Steve Kazee addresses "Once" fans regarding his absence...

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 3/25/13 at 5:24pm

From his website...

"To the fans of Once the Musical,

I just wanted to write and say thank you for all of your well wishes and sweet messages during the past few weeks. As many of you know, I suffered a vocal injury on Feb. 6th and was unable to return to the role of Guy since that time. This is not how I had imagined the run of the show would end for me and to say it has been disappointing would be understating it quite a bit. I have been on vocal rest since my diagnosis to help heal up the swelling and to reduce inflammation around a blood vessel that was lying over top of the swollen area. I am feeling much better these days and should be back to 100% within a week or two and I look forward to seeing whatever comes next. I had planned on extending my contract with Once through September but after the injury I had to reevaluate that decision and on the advice of my doctor it was decided that returning to singing the same role in the same way 8 times a week would be too high of a risk of hemorrhaging a vocal cord and one that I wasn't willing to take. I am truly sorry that I wasn't able to be there to finish out this run as I know many of you came to see the original cast of Once. I hope you can understand that I was just as disappointed to not be able to perform for you. I know many of you were concerned about me because of my absence from social networks so I want to let you know that my absence was what I felt was most respectful to the show, to the cast, and ultimately to the audiences of Once. I would have felt awful to know that one of you was at the show and I wasn't there and then when you returned home you found copious tweets from me about The Walking Dead or some other random bit of banal business from my day. I ultimately felt that waiting until after March 24th before addressing any of this was the best way for me personally to handle it. I don’t know how to convey to you what an impact you have all made on me since this journey began. I am one of you. I am a fan. A fan of Broadway, theatre, film/tv, music, art and all those who create it. It is that same fandom that I saw in your eyes, heard in your words, felt in your hugs, and sometimes tears, that will stay with me forever. I loved spending time with you on the street or at the stage door nearly as much as I loved performing for you. You constantly reminded me of how incredibly lucky I am to be doing what i’m doing and I hope as my life transitions from this place to the next that I can continue to do the kind of job that has garnered your love and admiration for years and years to come. This show and everyone involved in it; our wonderful producers, phenomenal creatives, amazingly talented cast, our outstanding stage management team, everyone behind the scenes at the Jacobs Theatre, and you, the audience, mean the world to me and I consider myself to be YOUR fan as well. Thank you for everything. I love you all.

Steve"

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 3/25/13 at 5:29pm

Direct link: http://www.stevekazee.com/to-the-fans

[mc1227]

Posted: 3/25/13 at 5:41pm

Thanks for posting this. It's truly a shame he was not able to finish his contract and bow out with the respect he deserves. Wonderful performer..best wishes for a speedy recovery.

[NYadgal]

Posted: 3/25/13 at 5:46pm

Classy.

Classy all the way.

I'm so sorry he wasn't able to finish out his run in ONCE. I wish him ALL the best and look forward to hearing about his next artistic endeavor.

Wonderful performer and good man.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 3/25/13 at 5:51pm

Im so grateful I got to see him. I wish him vibrant health and look forward to the next creative endeavor.

[DAME]

Posted: 3/25/13 at 6:07pm

Nicely done.

[mmh1019]

Posted: 3/25/13 at 6:11pm

While I was disappointed that I missed him both times I saw the show (1st the weekend his mom died 2nd when he was on vacation), his explanation for why he "disappeared" makes complete sense. I can't imagine how disappointed he was not to be able to continue with the show, but Ben Hope has stepped in admirably and done a great job, he has had the chance to really make the role his own. I wish Steve the best of luck in whatever he does next.

[Wynbish]

Posted: 3/25/13 at 7:02pm

Well put, Kazee, and well done

[grumpyoptimist]

Posted: 3/25/13 at 7:14pm

Very fitting from a guy who has been nothing but class...

[SondheimFan5]

Posted: 3/25/13 at 7:26pm

I wish him well. A lovely man onstage and off.

Has he workshopped anything recently or talked about upcoming gigs?

[Skip2]

Posted: 3/25/13 at 8:17pm

Thanks for that explanation...but...

Why couldn't some notice have gone out when he decided not to use social media any more. Seems like THAT would have been the time to issue a notice. Why keep the fans in the dark all that time? We were more concerned that we DIDN'T hear anything.

[Patti LuPone FANatic]

Posted: 3/25/13 at 8:19pm

What role can he undertake on Broadway, after an appropriate rest? Thoughts? from RC in Austin, Texas

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 3/25/13 at 8:49pm

"Why keep the fans in the dark all that time? We were more concerned that we DIDN'T hear anything. "

That's one question that would be best taken up with the producers, is my guess, and the answer to that is money. In any case, I don't understand why anyone thinks they are entitled to know the details of someone's private life troubles, even if they are a public person.

