cause of death. What the hell was Brody SUPPOSED to talk about?

[Plannietink08]

Surprised BWW aren’t reporting on this poor lad’s death.

[Tag]

He was apparently working on Rock of Ages.