Remembrance: Susan Stiefel leaves Atlanta theater community with her legacy of joy

A couple that took Atlanta theater to heart and connected with scores of performing artists, Alan and Susan Stiefel were as much a part of an opening night as the jitters and last-minute tweaks. On June 29, Susan Stiefel, 81, passed away, five years after the death of her husband, leaving the city’s performing arts community at a deep loss. 

More on ArtsATL: Atlanta theater-makers recall friend, fan and ally Alan Stiefel

Susan was born in New York and went to the High School of Performing Arts. She was told by her acting coach she could not act, so she did not attempt any onstage work after that but nonetheless loved theater and attended whenever she could. According to friend and Suzi Awards judging coordinator John Waymire, she always had a strong memory of all she took in.  

Many years later, while in Chicago after a marriage that ended in divorce, she met Alan in a group for single parents, and the two hit it off. They went to their first show together — a touring version of Sweeney Todd — which Susan hated then grew fond of later. 

When the Stiefels moved to Atlanta in 1987, they got tickets to the Fox Theatre and would attend the Atlanta Broadway series throughout the year and Theater of the Stars during the summer. According to Waymire, it wasn’t until Susan started working across the street from the Alliance that she went there, and their first show was Angels in America. 

Freddie Ashley, artistic director of Actor’s Express, met the couple over 20 years ago when he worked at the Alliance. He did pre-show talks the first Tuesday after opening night, and the Stiefels were regulars at every single one. 

“We became friendly then, and, when I got the job at Actor’s Express in 2007, they said they’d come subscribe there and check it out,” he recalls. “I was concerned. I didn’t know them that well and [thought] ‘What if they are put off by some of the racier stuff we do from time to time?’ And they were not. They embraced it all and started venturing out to all Atlanta theaters. 

“I think they loved everything — from the grittiest play to the brightest, happiest musical. Part of what was so charming and wonderful about them was that they loved the work so much and the people who made it,” Ashley concludes.

Waymire met Susan in 2008 when she signed up to be a judge for the Suzi Awards, the Tony Awards of Atlanta. He was the judging coordinator and trained all new judges. The next year, Alan joined as a judge. The couple started on the musical panel; Susan joined the play panel. Then they moved to the recommending panel and got to attend opening nights. That is when Alan began his tradition of taking pictures of local artists and later presenting packets of photos to them. 

Rachel May, artistic director of Synchronicity, didn’t know the Stiefels as well as some others but has her own fond recollections. “In Atlanta, there is no real star culture or fame culture, even though we have some wonderful stars on our stages,” says May. “To have Susan and Allen celebrating [these artists] as though they were walking a red carpet was wonderful to see.” 

After Alan’s passing, it was hard for Susan to resume her normal theater-going. She was carrying a lot of grief and had even mentioned to Waymire that without Alan around, she was ready to join him. 

“I think it was hard for her to dive back in because of the routines and rituals like coming to watch tech rehearsal,” says Ashley. “When [Alan] wasn’t there, it amplified the loss even more. Over time, she did get back into it full throttle because it did fill a lot of needs for her.”

Because she had become friends with so many in the community by attending their shows — and later weddings or birthday celebrations — the community was eager to help when Alan passed. Many would help with rides to and from the theater, and Waymire did so often. Their last show together was Hot Jambalaya at Horizon on opening night May 29. Waymire recalls taking her home and learning that she fell that night and was in the hospital the next day. That was the beginning of the end. According to Susan’s daughter, Meredith Miller, her mother had been dealing with cancer on and off during her life and with metastatic breast cancer since 2023. 

Bruce Cohen, who was a sponsor of the Actor’s Express recent run of Wit, dedicated the production to the memories of his mother and Ashley’s mother, who both passed away close to each other. When it was clear Susan had become unresponsive and her passing was at hand, Cohen suggested the company also include a dedication to her for all remaining performances.

According to Waymire, Susan’s legacy is the joy she gave to the actors, designers and producers in this town. “She never said a bad word about anyone,” he recalls. “She found something to love in every performance.” 

A memorial service will be held on October 12 at 1 p.m. at the Alliance Theatre, staged by Waymire, Cohen, Ashley, Alliance Artistic Director Christopher Moses and actors Natasha Drena and Veronika Duerr. 

Part of the memorial is to celebrate both Susan and Alan. “It’s been said that losing Susan is like losing Alan all over again,” says Waymire. “We lost him during the pandemic, so we didn’t have time to say goodbye. Losing Susan brings back all of those memories.”

According to Ashley, it’s hard to think about Atlanta theater without both of them, especially Susan. “She was a surrogate mom, grandmother and bubbe to a lot of us,” he says. “And it will take a long time to process losing her.”

::

Jim Farmer is the recipient of the 2022 National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Award for Best Theatre Feature and a nominee for Online Journalist of the Year. A member of five national critics’ organizations, he covers theater and film for ArtsATL. A graduate of the University of Georgia, he has written about the arts for 30-plus years. Jim is the festival director of Out on Film, Atlanta’s LGBTQ film festival, and lives in Avondale Estates with his husband Craig.