Really, what business is it of ours? Serious question Skip2 - were you honestly "concerned"? From reading your posts (some of them deleted), you seemed more annoyed than concerned.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 3/25/13 at 8:54pm

very classy by him. I have nothibg but respect for him & wish him a speedy recovery. Maybe if he's to ever return to Once, it can be for 6 performances a week and have an alternate for the Wed/Sat matinees?

[trixigold]

Posted: 3/25/13 at 8:59pm

He should try his luck in films and TV. He has that boyish-but-mature look going on plus he's still riding the buzz from winning the Tony. The romantic leading man role he had in "Once" gave him a squeeing fangirl type of fanbase. Go for it while the glow is still going. He can make a pile of money and still go back to the stage eventually if that's what he wants.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 3/25/13 at 9:02pm

Love him and wish him nothing but the best! I hope he comes back to Broadway very soon.

[nsguy45]

Posted: 3/25/13 at 9:12pm

"He should try his luck in films and TV. He has that boyish-but-mature look going on plus he's still riding the buzz from winning the Tony"

Winning a Tony means next to nothing in Los Angeles . . . just ask John Lloyd Young.

[Skip2]

Posted: 3/25/13 at 9:15pm

Sorry, ghostlight, that you can't get into my head, but, yes...I was annoyed AND concerned.

Annoyed that no one cared that I might have been concerned to wonder why he just fell off the face of the earth.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 3/25/13 at 9:24pm

I somewhat agree with SKip2 and this new social media snafu. So many celebs and people who think they are celebs use these outlets (twitter, facebook) non-stop.

They have no problem spilling every thought, desire, meal, bout of insomnia, and purchase but when they demand privacy the fans are looked at with disdain.

If you are going to actively connect and communicate with fans, it has an impact if you just stop. It works both ways.

[trixigold]

Posted: 3/25/13 at 9:24pm

While Steve isn't a pretty boy, he's more conventional looking than John Lloyd Young, who may be more difficult to cast due to his unconventional looks (John's not ugly, but somewhat idiosyncratic and has sort of a period character actor look). Besides which, if his vocal problems are that bad, it could be a while before hecan do eight shows a week in a musical show. They all seem to wind up looking in LA, especially with Broadway work getting harder to find.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 3/25/13 at 9:28pm

Steve is very castable and very attractive. If he needs to top singing for a while, he could easily find work in television and film.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 3/25/13 at 9:29pm

Oh, I would definitely call that pretty.

[ILuv2shop531]

Posted: 3/25/13 at 9:30pm

Posted this on the other thread before:
I've read this about 3 times now and have been in tears ever since. This man is such a class act and there really is no one else like him in the community. It sucks that we didn't get an explanation until now, but everything makes sense and I wish him the best. Anyone that has made jokes about him going nuts in the last few weeks really need to get over themselves. I wish Steve so much success with his next projects. He really did something special onstage this past year.

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 3/25/13 at 9:35pm

I don't know where you got the idea that "no one cared", Skip2 - multiple threads (including this one) bear out that many people cared quite a bit, albeit for a lot of different reasons. He didn't fall "off the face of the earth", he was out of a show.

Prior to this thread, most of the posts I read weren't out of concern for him, but annoyance that 1). They weren't sure if he'd be in the show 2).If he wasn't in the show, they wanted to know why, and 3). There were some really ugly allegations being thrown around about the reasons for his absence.

Most of the above posts I refer to were deleted.

I am glad that either his producers or publicists finally gave the go ahead for him to make a statement, and agree it should have come sooner, if only to avoid a lot of the ugliness that I saw here over the past few weeks.

[winston89]

Posted: 3/26/13 at 9:44am

Bettyboy72,

Thanks for sharing the message Steve wrote. I will echo what has been said and say that he is a very classy individual.

However, I am not sure that I agree with you with regards to social media working both ways. You're right in that if an actor is going to post every banal detail about their days online and then stop doing so, the fans are looked at with disdain. But, the way I view it is it's like a window that the actors create into their lives outside their respective show. They are allowing fans to peer through it and the fans should be lucky for the chance to do so. However, I don't see anything wrong with the actor choosing to limit what they do on social media sites and feel that fans should respect the performer in question when they choose to limit what they do. Even if it's stopping for a period of time. Now, I am not at all trying to single out Kazee in this, this is just my view of social media in general. And, for the record, it's not something that I am a fan of, but I still get why people enjoy it though I may not agree with it.