Rachel Sussman has been selected as the next Geraldine Stutz T. Fellow.
As a T. Fellow, Sussman will receive a $10,000 stipend, a $20,000 budget to develop a new theatrical production and access to theater-related courses at Columbia University, which manages the program. Sussman is the seventh T. Fellow in the program’s history, which seeks to develop the next generation of creative producers.
“Rachel Sussman is as talented a potential producer as she is wise, creative, energetic, and has boundless enthusiasm. She has a future as a creative producer,” said Harold Prince, one of the founder’s of the T. Fellowship.
Sussman said she will use the fellowship to further develop a musical about the American women’s suffrage movement, which she has been developing with composer Shaina Taub, with Leigh Silverman as the director. “Hamilton” producer Jill Furman is her producing partner.
The musical has not yet had any public presentations, but the goal is to have something ready in time to commemorate the anniversary of the 19th amendment.
“The centennial is in 2020, so our aim is to be able to show the work at that time,” Sussman said.
She was previously the producing artistic director of the New York Musical Festival and has worked at Second Stage Theatre, RKO Stage, 321 Theatrical Management and Sundance Institute Theatre Lab.
This year’s T. Fellowship mentors are Prince, Sue Frost, Margo Lion, Tom Schumacher, Jeffrey Seller and David Stone.
The John Gore Organization made a pledge earlier this year to give $100,000 to the program over the course of five years. The Fellowship is also supported by The Broadway League and The Geraldine Stutz Trust.
