RE :  PHANTOMS OF A BROADWAY STAR

                                      By Sondra Lomax
                SPECIAL TO THE AMERICAN-STATESMAN 
                                  Tuesday, September 4, 2001

On July 21, Steve Barton slipped into a deep sleep and never awakened. He died alone in an apartment in Germany, a country where he was a star and a cult figure to fans who made a bestseller of the soundtrack CD to his musical "Dance of the Vampire" and dressed like the Count von Krolock character he portrayed on stage.

Just in the very beginning of this article, we find one of the many lies Ms Berry wants us to believe. She says that Steve Barton was dressed like the Count von Krolock instead of what he was actually wearing: his  Tshirt and shorts he normally did wear when he was at home.     

 

The man who had starred in "The Phantom of the Opera" on Broadway and had inspired slavish devotion from his followers, was found in his bed, an empty bottle of prescription heart medication nearby. Police ruled his death was self-inflicted, but there was no suicide note. No autopsy. The official cause of death was listed as heart failure.

            There was an autopsy indeed!. How can anyone nowadays say that there was no autopsy? There´s  no place in this world where police won´t practice a post-mortem examination (autopsy) when they find someone dead.

                 When  looking at that autopsy report, we can state there were no empty bottles of heart medication nearby. There were heart and painkiller medication bottles, none of them empty, and none of them had nothing to do with his death, as stated in that autopsy forensic blood tests, which confirm there was no alcohol or drugs in Steve Barton´s blood when he died. All he had in his blood was a minimal maintenance dose of depressant and the daily normal dose of high blood pressure and painkiller medication he took the day he died. 

                    How she can talk about the cause of his death, if she wasn´t interested at all in knowing what actually happened and all she did was faxing an authorization for someone in Bremen to cremate his remains and then send them to the U.S. by mail. Cremation  in which only a good friend of him was among three other people who scarcely knew him. Cremation she couldn´t attend, nor did her son, fact on the other hand comprehensible for, as according to her own words, she had nothing to do by then with “that man” as she referred to him when talking about.

   Word of his death rippled through the German Internet and into fan chat rooms. The brilliant stage star who'd been called the "Pavarotti of musical theater" by European critics was gone. News swept across the Atlantic via cyberspace almost before his wife, former Austinite Denny Berry, was notified at their home outside New York City.

In shock, she got into her car and drove to Boston to deliver the news to their 17-year-old son, Edward, who was attending music camp. Her mind raced as she sped along the highway. She'd been separated from Barton for a year and was trying to comprehend what had happened.

"How do I tell Edward that his father is dead?" she thought. "We thought he was getting better. Why now?" There were more questions than answers about Barton's death, but in his family's inner circle, a secret - unknown to his adoring public - held clues.

           It seems she didn´t ask herself at all how she could tell her son about the article she was gonna write about “that man” who gave them his entire life until they were separated.  

Barton suffered from bipolar disorder, also known as manic-depressive illness, a disease that raged undiagnosed for more than 15 years. Treatment had begun only months earlier.

       How she can assure he suffered from bipolar disorder if that disease raged undiagnosed for more that 15 years as she says, and she never  cared  about the clinic where he stayed or about his diagnosis.

Berry never suspected that her husband was mentally ill until it was too late. Now he was dead at only 47. For years, he had battled alcoholism, an illness he shared with his father and brother. She dismissed his mood swings and depression as a result of his drinking and his frustrations of dealing with chronic knee pain. Fourteen knee surgeries over 28 years had left him addicted to painkillers.           

             Hard to believe a wife never suspected her husband was mentally ill for more than 25 years of marriage. Not  very sharp of her to dismiss that, as a result of alcoholism or chronic knee pain. Although eased since his last knee surgery, it´s true he suffered knee pain for years, but what he never suffered was from alcoholism,  NOR did his father and his brother , both cases could be easily confirmed just by inquiring, something she was sure nobody would.

It´s  true that he sometime did drink more than he should, as himself used to say, but that´s quite different than being an  alcoholic. He didn´t depend on it, as alcoholics do. The forensic blood tests state, there was NO alcohol in his blood when he died, neither his liver was as it should be if he actually had been an alcoholic during all those years Ms. Berry says. As a matter of fact he didn`t   drink at all, during the previous four days to his death to get those clean blood tests, difficult to understand if he actually were that alcoholic she pretends us to believe.

