#26
Posted: 3/25/16 at 8:49am
Agree. Whole thing seems shady
SHUFFLE ALONG Cast Member JL Williams Found Safe! — Page 2
#27
Posted: 3/25/16 at 8:51am
As he's no longer in the cast of Shuffle Along, I'm not sure if he did it for publicity, though something seems off.
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Updated On: 3/25/16 at 08:51 AM
#28
Posted: 3/25/16 at 8:58am
I, too, am wary....I heard that he won't talk to the press about what happened, only as a performance. I'm glad he's safe, but not so sure I need a performance to explain.
(And since we don't know what happened, I'm not sure this can be labeled as brave.)
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#29
Posted: 3/25/16 at 10:06am
he went away for some time to a "retreat," as it states in the article. what does that even mean?
#30
Posted: 3/25/16 at 10:06am
From the Playbill article - “The show features original music, singing and, of course, lots of tapping to tell a tale about resilience, redemption and perseverance with big hearts and big sounds.”
What does original music, singing, and lots of tapping have to do with going missing?
Also, wouldn't the better career move have been Shuffle Along and not this one man thing he's selling?
#31
Posted: 3/25/16 at 10:10am
And why did this article disappear? https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Update-Missing-Broadway-Actor-JL-Williams-To-Make-First-Stage-Appearance-This-Spring-20160319
"This thread reads like a series of White House memos." — Mister Matt
#32
Posted: 3/25/16 at 10:12am
between this and the nerds fiasco unraveling, it is a very very strange Friday....
#33
Posted: 4/15/16 at 12:32am
Did anyone learn what this whole thing was about? I'm genuinely curious. He went missing, presumably worrying friends, family AND his cast members as he did not show up for rehearsal and several people tweeted and reported him missing. Then, he leaves (or, gets let go?) from Shuffle Along? And now he is putting on a concert to tell what happened to him? So, he is trying to make money off of his disappearance? I don't mean to sound rude in any way, I'm just wondering if anyone knows...anything.
#34
Posted: 4/15/16 at 12:59am
Personally, I interpreted the article to mean that his solo show wouldn't specifically be ABOUT his disappearance. It may be a part of the show, and it may have been that he used the timing to sell tickets, but I thought the official description of the show seemed to vague to explicitly mean that it was about his disappearance. I took "his story" to be a looser term, meaning his life story or something like that. The timing just worked out, since he's no longer obligated to Shuffle Along for whatever reason, and maybe he thought that having his name recently in the public eye because of this would help him sell tickets to his own thing. But I could be way off base, especially since I'm not planning to see his solo show. If anyone does, I'd love to hear a report.
#35
Posted: 4/15/16 at 12:59am
Updated On: 4/15/16 at 12:59 AM
#36
Posted: 4/15/16 at 12:59am
Updated On: 4/15/16 at 12:59 AM
#37
Posted: 4/15/16 at 12:59am
Yikes, I'm sorry for the triple post. Don't know what happened there.
#38
Posted: 4/15/16 at 9:56am
He's so brave and strong. We should be honored that he's sharing his journey with us. This artist is an example of strength, vitality, and grace that we all should emulate. This should be mandatory viewing for the entire New York community.
#39
Posted: 4/15/16 at 10:23am
BobBenson said: "This should be mandatory viewing for the entire New York community."
No thanks.
Updated On: 4/15/16 at 10:23 AM
#40
Posted: 4/15/16 at 10:26am
BobBenson said: "He's so brave and strong. We should be honored that he's sharing his journey with us. This artist is an example of strength, vitality, and grace that we all should emulate. This should be mandatory viewing for the entire New York community. "
Have you see a preview of the material?
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#41
Posted: 4/15/16 at 10:31am
I think BobBenson is being sarcastic...
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
#42
Posted: 4/15/16 at 11:47am
AC126748 said: "I think BobBenson is being sarcastic...
"
Eh. Maybe just a little bit. LOL!!!
