Theater Kid - by Jeffrey Seller (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

A coming-of-age tale from one of the most successful American producers of our time, Jeffrey Seller, who is the only producer to have mounted two Pulitzer Prize-winning musicals--Hamilton and Rent.

Before he was producing the musical hits of our generation, Jeffrey was just a kid coming to terms with his adoption, trying to understand his sexuality, and determined to escape his dysfunctional household in a poor neighborhood just outside Detroit. We see him find his voice through musical theater and move to New York, where he is determined to shed his past and make a name for himself on Broadway.

But moving to the big city is never easy--especially not at the height of the HIV/AIDS crisis--and Jeffrey learns to survive and thrive in the colorful and cutthroat world of commercial theatre. From his early days as an office assistant, to meeting Jonathan Larson and experiencing the triumph and tragedy of Rent, to working with Lin-Manuel Miranda on In the Heights and Hamilton, Jeffrey completely pulls back the curtain on the joyous and gut-wrenching process of making new musicals, finding new audiences, and winning a Tony Award--all the while finding himself.

Told with Jeffrey's candid and captivating voice, Theater Kid is a gripping memoir about fighting through a hardscrabble childhood to make art on one's own terms, chasing a dream against many odds, and finding acceptance and community.

Review Quotes

"In this searing and inspiring memoir, Jeffrey Seller writes the book he wishes he'd had as a kid; about a wildly brilliant, closeted young man from tough circumstances in Detroit who finds his way into the wilds of New York and helps develop and support some of the most innovative musical theater of the twentieth and twenty-first century. It belongs on your shelf next to Act One by Moss Hart--if you can manage to put it down; I certainly couldn't."--Lin-Manuel Miranda

"I loved reading the wonderful, inspiring adventures of Jeffrey Seller's life and career. If you feel like an outsider from the poorest part of town, take heart, your dreams can come true."--Bernadette Peters

"One of the great American coming-of-age stories, Theater Kid exhilarates and transports. The family Jeffrey Seller portrays here is as unique and indelible as any in American literature. Courageous, honest, and compulsively readable, this book will join the very short shelf of indispensable books on the American stage."--Oskar Eustis, artistic director, The Public Theater

About the Author

Jeffrey Seller is one of the most successful American producers of our time. He produced the Tony Award-winning musicals Rent, Avenue Q, In the Heights, and Hamilton. His shows have garnered twenty-two Tony Awards, including four for Best Musical, and his Broadway productions and tours have grossed over $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 all.