           Maybe she shouldn´t have dismissed anything and honestly should have asked herself why her husband needed some drinks every time they both were together; God thanks they didn´t  spend all their time together due to his continuous travelling for his job.

But in recent years, signs of bipolar disorder became more obvious. He would become extremely manic, then deeply depressed, in ever-worsening cycles. During the height of his career, in the late '80s and early '90s, he was often despondent. During that time, he opened "Phantom" on Broadway and was hugely popular, yet he suffered low self-esteem, felt he was a failure and would often be unable to get out of bed and face reality.

           It seems she´s a psychiatric/psychologist expert recognizing disease symptoms, she probably did mistake her job, as that mental disease expert she seems to be. She should have asked herself what  the root of the problem was when he wasn´t able to face reality. I´m afraid her skills as a mental expert are even worse than as the mediocre dancer she actually is.

Barton's offstage existence became as tortured and tragic as the larger-than-life fictional characters - the Phantom, Count von Krolock in "Dance of the Vampire" and the Beast in "Beauty and the Beast" - he portrayed onstage. In the last year of his life, he needed constant medication and supervision. Hallucinations and severe panic attacks crippled him. Finally, on that lonely night in July, he gave in to his despair.

          She tries to emphasize he just portrayed tortured characters on stage. After having performed for more than 30 years, involved in more than 10.000 live performances in more than 70 productions in seven countries, we can easily guess he portrayed all kind of characters. There´s no need to point out only the tortured ones.

         How does she know about the last year of his life? She filled for separation the year before and hadn´t  seen  him for longer than a year. Can´t talk about hallucinations or any other thing for she wasn´t there with him and was never interested in knowing how he felt, never cared to contact his doctors or the clinic he stayed, nor ever called him while at that clinic or afterwards. As a matter of fact, he spent his last Christmas at that clinic with not a single call from what he had thought it was his family. 

          She can´t talk about what happened that lonely night, none of us can. She less than any other, cause never cared to find out what happened, she unknowingly mentions “that lonely night” with no idea about if it was night or lonely, as a matter of fact he went early evening not at night.

Last month, at her mother's home in Northwest Austin, Berry sorted family photos as she tried to describe her husband's downward spiral. In one picture, Berry, Barton and Edward happily pose in the back yard of the dream home they built in the New York countryside. Barton is dressed in jeans and cowboy boots, Berry in a long summer dress. Edward cuddles the family dog. They are all smiling.         

Although there´re not so many happy poses in her photo books, this time she´s being honest to call it “happy pose”, quite far from the inner hell he lived while together during their relationship.

         That last month when his ashes were still unburied, she was just thinking what to say in Ms. Lomax article and didn´t care at all about his remains that were almost to be buried with Bremen´s poor people since nobody seemed to be interested in claiming them when Bremen Police investigations were concluded and they released his corpse. Ms. Berry had given authorization to dissolve his household as well as to carry all formalities for transferring his ashes to the U.S.A. by fax the same day she was noticed he had passed away, July 22^nd 01. Seems after that fax she sent, she didn´t care anymore about investigations or the cremation. His corpse was released on July 26^th 01, five days after  his death and nobody cared about for more than 13 days, being finally cremated on Aug. 8^th 01. The crematory itself sent his ashes by mail to the States.

"That was the last happy time in our lives," Berry said of the 1997 photo. "The years since have been hell." Looking back, Barton's friends and family now recognize the symptoms of his illness - uncontrollable impulsive behavior, manic highs followed by crashing lows, dementia and delusions. But at the time, his frenetic, idiosyncratic personality and eccentric behavior were simply dismissed as offshoots of his creative genius. A ticking time bomb was chalked up to artistry.

         Which friends and family did recognize those supposed symptoms?. She had set him apart from his own home family for years and even left him alone not accompanying him to his parents´ farewell when they both died one week apart in early year 1988 and had to say goodbye to them both on the same day. Sad event that happened around Phantom´s premiere in Broadway.

A natural star

Steve Barton grew up in Nederland, dreaming of stardom. Although money was tight, he begged his parents for piano lessons and took advantage of his high school's drama program, performing every chance he could. His classmates never doubted he would be a success.

"Steve was a high-energy kid, with an upbeat, outgoing personality who would do crazy things like dance spontaneously in the cafeteria line at Luby's," said Sherry Bell, a classmate at Nederland High School in southeast Texas. "We all recognized that there was a special quality about him. He was extremely charismatic and intense."