#43
Posted: 4/15/16 at 12:48pm
I would hate to think this is some kind of "shady" thing, however, I kinda remember that when he was "found" and in Bronx Lebanon Hospital, the press didn't report any details of what actually "happened" to him...mugging, fight, bar brawl, domestic dispute, whatever. Perhaps he requested that personal privacy be requested? I don t know, ....his FB account had hundreds of friends, family worried about him and leaving notes. Unless he s truly a whack job with no concern for others , and not even contacting his mother for 4days, I still might give him the benefit of the doubt. I could totally be wrong, though. The timing of his one man show could be entirely coincidental (or not)?
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#44
Posted: 4/15/16 at 12:49pm
Hairspray0901 said: "Did anyone learn what this whole thing was about? I'm genuinely curious. He went missing, presumably worrying friends, family AND his cast members as he did not show up for rehearsal and several people tweeted and reported him missing. Then, he leaves (or, gets let go?) from Shuffle Along? And now he is putting on a concert to tell what happened to him? So, he is trying to make money off of his disappearance? I don't mean to sound rude in any way, I'm just wondering if anyone knows...anything.
"
I would also love to know more of the story. Genuinely curious as well.
#45
Posted: 4/15/16 at 1:05pm
Everyone seems to want to come out and just say this so I will. It is way, way likely that this man purposely made himself disappear knowing well that his name would be plastered all over this website, playbill and possibly the local news which it played on every single station every single news hour for all four days he was missing and then there were reports of him being found after that. This could have been an actors dream to get this kind of publicity, but his plan backfired. Now he won't release a statement about why his name was plastered all over the media unless you buy a ticket to his one man show that just happened to be ready to go? Yea, nice try. Why not release a statement, even if a total fabrication, and then do the show?
He was probably fired from Shuffle Along for acting so unprofessionally. When he got caught in this BS, he more than likely agreed to walk away from his contract in exchange for the producers not being able to release a statement about what he did. I am not paying a penny for this mans nonsense without a valid explanation.
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#46
Posted: 4/15/16 at 1:54pm
Perhaps I was the only person thinking that it was possibly related to some type of substance abuse or chemical imbalance. I'm not saying this is the case, was the case or could be the case as I don't want to make false statements regarding JL Williams, someone Ive never met.
My thought was based solely on prior cases that were similar.
#47
Posted: 4/15/16 at 2:16pm
I have no idea what caused him to disappear or why he chose not to speak about it. It's entirely possible however that he has struggled with mental illness and had a serious episode, or that it was related to substance abuse. Perhaps he is going to use his story to try to help others but isn't ready to do that yet. (And certainly given that he went on a retreat it would not be surprising if he wasn't ready to at the time he was found.) Or maybe writing and developing this new show was part of his recovery. Maybe not and it is all a publicity stunt, but the point is if it is related to mental illness or substance abuse, I wish people would not contribute to the stigma of that by criticizing him and calling him a whack job or a liar when you really don't know. People struggle for all sorts of reasons you know nothing about.
I don't often complain about speculation and such on these boards, but this is one issue I'm sensitive to because speculation on these issues can lead to stigma for people who may have been through similar things.
#48
Posted: 4/16/16 at 12:02am
ChiTheaterFan said: "I have no idea what caused him to disappear or why he chose not to speak about it. It's entirely possible however that he has struggled with mental illness and had a serious episode, or that it was related to substance abuse. Perhaps he is going to use his story to try to help others but isn't ready to do that yet. (And certainly given that he went on a retreat it would not be surprising if he wasn't ready to at the time he was found.) Or maybe writing and developing this new show was part of his recovery. Maybe not and it is all a publicity stunt, but the point is if it is related to mental illness or substance abuse, I wish people would not contribute to the stigma of that by criticizing him and calling him a whack job or a liar when you really don't know. People struggle for all sorts of reasons you know nothing about.
I don't often complain about speculation and such on these boards, but this is one issue I'm sensitive to because speculation on these issues can lead to stigma for people who may have been through similar things.
"
Thank you.
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