JULY 18 • 2024 | 35
J
N

The company of Suffs

JOAN MARCUS

Suffs producers Rachel Sussman, 
Jill Furman and Hillary Rodham 
Clinton on the first day of 
rehearsal.

LOCAL ROOTS, LOCAL STAGES
Sussman, 34, was always a theater kid, 
dating back to West Maple Elementary. 
As a pre-teen, she first learned about the 
American women’s suffrage movement 
in her U.S. history class at Berkshire 
Middle School. In fourth grade, she 
joined Bloomfield Hills Schools’ Knapsack 
Players, followed by the Rising Stars from 
grades 6-9. Always in shows, Sussman 
starred as Annie in Annie, Louisa in Sound 
of Music and Adelaide in Guys and Dolls, 
among many other iconic roles. Sussman’s 
younger sister, Hillary, 31, also participat-
ed in the programs. 
 Rachel was a competitive danc-
er for Miss Barbara’s Dance Centre in 
Birmingham and Juliana’s Academy of 
Dance in Madison Heights. Even their bat 
mitzvah themes were all-things theatrical 
— Rachel’s Broadway Bash and Hillary’s 
Musical Mania at Temple Israel.
“When I talk to folks in this industry, 
it’s amazing that most people didn’t have 

the opportunity like I did — to have a 
performing arts company all four years 
in public high school,” Sussman said 
about Groves High School where she had 
the lead in Thoroughly Modern Millie and 
featured roles in Beauty and the Beast and 
Seussical. 
“It just tells me how essential that kind 
of training and the arts are, especially for 
a young person,” Sussman added. “Our 
parents [Steve and Kathy Sussman] really 
let us live our fullest artistic lives.”
Sussman graduated from New York 
University with a BFA in drama and a 
minor in psychology. 
 “When I was a sophomore in college, 
I really had this epiphany when I was an 
intern at a nonprofit in New York, that I 
wanted to be a producer,” Sussman said. 
“I wanted to help create the container 
for artistic work and ask all these hard 
questions about what we are making and 
who is it for and why are we doing it now.”

Rachel Sussman at this 
year’s Tony Awards with 
her brothers-in-law, 
actors Ben Platt (left) 
and Noah Galvin.

JENNY ANDERSON

continued on page 36

