Actor’s Advocacy Receives Standing Ovation

September 16, 2024
• Faced with a disease that threatens to take his voice, a former Needham resident continues to speak out and sing.

Seth Stadfeld finds his thrills on stage, but that’s where fiction quickly became his own harsh reality.

In the Needham Community Theatre’s production of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” Stadfeld portrayed family physician Dr. Baugh, who delivers a terminal cancer diagnosis to another character. During auditions and the 2012 performance, Stadfeld remembers his leg kicking and vibrating.

The very next day, he received his own diagnosis. Stadfeld has Parkinson’s Disease.

The progressive disease interrupts the nervous system, leading to tremors, difficulty with movement and — possibly most terrifying for an actor — problems speaking. There is no cure.

Stadfeld, who lived in Needham for more than 40 years, joined the American Parkinson Disease Association’s Support Network in Cape Cod and became a generous supporter to its search for a cure, said Emma Kenney, the director of development at the Massachusetts chapter of the APDA.

For his dedication, charitable spirit and resilience in the face of adversity, Stadfeld will be honored at the APDA’s Cape Cod Optimism Walk, set for this Sunday in Falmouth.

Upon hearing the news of his recognition, Stadfeld said he was rendered speechless.

“No one’s ever honored me like this before,” Stadfeld said. “I find one of the things that happens to me now is I cry a lot, and usually it’s more over joy than sadness… and if I do break down, I’m among friends.”

Funds raised from the walk will benefit the APDA’s educational and support efforts, as well as scientific research into Parkinson’s. With a goal of $55,000, the walk has already raised nearly $47,000.

The energy on walk day is palpable, Kenney said.

“It’s a really great day to have everyone get together and remember what we are doing this all for,” Kenney said. “APDA has a dual mission of finding that cure in the future, but also helping individuals thrive today with Parkinson’s and remembering that we’re all in this together.”

Parkinson’s is a “worthy adversary” for Stadfeld. He experiences fatigue, trouble with his balance and difficulty reading his own handwriting, among other symptoms. Medication can curb those symptoms — Stadfeld joked he’s “a pharmaceutical company’s dream” — but he finds exercise to be the best medicine.

Some days are harder than others, he said, but “if you’re lucky, you wake up next to a beautiful woman like I do.” Time spent with Elaine, his wife of 55 years, is especially meaningful.

“I come from a family where we put our pants on, and we get dressed, and we get up and we walk and put one foot in front of the other,” Stadfeld said. “And sometimes we cry ourselves to sleep, but we press on. It’s important, I think, to have a nice balance of optimism but realism. And so it goes.”

Stadfeld raised his three children in Needham, where he often returns to attend synagogue and see friends. A Boston sports fan, he said Sundays are typically reserved for football, but since the Patriots don’t play this Sunday, Stadfeld, luckily, doesn’t have a conflict with the walk.

At the walk, Stadfeld plans to recite his own poem, but through his journey, he’s found comfort and motivation in “Grin,” a poem by Robert W. Service, which reads, in part:

Don’t let him see you’re funking, let him know with every clout,
Though your face is battered to a pulp, your blooming heart is stout;
Just stand upon your pins until the beggar knocks you out—

And grin.

Stadfeld continues to use his voice. He’s participated in the APDA’s Sing for Joy Program, which helps those battling Parkinson’s practice speaking and singing.

His love for theater and music persists. A former drummer in a rock-and-roll band, Stadfeld considers music his therapy, and he looks back fondly on his time on the Needham stage.

“Whether we’re in River City, Iowa, or the streets of New York City in ‘Guys and Dolls,’ or in Anatevka in ‘Fiddler on the Roof,’ you cross that line and you’re in a different world,” Stadfeld said. “It’s thrilling to do it.”

Stadfeld’s battle is far from over, he added. With support from his family, he pushes through.

“I am blessed, and yet, Parkinson’s sucks, I’ll tell you that right now,” he said. “You just have to call it what it is and press on.”