Bearing high hopes and a theater scholarship, Barton entered the University of Texas in the fall of 1972. Nothing could squelch his energy or enthusiasm. He juggled multiple part-time jobs with classes and evening rehearsals, absorbing all the department of drama could offer. On advice of his acting professor, serious ballet training began.

"He was a natural star," said Alexandra Nadal, who, with husband Eugene Slavin, taught Barton ballet. "I've only known two people who have had the physical facility he possessed. Within a year he was performing with our civic company. Only his bad knees kept him from a classical ballet career." Ballet brought Barton and Berry together. They met in 1972 in Slavin's class at Austin Civic Ballet, discovered they both attended UT and soon started dating. The romance bloomed as they danced together in the ballet company, while Barton continued starring in UT theater productions.      

             After a year not having ever danced before and still a teenager he became the leading male in the Austin Civic Ballet while continued college. When they both first met and after  having dedicated her whole life to her dance career, Ms. Berry was still attending UT in her almost thirties.        

After college, nothing could stop them. Young, talented and in love?, the couple left Texas in 1977 to pursue dance careers in Europe. First stop was a theater in St. Gallen, Switzerland, where they began performing American musicals - in German.

Since Barton spoke no German, he first memorized his lines and lyrics phonetically, until he taught himself the language. Within a year he spoke fluently, with no trace of an accent.

Audiences loved the American's electric stage presence and rugged good looks. On a continent where performers were usually pigeon-holed in one medium, his reputation grew as a "triple threat" performer who could sing, dance and act with equal skill. Offers arrived for bigger roles.

              HIS reputation, not “her”, nor “their”, just his one.     

His first major break came in 1983, when he landed a leading role in the European premiere of "Cats" in Vienna after auditioning for famed British choreographer Gillian Lynne ("Cats" and "The Phantom of the Opera").

"The first time I saw Steve Barton is truly a memory that will never leave," Lynne said. "This golden person walked into the audition with a wonderful wide face and sparkling eyes. He was a terrific dancer, so I thought, OK, he probably can't sing or act, then. Well, he surprised us all. Not only did I cast him as Munkustrap in "Cats", but I made the role bigger for him."

"Cats" propelled Barton and Berry's careers to new heights. Directors and colleagues respected them as a team: the versatile leading man and his dancer/choreographer wife.

                   As said in the second previous paragraph to this last one, CATS was HIS first major break and propelled HIS career. Which were her merits?. There are reports about the Vienna Cats production that prove she didn´t take part in that musical at all, as can be easily confirmed just taking a look to the Cats playbill they printed in Vienna, years 1983/85.                                                                     On the other hand, it´s true, directors had sometime to respect them as a team, he always tried to find her a place in the performing world, when he was offered a job, not only used to tell directors they both were a team and had to contract her if he was under contract, but he used to talk about her in all his biographies in the playbills of his performances, just to get people used to her name. 

                                                                                                                                                                     

But as their careers soared, their private life deteriorated. Offstage, mood swings accelerated, as did self-medication with booze and painkillers to ease the agony of Barton's recurring knee injuries, which began with an injury in high school and were exacerbated by the strenuous life of a dancer.

Success and doubts

In 1986, Lynne invited him to London to audition for Andrew Lloyd Webber's new musical "The Phantom of the Opera." Arriving on stage dressed in jeans and cowboy boots, he auditioned before three of the biggest names in the business: Lynne, Lloyd Webber and director Hal Prince. "I can't tell you how grateful I was when Steve Barton made the journey from Berlin where he was starring at Theater des Westens to audition for Raoul in "Phantom"," Prince said. "He had the voice, the acting talent and he moved marvelously. It was a red letter day when our paths crossed."
And one of the most important auditions of Barton's career.
"When he began to sing, Hal (Prince) said excitedly, "That's it! He's our Raoul", " Lynne said. "Steve wasn't even halfway through his song and got angry because we weren't listening. He started singing louder with that ferocious intensity of his. Such a talent!"

After premiering "Phantom" in London, Broadway beckoned. The couple triumphantly returned to the United States in 1988 when "Phantom" opened in New York City. Barton's boyhood dreams of becoming a star were realized: critical acclaim as Raoul on Broadway followed by the leading role of "The Phantom;" platinum CD sales of "Phantom" and "Cats"; television roles on "The Young and the Restless" and "Another World"; and guest appearances at European galas.

