Jeffrey Seller's shows have garnered twenty-two Tony Awards, including four for Best Musical, and his Broadway productions and tours have grossed more than $4.6 billion and reached more than 43 million attendees. Jeffrey is the only producer to have mounted two Pulitzer Prize–winning musicals—Hamilton and Rent. He also revolutionized theater accessibility with the $20 ticket lottery for Rent, making theater affordable for many. This passion for accessibility underscores his belief in the power of the stage, which was his ticket out of his hometown.
In this episode, we talk about:
• First job out of University of Michigan was in publicity
• Learning all aspects of being a producer when he worked for the Barry and Fran Weissler
• Booker for Paul Blake and Kevin McCollum and they lessons he learned there
• Acting to writing to directing to producing and how/why he decided to stick with producing
• The power of writing letters as a form of communication, including a letter to his dad, a letter to Jonathan Larson and a letter to Lin-Manuel Miranda
• His complicated relationship with his father growing up
• The price of success and whether he had to sacrifice anything to get there
• Producing the audiobook with actors like Lin-Manuel Miranda, Danny Burstein, Annaleigh Ashford, and more
• His advice for establishing community as an up and coming artist
• Lightning round including a musical that always makes him musical, a project he wishes he produced, and projects he passed on
• His relationship with Jonathan Larson ahead of RENT
Guest:
Wikipedia Instagram & Threads Playbill
Host:
Instagram:@MentorsontheMic@MichelleSimoneMiller
Twitter:@MentorsontheMic@MichelleSimoneM
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/mentorsonthemic
Website: www.michellesimonemiller.com and www.mentorsonthemic.com
Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/user/24mmichelle
If you like this episode, check out
