Aurelia Butler

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    Jeffrey Seller Produced ‘Hamilton.’ Now, in ‘Theater Kid,’ He’s Telling His Story.

    In “Theater Kid,” Jeffrey Seller reflects on his Broadway career.The Broadway producer Jeffrey Seller is, by any measure, enormously successful. He’s produced (always in collaboration with others) about 10 shows that have, collectively, grossed $4.74 billion, approximately one-third of which was profit for producers, investors and others.You’ve probably heard of several of those shows. His first big hit was “Rent.” His most recent: “Hamilton.” In between were “Avenue Q” and “In the Heights,” but also plenty of others that didn’t flourish.For a long time, Seller, now 60 and the winner of four best-musical Tony Awards, had complicated feelings about how he fit in. He was adopted as an infant and grew up in a downwardly mobile and fractious family in a Detroit suburb.Seller accepting the Tony Award for “Hamilton,” which won best musical in 2016.Sara Krulwich/The New York TimesTheater was where he found pleasure, and meaning — a way out, and a way up. Now he’s written a memoir, “Theater Kid,” that is being published on May 6. It is a combination coming-of-age and rags-to-riches story that is unsparing in its description of his colorfully challenged-and-challenging father, unabashed in its description of his sexual awakening, and packed with behind-the-scenes detail, especially about the birth of “Rent.”In an interview at his office in the theater district, Seller spoke about his life, his career and his book. These are edited excerpts from the interview.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    ‘Ragtime’ Is Returning to Broadway

    A revival of the sweeping musical will open at Lincoln Center Theater in October, starring Joshua Henry, Caissie Levy and Brandon Uranowitz.“Ragtime,” an epic musical that explores early 20th-century American aspirations through three fictional families whose lives intersect with historical figures and events, is returning to Broadway.The musical, based on a 1975 E.L. Doctorow novel and set mostly in New Rochelle and other locations in and around New York, first opened on Broadway in 1998, won Tony Awards for best score and best book, and ran for two years. There was a short-lived revival in 2009.This new production will be staged at Lincoln Center Theater, which is one of four nonprofit organizations that operate Broadway houses. It will be the first production during the tenure of Lear deBessonet, who is taking over as the nonprofit’s new artistic director; deBessonet will direct the production.This revival, scheduled to begin previews Sept. 26 and to open Oct. 16 at the Vivian Beaumont Theater, began its life with a 12-day run last fall in a New York City Center gala presentation, also directed by deBessonet. The new production is scheduled to run for just 14 weeks.The Broadway production, like the City Center production, will star Joshua Henry as Coalhouse Walker Jr., an African American pianist; Caissie Levy as Mother, the matriarch of an affluent white family; and Brandon Uranowitz as Tateh, a Jewish immigrant. The intersection of those individuals and their communities, with each other and with the history of the United States, drives a complex plot of intertwined narratives that touch on North Pole exploration, early filmmaking, the labor movement, Houdini’s escapades, and, of course, ragtime music.The musical is among the best-known and most acclaimed works from the longtime collaborators Lynn Ahrens, who wrote the lyrics, and Stephen Flaherty, who wrote the music. The book is by Terrence McNally, an acclaimed playwright who died in 2020 at the start of the coronavirus pandemic.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    A Longevity Expert’s 5 Tips for Aging Well

    In his new book, “Super Agers,” the cardiologist Dr. Eric Topol argues that we now have the tools to age better than our predecessors.About two decades ago, a California research team observed a striking phenomenon: While a majority of older adults have at least two chronic diseases, some people reach their 80s without major illness.The researchers suspected the key to healthier aging was genetic. But after sequencing the genomes of 1,400 of these aging outliers — a cohort they called the “Wellderly” — they found almost no difference between their biological makeup and that of their peers. They were, however, more physically active, more social and typically better educated than the general public.That genes don’t necessarily determine healthy aging is “liberating,” and suggests that “we can pretty much all do better” to delay disease, said Dr. Eric Topol, a cardiologist and the founder of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, which ran the Wellderly study.Dr. Topol is a prominent molecular scientist who has published 1,300 research articles, has written multiple books and has several hundred thousand followers across social media and his newsletter. His newest book, “Super Agers: An Evidence-Based Approach to Longevity,” out on Tuesday, delves into the rapidly evolving science of aging.In the book, Dr. Topol writes that tools like biological age tests and increasingly sophisticated health risk prediction could eventually paint a clearer picture of how we’re aging.With these tools and new scientific insight into how lifestyle drives the biological breakdown that comes with age, he writes, we can now do more than ever to delay that process. While we’re all more likely to get diseases like Alzheimer’s, cancer and diabetes as we get older, these illnesses can develop over the course of decades — which gives us a “long runway” to try to counter them, Dr. Topol said.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    A Haven for Civilians in Sudan Is Attacked for a Third Day