              The couple triumphantly returned to the United States…… …... triumphantly only due to HIS triumph not hers. His boyhood dreams of becoming a star were realized, NOR did her dreams, she never got to be the famous ballet dancer she had always dreamed  since she was a kid.  

          It´s easy to figure out how professional jealousy could affect their relationship as well as the insupportable home scenes due to it, that could lead him to drink a few drinks while together.                                                                                             

To the public, their life seemed idyllic: the talented, handsome couple from Texas who performed in the biggest show on Broadway (Berry by this time was the production's dance captain). But Barton couldn't appreciate the warmth of the spotlight.  

The darkness of depression deepened and turned to self-doubt. Past triumphs were forgotten. The drinking accelerated. Now, each night's performance included alcohol as part of his pre-show warm-up. Since he seldom appeared drunk, few noticed his alcoholism. But suspicions arose.

            With his triumph and his boyhood dreams realized he had no reason to drink, it seems that his wife´s frustration and obsession for being what she never could be, made a hell of their living together that pushed him to have some drinks while at home.

"He couldn't seem to get on top of his own problems," Lynne said. "I knew he had experienced horrible knee injuries, which is devastating to a dancer, but I knew he also suffered terrible despair. It's sad that it's always the most talented who hit the lowest depths."

          He did suffer despair not only for his physical but for  his emotional pains. Being one of those “most talented”, he was incredibly sensitive which together with his golden heart made him suffer constantly with hopes of happiness that never  took place. He was a man for whom "triumph and success" had no meaning if not shared with his beloved ones.

Texas offered respite from the pressures of New York, especially the Berry family's vacation cabin nestled along the Blanco River in Wimberley. Trips back home to see relatives also kept ties strong with cherished UT friends. When the couple returned to Austin in 1990 for the Paramount Theatre's 75th Anniversary gala and again in 1992 for a special UT Littlefield Society performance, local director Rod Caspers suspected problems.

            Sure all around could suspect problems. Their life together was never easy or happy. He was joyful, full of life and open to everyone, not only to great directors and so on, but to the rest of the people that work for the stage world that we often don´t notice about. She was on the other hand distant, affected and looking at almost everybody as if she were superior, as well as embittered and bad tempered, known in her small inner theatre circle as “little Hitler”.

"Steve had a boyish curiosity and an incredibly intense, burning energy about him. When he was focused, he was brilliant as a person, teacher and performer," Caspers said. "But I sensed something was wrong. He relied tremendously on Denny, and she in turn, was very protective of Steve. She really was the one who kept things together when they were working on a project."               

            There was no need to be sharp to notice something had been wrong for a long time. That stressed home life was slowly dragging him down. He did rely on her for long, when working together,  he always relied on her to make people think she was some talented. Probably she was never sharp enough to realize she was nothing without him, something we all have confirmed through years.

By 1995, the drinking could no longer be hidden. He entered a rehab facility, attended Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and got sober. His manic depression, however, remained undiagnosed.

An exwife's breaking point

Onstage, the world brightened. First stop was Vienna to star in Disney's "Beauty and the Beast." Roman Polanski's "Dance of the Vampire" followed and was a smash hit. It garnered Barton an IMAGE Award, the European equivalent of a Tony, for best performance by a leading actor in a musical. Barton fan clubs sprang up in Austria and Germany, with Web sites devoted to the performer. Fans dressed as his character, Count von Krolock, and "Vampire" CD sales went platinum.

            More reasons for jealousy. He keeps on getting triumphs as the great star he was while she doesn´t. More unpleasant home scenes while together…

Offstage, he couldn't stay sober. "I knew things had gotten really bad. Denny did everything to support Steve privately and professionally, including lots of covering up," family friend Warren said. "She loved him so much. Anyone else would've left him years earlier."

           How can anyone just stay sober only on stage? Or how could she know if he was sober or not?. They were not living together for years. His last jobs were in Europe while she stayed in the US, she had to take care of her son who amazingly always seemed to be an “au pair” child and spent his teens in full board schools.

     LOVE was written in capital letters for him. What she always did, had nothing to do with love.

"Vampire's" success opened other opportunities, and he left that show in 1998 to star in a new version of "Hunchback of Notre Dame" but dropped out before it opened. Returning home to New York in despair, he admitted to Berry that he couldn't face stage life again. Something was seriously wrong, yet neither suspected mental illness, just booze. Denial reigned.            

