56 OctOber 31, 2014 {LadueNews.com}

D i v e r s i o n s

His skills are far beyOnd your wildest imagination: by day, he dons a black t-shirt and shorts as a personal trainer; by night, he can be found in wigs, tights, capes, feathers and mirrors.

Meet leo stoff, one of the most versatile performance artists in

st. louis, who excels in trick-roping, stilt-walking, aerial silks and Japanese taiko drumming. stoff is an interactive actor, vocalist, dancer and ringmas-ter. at 42 years of age, he stands 6-feet, 3-inches tall, sports a shaved head and a well-defined body that can be found on the cover of books such as The Vows: Vampire Assassin.

stoff made his foray into the world of music and theater as a teen, while attending st. louis University High school. a member of his church choir, his life-long dream to become a soccer athlete was shelved when his sister came home from school one day with an urgent message. apparently, there were not enough boys in her high-school play at the all-girls st. elizabeth academy. “My mom said i should help out,” he recalls. “...and so began my acting career.”

acting was a natural path for stoff. “i was born into it.” His sisters were involved in music and theatre in high school, and his parents were community singers and entertainers. He laughs when he relates that leo, the fifth sign of the zodiac, fits him to a t. “those folks are impossible to miss and love being center stage. We never shy away from the spotlight—and that is me!”

stoff attended northeast Missouri state University, and majored in psychology to satisfy his father’s wishes for a necessary ‘back-up plan.’ He intended to stay with academics until his friend

persuaded him to audition for musicals and the show choir. by his sophomore year, he had a job at six flags. during summers, he joined nashville’s Opryland.

at age 24 and fresh out of college, stoff became responsible for the music and productions at six flags, where he performed for their shows. at Goldenrod showboat, he choreographed Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, and also played the part of don lockwood, Gene kelly’s character in Singing in the Rain.

He then went on to working summer stock theaters in florida and illinois, and spent several weekends at the des Moines Playhouse in iowa, where he choreographed Evita, before returning to his job waiting tables at casa Grille at the saint louis Galleria.

stoff recalls that “things started to broaden” when he was offered a job at the shoji tabuchi show in branson, where “Montie Montana taught me roping skills, and Marco lienhard taught me traditional taiko drumming.” He also learned to fly through the air while wearing a harness for a keystone cops clown segment. “it was amazing!”

choreographer sammy Viverito was brought in from new york for the production in branson, and it was then that stoff learned the stylistic forms of swing dance, fox trot, monkey and partner lifts. during the off-season, he performed on cruises for Holland america and royal caribbean, and followed a disciplined training regime, egged on by fear that an understudy could replace him in a heartbeat.

after six years in branson, stoff moved to nashville, where he performed demos for song-writers, before shopping them around to labels and artists. “i helped audition band members and

orchestrated studio time. i was rubbing elbows with famous people in the music industry and had the opportunity to work with them,” he says. “Unfortunately, my schedule was very gruel-ing and it took its physical toll.” not wanting to become a ‘starving artist,’ he moved back to st. louis and into his parents’ basement.

stoff began working the front desk at nutriformance in frontenac, and later graduated to personal trainer and cardio dance instructor. beloved by his students, stoff choreographs a new dance each week for his twice-weekly cardio dance class with music ranging from Hip-Hop to big band.

On most saturday nights, stoff serves as the resi-dent emcee at boogie nights, where he is the party motivator for the ’70s- and ’80s-themed party inside the Hollywood casino. the momentum is so exciting with stoff at the helm that it is not unusual to see the entire dance floor line up to do their best ’70s rendition of soul train’s Love Train.

represented by talent Plus Universal, stoff also entertains at charity benefits and private parties. you may have seen him painted as a zebra for the Jungala charity event at the chase, as the Mad Hatter for the Mercy Hospital gala or as a human disco ball for the Mayor’s ball. comfortable with audiences large and small, stoff performed with kat day at circus flora and also posed as the living statue augustus at the saint louis art Museum gala. “i see many of my day-time clients when i perform; however, when dressed in costume, i assume my role and never divulge who i really am.”

in wigs, tights, capes, feathers and mirrors, stoff remains a mystery to all, except to his wife of two years, casey. the couple recently welcomed their second daughter to their close-knit family.

Leo Stoff

See How High He Flies! By Alice HAndelmAn

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