arts & life

theater

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Oak Park-native

Jeffrey Seller scores

another Broadway hit.

Alice Burdick Schweiger
Special to the Jewish News

Jeffrey Seller

BELOW: Seller (kid in back)

reviews notes during his days at

Stagecrafters.

heater-producer Jeffrey
Seller has a knack for cher-
ry-picking hit Broadway
shows. The most recent on the Oak
Park native's resume is the hottest
ticket on the Great White Way —
the bold, hip-hop historical musical
Hamilton.
The show, about Alexander
Hamilton, one of America's found-
ing fathers and first secretary of
treasury, opened to record-break-
ing sales and rave reviews, includ-
ing this one in the New York Times:
"Bold, rousing, sexy, tear-jerking
and historically respectful — the
sort of production that asks you to
think afresh about your country
and your life A swarm of A-list
celebrities and politicians have
clamored to see it — including
President Obama, Michelle Obama
and their two daughters.
This isn't the first time Seller
has had a mega-hit on his hands
— almost two decades ago he was
one of the producers of the ground-
breaking rock musical Rent, which
went on to win the Tony Award for
Best Musical. From there he pro-
duced many hits, including Avenue
Q, La Boheme, The Wild Party and
In The Heights, which won the
Tony Award for Best Musical in
2008. In The Heights was created
by Lin-Manuel Miranda, who also
created Hamilton.
Seller's passion for theater can be
traced back to around the time of
his bar mitzvah at Temple Israel in
West Bloomfield, when he started
to see shows at the Fisher Theater.

Growing up, he was involved with
a youth theater program called
Ragamuffins, later to become
Stagecrafters, in Royal Oak. To help
celebrate its upcoming anniversary
gala, Stagecrafters will honor Seller,
who will make an appearance (see
"happy anniversary" below).
While a student at Oak Park
High School, Seller acted in plays,
and while earning his B.A. at the
University of Michigan, he per-
formed in and directed shows at
the Ann Arbor Civic Theater and
Young People's Theater.
After graduating in 1986, Seller
moved to New York City and
landed a job writing press releases.
Within a year, he became an assis-
tant booker at a Broadway pro-
ducer's office, scheduling national
tours of New York shows.
By night, however, he was pro-
ducing musicals and plays around
Manhattan while developing rela-
tionships with artists, composers
and lyricists. In the winter of 1991,
he opened a booking office with
producer Kevin McCollum.
Seller was only 25 when he met
playwright/composer Jonathan
Larson. When Seller saw Larson's
bare-bones production of Rent, he
recognized the potential and made
a commitment to produce it. When
it opened on Broadway in 1996,
Seller was only 31 years old. Rent
ran for 12 years and grossed more
than $280 million.
Once again, Seller is producing a
show that's revolutionizing musical
theater. Based on the 2004 biog-

happy anniversary

Marking 60 years of diverse community theater
in the Metro Detroit area, Stagecrafters is cele-
brating its anniversary with a Diamond Jubilee
Gala on Saturday, Nov. 7, at the Detroit Zoo
Interpretive Gallery, where Jeffrey Seller will be
its celebrity guest of honor. In addition to cock-

46 October 22 • 2015

raphy of Alexander Hamilton by
Jewish historian Ron Chernow, the
latter sold the rights to Lin-Manuel
Miranda, who went on to write
the music, assemble a multi-racial
cast and play the lead in the show.
"He told me as he was reading the
book, hip-hop lyrics started rising
off the page Chernow told The
Times of Israel of his meeting with
Miranda.
Chernow points out that
Hamilton has Jewish connections
— his mother's husband, Johann
Michael Lavien, "was likely Jewish
and Hamilton received individual
tutoring at a school run by a Jewish
headmistress and he would
brag that he could recite the Ten
Commandments in Hebrew:"
In a recent phone conversation
with the Jewish News, Seller talks
about Hamilton, what he looks for
in producing a show, his life in the
Big Apple and his upcoming visit
to Michigan:
IN: You developed a relation-
ship with Lin-Manuel Miranda
when you produced In The
Heights, a show he created,
starred in and composed. Now
you are producing Hamilton,
which Miranda also created,
composed and is starring in. He
is called a creative genius and the
theater critics are enthusiasti-
cally praising the show. Why is
Hamilton striking such a power-
ful chord and why is it attracting
so much positive attention?
JS: Ifs because ifs touching
something very innate in all of

tails, dinner, an auction and entertainment,
guests will hear Seller discuss life in the theater
and his participation in Stagecrafters, where he
first became interested in working behind the
scenes in the theater. $140-$250.
On Friday, Nov. 6, Stagecrafters is hosting
an intimate four-course dinner at a local res-

us, which is the most shining
optimistic look at the American
dream and our desire to make
something of ourselves from noth-
ing. Hamilton is the story of an
immigrant who came here from
St. Croix with nothing and made
something of himself. He not only
created a country but then gov-
erned that country and created the
very systems our country thrives
on today. We can see ourselves in
these founding fathers. The show
is touching a sense of patriotism.
There hasn't been a show that's
reached this kind of achievement
for a very long time.
IN: As a producer, what do you
look for in a show?
JS: I look to be surprised and
moved. I look for something to be
expressed in a way that I haven't
seen before. I want my ear to hear
music in a way that I haven't heard
before, and Hamilton certainly
qualifies on that level.
IN: What do you do in your
spare time?
JS: I have two children. My
daughter, May, is 12 and she is
having a bat mitzvah in December
— so I'm planning her bat mitzvah
in my spare time. My son, Tommy,
is 11 and getting ready to apply to
new schools, and that's taking up
time. When I am not working in
my theatrical pursuits and I am not
with my family, there is always a
novel on my bedside table and I am
an exercise fiend.
IN: You will be coming to
Detroit to the Stagecrafters event

taurant with Seller; guests are invited to meet,
greet and eat with this famous alum. Seating is
limited to 25-30 people. $250 per person.
For tickets and details for both events:
(248) 541-6430; stagecrafters.org .