               That new version of “Hunchback of Notre Dame” was the Berlin production “Glöckner von Notre Dame”. Berlin a city so closely  linked to his deepest grief and decepcion.  Unfortunately , before opening in Berlin, rehearsals had to be in NYC. When back home everyday after long and exhausting rehearsals, he had to cope with her everyday growing bigger frustration. Eight weeks at home, far from comforting, were devasting for him.

For two long years, blackness descended: cycles of mania and depression, drunkenness and failed attempts to resume working. While the mental anguish remained untreated, the physical injuries were tended. Five operations in one year - three knee and two back surgeries - offered some relief, but also more prescription painkillers.

Meanwhile, Berry tried to kept the family afloat as primary wage earner, her husband's caretaker and both mother and father to Edward. By June 2000, the family reached its breaking point.

"Steve was literally drinking us out of house and home," Berry said, nervously finger-combing her hair as she stared out the window into her mother's back yard. "We were horribly in debt and realized that he needed serious help. I told him I couldn't take anymore."

            After five operations in a year,  it´s easy to understand he had no real time to work as if healthy. Seems that her talent didn´t let her  save the family of being in debt as the primary wage earner  she says she was by then, something she had never been before when she just used to care of his earnings. Financials are neither  any of her hidden skills.

What was once unthinkable became doable. She filed for legal separation. It was the only way she knew to save Edward and herself.

They agreed Barton should return to Germany to work. The supportive German theater community offered access to jobs, a pension and, most importantly, free medical care. Close friends there would provide encouragement and an emotional safety net. It was a good plan. It worked for a while.

              His fans were waiting to welcome him at Bremen airport when he arrived. A small suitcase and a couple of bags were all his belongings, far from his country, despoiled from what he believed it was his family, with no home and  no money or credit cards. With his  usual charming personality but with sadness in his eyes as well.       

        The good plan worked for a week. He couldn´t stop breaking into tears when he first introduced himself to the Bremen Theatre cast he was going to work with. It was obvious depression was hanging over him. As the great artist he was, he did captivate once more fans and journalists at the J&H press conference where he performed Hyde opposite to the former Jekyll, Ethan Freeman in Confrontation. Hamburger Abendblatt called him  the “Pavarotti” and the “Sir” of  Musical Theatre.

But after only one week rehearsing for "Jekyll and Hyde" in Bremen, he collapsed. For the first time, he sought psychiatric help and was admitted to a mental hospital. The diagnosis: bipolar disorder. The statistics on the disorder are grim. The National Institute of Mental Health reports that more than 60 percent of bipolar disorder sufferers also abuse alcohol and/or drugs. About 20 percent commit suicide.

               He stayed in a clinic where they do treat depression and where they DON´T treat alcoholism at all, a clinic where when an alcoholic arrives , they send him/her immediately to a specialized  one . He spent there months.

       How can she talk about diagnosis?. There´s no official diagnosis. She never cared what the diagnosis was, neither was concerned about. On the other hand, the clinic doesn´t give any information  about the diagnosis to anyone, unless the patient would sign an authorization for that. He never signed that authorization.

In Barton's case, weeks of rehab proved promising. The hospital offered release time so he could resume rehearsals.

Once again, the world went black. Depressed, overweight and delusional, Barton attempted suicide by overdosing on his high-blood-pressure medication and was readmitted to the mental hospital for several months.

            Confusing info just to throw the readers off. There´re no official records of that supposed attempt.

Weight gain is a common side effect of the mood-stabilizing drugs used to treat bipolar disorder, and for a performer - to whom physical appearance is extremely important - that can be devastating. Medication also subdues the highs and lows, taking the edge off extreme behaviors. To a manic-depressive, the mania cycles can be exhilarating, even intoxicating and addicting. And it's common for patients to feel the drugs suppress their creative and intellectual abilities. Medication allows rational functioning, but patients may not like how they feel.

            It´s a pity Ms. Berry spent that energy to update her  knowledge about bipolarism that late. Once again it seems she manipulates the facts to justify herself to the public opinion in case they´ll think she was the reason of what she calls his downward spiral, that reason that dragged him down.

"When rational, Steve knew his talent and capabilities," Berry said. "(But) he couldn't accept reliance on medication that subdued his emotions, and of course, the weight gain was awful for his self-esteem. It was so tragic and illogical," she said of the suicide attempt. "He was convinced he couldn't memorize his lines and tried to kill himself rather than face a costume fitting. Thank heaven they found him in time."

