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