And … scene: An Ohio theatre cast and crew just quit production in protest of board member’s transphobic posts

Looks like the pinball wizard is going to sit this next game out.

A production of the rock musical The Who’s Tommy was set for a three-week run at the Brecksville Theatre in Northeast Ohio beginning on September 6. But the theatre released a statement this week saying the production was “postponed”; cast and crew say there’s no one left to perform it.

The fracture came with the surfacing of posts by Don Lloyd, a local insurance agent who sits on the board of directors of the Brecksville Theatre and is the treasurer of the Brecksville Chamber of Commerce. 

Screenshots of Facebook posts obtained by The Buckeye Flame show dozens of examples of Lloyd (who posts on Facebook under the name “Donald Thomas”) using transphobic slurs, making transphobic comments and disparaging Pride organizers and parents of trans children. Due to the transphobia in these posts, we will not be reprinting them. 

Multiple sources say these posts were brought to the attention of the Brecksville Theatre board, which subsequently held a vote on July 14 regarding Lloyd’s board status. 

The majority of the board voted to retain Lloyd. 

The theatre board’s president and the director of Tommy sent an email to cast and crew on July 15.

“In light of some misalignments with the interpretation of the mission, vision and values of the theatre, I’ve chosen to step away from the Board and production of Tommy at The Brecksville Theatre. This has not been an easy choice for me to make, as I have been looking forward to this production for some time.”

From there, the curtain started to drop quickly. 

Cast and crew quit

“As the day progressed, I thought, ‘This is going to go downhill fast,’” said Dave Coxe, musical director for Tommy. “And it did.”

Coxe was excited to serve as musical director for the show, his first since the Brecksville Theatre on the Square and Brecksville Little Theatre merged in 2017 to form the current Brecksville Theatre.

After seeing messages from cast and crew announcing they were dropping out of the production on Tuesday, Coxe made his decision on Wednesday. 

“I have a trans son,” he said. “What kind of message would I be sending if I stayed with the production? I couldn’t stay on if the cast doesn’t feel safe.”

Sarah Heffner was excited to serve as choreographer for Tommy, her first time in that role after years of performing in Brecksville shows. Her husband was to star as the title character. Both quit the production on Tuesday. 

“In my nearly 25 years in theatre, this was my first time walking away due to safety,” Heffner said.”It made me extremely sad to enter into a place that some of my friends would not be able to walk into, and so I knew I had to leave the production.”

Louis Schwartz was cast to play Uncle Ernie, the main antagonist in Tommy. He has acted in previous productions at the theatre and felt the theatre “abandoned its mission statement and morality” by keeping Lloyd on the board.

“How was this man allowed to serve on the board at this renowned theatre that I have worked at before and thought was a safe space for any and all artists to create theatre in?” Schwartz said. 

He quit the production on Wednesday. 

Nina Aust had been the photographer for three previous shows at the theatre and recently submitted a quote for the their next season. A member of the LGBTQ+ community, Aust said she was “profoundly disappointed” by Lloyd’s posts. 

“How can your theatre claim to be a safe space when one of its board members publicly expresses such hateful views,” Aust wrote to the board. “It is appalling that the board has not taken action to distance itself from such a person.”

Aust rescinded her quote and withdrew her offer to do future work with the theatre. 

By Thursday, all of the production team had quit and all but a small handful of the cast.

BBH Pride offers support, while Lloyd gets defensive 

When BBH Pride, a local LGBTQ+ nonprofit, found out about Lloyd’s posts, they reached out via email to theatre staff and board.

“We urged the board to review the repeat instances and pattern of behavior, as we felt they were deeply harmful to the theatre community and Brecksville Theatre’s reputation,” BBH Pride leadership told The Buckeye Flame via email. “We are deeply saddened for how this has affected the theatre community, cast members and all individuals affected by Mr. Lloyd’s actions.”