A tragic end

At the end, Barton had stopped taking his bipolar medications. Despondent and panicked, he phoned Berry two days before his death.

            What an unfounded assertion from someone that had nothing to do with him by then, someone who didn´t care about him and had no idea whether he was taking any medication or not. As a matter of fact, he was still taking the prescribed not to quit abruptly low dose, as stated in his autopsy report.

  He did phone Ms. Berry´s home trying to contact Edward, as herself did confirm sometime. He had been trying to talk to him for  weeks with no luck, he wasn´t able that day either , so he talked to her.

She suspected that he was drinking again, but he didn't sound drunk, which puzzled and frightened her. That was the last time they spoke.

            How are we supposed to understand such a contradiction?. She HERSELF affirms he didn´t sound drunk. How could she know whether he was drinking or not, on the phone more than 3500 miles (6000 km) far from each other?. Once again she discredits his memory by tarnishing his well deserved reputation. She defames the memory of someone who will never be able to talk again. With this article, she not only shows any kind of respect for “that man”, but for her own son either.

When news of his death spread, condolences poured in from around the world.

    "Steve Barton's death is very sad news indeed," said Lloyd Webber.  "He will be hugely missed . . ."

"His death is a tragedy of the worst order. What could any of us have done? In the end, we each have to conquer the demons within us," Lynne said. "I had always hoped we might work on a new show together. He was everything I had always wanted in a performer."

According to his European agent, Michael Staringer, fans mobbed the funeral home in Bremen trying to get photos or a death mask of his body.

            Things didn´t happen the way that European agent says. He is distorting the facts as he usually does. As far as I know, he has told at least, four or five different versions about his death, many of them talking about details as if he were there when it happened. False details and stories as can be easily  confirmed in the autopsy report.

"Not only did the fans love him, critics called him `the Pavarotti of musical theater.' The other sad thing is that he was such a good teacher. He had so much to give and too little time," Staringer said.

            He certainly had so much to give, not only to the performing world but to his beloved ones as well. It´s not easy to understand why he had too little time as Mr. Barton´s ex agent says. He still had almost a whole life to live. It´s true he needed that great job in Broadway his agent had promised he would, to start that new life he then dreamed. Maybe, the way he could have felt betrayed by the one he trusted, was the direct cause of that ”too little time”, his ex agent says Steve Barton had.

The legacy of the fair-haired Texan who starred on the Western world's largest stages are his CDs, the major roles he created and the memorable performances that his fans cherish. In addition to a recent Austin memorial service, friends and colleagues are planning memorial services in Vienna and New York this fall. In addition, Lynne hopes to dedicate London's 15th anniversary performance of "Phantom" to Barton. Without an autopsy, Berry feels she will never learn the truth of his death. But she hopes that revealing the details of his mental illness will help others.  

            THERE WAS AND THERE IS an autopsy as everybody could guess with no doubt.  

            She´ll never learn the truth for she never  tried to learn the truth of his death. Maybe she was not interested in making public that  autopsy report, with which everybody would know he wasn´t an alcoholic and neither he used drugs, as the toxicological examinations prove in that autopsy and as she already knew. It´s incredibly easy to tarnish his reputation by spreading false assertions which far from helping anyone tried to irreparably damage his name. An easy way to manipulate people´s opinion.     

"I want people to become more aware of this disease, to know how to recognize the danger signs. Bipolarism destroyed Steve. The man who died was not the man we all knew. It destroyed my family unit and took my son's father," she said.

       Was that supposed bipolarism or the overbearing stress to suffer someone´s greed and obsession to be what she never would?. It´s easy to accuse bipolarism or any other cause instead of coherently accepting what or better said who, was the reason of his downfall.  

    The man who died was the same charming great man he had been his whole life. That man was able to promote enthusiasm, adhesion and love in everyone who knew him in Europe, where his memory is still fondly and devotedly cherished as can be easily checked.

"We had always hoped he would get better, but now that door is slammed shut. At least his suffering is over."

            She never hoped what she never cared about. We not only lost a great artist but the even greater human being he was.

                We are used to hear that behind every great man, there is always a great woman.                                                                    

                  Steve Barton was a GREAT man, unfortunately the woman who was behind him, wasn´t a great one.

 

           Congratulations Ms. Berry for the performance you did by writing that article. It has been the best performance of your entire life, that kind you  never  were able to perform on stage, but even so, as mediocre as your whole career.                                                              

                                          M.C.