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Off Broadway Theater in West Bloomfield
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The cast of Rent.
lic school, I would go to Temple
Israel and feel like the Ugly
Duckling."
Despite these feelings of isola-
tion, Seller managed to win the
spotlight as Temple Israel's grad-
uation student speaker. "I talked
about the right to choose, and the
fact that many Reform Jewish
parents give their children the
option to practice Judaism. But
it was, and still is, my opinion
that it's important for the future
of Judaism that parents make
some choices for their children.
"For example, I think parents
should stress having a Jewish
home and a Jewish education. If
you give your children a choice
between an easy path or a hard
one, they will likely take the easy
one. But the harder path results
in greater rewards."
In the process of finding him-
self, Seller has realized it is im-
portant not to hide behind a
facade — and for him, that
means coming out. "I want peo-
ple to know who I really am —
and that I am gay," says Seller.
"For me, being gay is an inte-
gral part of who I am and where
I've gone. Growing up, being gay
meant being a stereotypical ef-
feminate hair dresser, which had
nothing to do with who I was."
He recalls becoming aware of
his sexual identity in high school.
"Luckily," he says, "coming out
in the open isn't as difficult in a
metropolitan area like Detroit.
My parents were aware by the
time I graduated college, but for
them, it was like a lefty versus
a righty.
"They were always loving and
accepting in every way, shape
and form. I couldn't live with se-
crets or lies and decided if I was
going to have a relationship with
my parents, I needed to be hon-
est. By keeping your sexuality a
secret, you run out of things to
talk about, and a whole compo-
nent of your life is off-limits."
Seller wants to be a role mod-
el for gay men. "I want people at
home to know that it's all right
to be gay," he says. "I want them
to know you can be embraced by
your community; you can hold
your head up high and get on
with your life."
"That's what's so great about
Rent. Here comes a show in which
a group of artists is depicted —
you have a gay couple, a straight
couple, a lesbian couple. And they
are all friends and they all learn
how to love each other and have
a great time doing it."
Seller's mother and father,
Caroline and Mark Seller,
couldn't be more proud of their
son. "He is a star in our life, and
an example for everyone around
him," says Mark Seller. "He is
hard-working and sets goals that
he has been able to attain."
•
"We always knew that he
would be something special in the-
ater," says Caroline Seller. "When
other mothers were driving their
kids to baseball and hockey prac-
tice, I was taking Jeff to try-outs.
I knew he would be successful. I
just never imagined it would hap-
pen at such a young age."
For now, Seller's priority is
preparing for productions of Rent
all over the world. "We open in
Los Angeles in September,
Toronto in December and next
year in Australia, London and
Japan. We open in Detroit (open-
ing night will be a benefit for Con-
gregation Shir Tikvah) in April
1998," says Seller.
"This requires an incredible
amount of strategy, planning,
analysis and nurturing. But Rent
has just whet my appetite, and I
hope it's only the beginning of a
long career in the theater."
FEATURING
Sol Frieder
KLEZMER
Mack Pitt
"Ifyou could eat theater,
The World of
would be dessert."
Lawrence DeVine,
Theater Critic, Detroit Free Press
11 CHRYSLER
Aaron De Roy. Theatre
6600 West Maple Road
West Bloomfield
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