Although Lloyd did not respond to The Buckeye Flame’s request for comment, in a Facebook Live posted on July 13, Lloyd went through his various posts and offered justification, including:

• “This is comedy.”
• “I don’t walk on eggshells. I stomp on them.”
• “Truth is not a left-wing value.”
• “I have a lot of gay friends.”
• “We really need people to step up and start fighting back against these types of organizations.”
• “I’m not a racist. I’m not a bigot. I’m not a sexist. I’m not a homophobe. I’m not a transphobe.”
• “All I want to do is make sure that my children and soon my grandchildren as they are going through our government-run groups are not going to be taken advantage of by groups like BBH Pride…They’re coming after you. They’re coming after all of us. The theatre is just the first step.”

The host of the Facebook Live podcast – Alexander Grgat, Clerk of the Garfield Heights Municipal Court – said the issues society is facing are due to “the Satanic influence we have” before he invoked the almost-comically debunked myth of kitty litter boxes in schools. 

The theatre responds

The Brecksville Theatre sent an email to cast and crew on Wednesday:

“It is with a heavy heart that we announce the postponement of our upcoming September show, Tommy, as well as all future shows until further notice. As many of you are aware, the theatre board is facing an ethical dilemma that we must address before we can continue providing great theatre to this and surrounding communities. Sensitive matters like this take time and we appreciate your understanding and patience as we work through this.”

The theatre posted on social media that Lloyd’s social media posts are “not in line with the mission and vision” of the theatre:

“We take these situations very seriously and immediately began an investigation. This work takes time and requires specific steps to ensure we fully understand all aspects of the situation.”

For members of the cast and crew, this investigation was too little, too late. 

“The Brecksville Theatre’s vote to not remove this board member immediately disappoints me,” said Christina Katsaras, an ensemble member of Tommy. “While theatre can challenge and promote many different views, the fact that the board determined that the statements shared were not grounds for removal, I feel, goes against their values of Excellence and Community Outreach as defined on their site.” 

In the meantime, the webpage listing the members of the board has been removed.

“​​Regarding the website, due to the current situation, the board is undergoing reorganization, and updates will follow accordingly,” Michelle Bender, managing director of the theatre, wrote to The Buckeye Flame in an email.

About face

On Friday, following the publication of this piece, the board released the following statement:

Following further discussion, we have ended our relationship with a board member whose views expressed on social media do not align with our core values. This decision was made with the best interests of our community and organization in mind. Our commitment to The Brecksville Theatre’s mission and values remains steadfast. In the coming months, we look forward to rebuilding the trust between TBT and the surrounding communities.

The Buckeye Flame asked Bender to clarify if Lloyd was ousted via a new Board vote, who is left on the board and what is next for Tommy. This piece will be updated if more info is received.

Some individuals say that while this is a good first step, much more work needs to be done.

“The remaining board members should have sensitivity and diversity training and they need to actually take accountability for the first vote and the hurt they caused to the community,” Aust said. “Plus an actual apology would be nice.”

And … scene.

As the show will most certainly not go on with Tommy, cast and crew are experiencing a range of emotions. 

Coxe is hoping this experience is “a huge eye-opener” for the theatre. 

“They really need to be more awake and more in tune with the people they are serving,” he said. “This time they have failed.”

Heffner said she understands that the Brecksville Theatre is a nonprofit with bylaws to follow, but still hoped the board would have stepped forward more to protect the actors and crew. 

“The Board decided everything was ok with their vote [to retain Lloyd] and it seemed like they hoped nobody would find out,” she said.

Schwartz wants everyone to be clear that the theatre did not pull the plug on Tommy; the cast and crew did by walking out. He said it was a show of unity that sends a clear message.

“The theatre community is stronger than ever at this moment,” Schwartz said. “It’s just a shame that we’re united over such a disappointing event.” 🔥

The article was updated on July 19 first to reflect that the host of the Facebook Live was Clerk of the Garfield Heights Municipal Court was Alexander Grgat. Later, the post was updated to include the “About face” section about Lloyd’s removal from the board.