    Drone strikes hit a fuel depot, airport and a hotel in Port Sudan, bringing violence to a city that had so far been spared in the devastating civil war.Thick columns of smoke could be seen Tuesday in Port Sudan, the eastern Sudanese city where the Sudanese paramilitary group known as Rapid Support Forces was accused of attacking a fuel depot with drones.Associated PressLarge plumes of black smoke billowed over Sudan’s de facto wartime capital on Tuesday, as attacks on a city that had become a haven for civilians fleeing civil war stretched into a third day.The Sudanese paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces has launched a series of drone attacks on the military-controlled Red Sea city of Port Sudan, targeting key civilian facilities, including the airport and a hospital.On Tuesday, drones hit a fuel depot near the port and the airport, according to multiple eyewitnesses, rattling the city and leaving its streets nearly deserted. Khalid Ali Aleisir, Sudan’s minister of information and the official government spokesman, accused the group, known as the R.S.F., of carrying out a “criminal and terrorist attack” in a post on social media.“I assure our steadfast Sudanese people that the civil defense forces and all security agencies are performing their duties to the fullest, and that the will of the Sudanese people will remain unbreakable,” Mr. Aleisir said in another post that showed him standing in front of a giant plume of smoke.The drones also hit the upmarket Marina Hotel, where diplomats were believed to be staying, witnesses said. The hotel is close to government buildings.No casualties were reported, and the R.S.F. has not taken responsibility for the attacks.On Sunday, the paramilitary group attacked Port Sudan for the first time since the start of the war in 2023, ratcheting up tensions in a conflict that has already killed an estimated 150,000 people and displaced nearly 13 million.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Melissa Toogood Named New Director of Juilliard’s Dance Division

    A member of Merce Cunningham’s final company, Toogood brings to the job years of experience as a dancer and educator.The Juilliard School has named Melissa Toogood as dean and director of its dance division, the school announced on Tuesday. Toogood, a Bessie Award-winning dancer who was a member of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company in its final years, succeeds Alicia Graf Mack, who is to become the artistic director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Toogood, who is Australian and lives in Sydney, will begin on July 1.“I’ve had many types of experiences and worked with many kinds of dancers and companies, Toogood, 43, said in a phone interview. “I’ve always been reaching for new knowledge.”Damian Woetzel, president of the Juilliard School, called her “one of the extraordinary artists of our time” and said: “I’ve watched her stage, I’ve watched her teach, I’ve watched her develop dancers at all levels, but really focusing on the younger dancers. And I have seen her develop her own leadership in that way that is inspiring.”Toogood, who started teaching at the Cunningham school at the choreographer’s request, continued to dance in New York after Cunningham’s company performed for the last time in 2011. “I had a really intense freelance career, which is challenging and uncertain, and I hope to prepare young people for all of those outcomes,” she said. “Because I can speak to it personally.”Toogood stages Cunningham dances and has performed with companies and choreographers including Kyle Abraham, Michelle Dorrance, Jamar Roberts and Pam Tanowitz, with whom she has had an 18-year collaboration.At Juilliard, she hopes to broaden her students’ understanding of the roles of art and artists. “I really think of art as an act of service, whether to an idea or a community or a work,” she said. “If a choreographer just makes you walk across the back of the room, they wouldn’t put that in a piece if it wasn’t important. I want them to leave as comprehensive thinkers and understanding that there are no small parts and that kind of connection to each other and the work and every role you play, whether it’s seemingly important to you at that time or not, is important.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Stars Hit the 2025 Met Gala After-Parties, From Jenna Ortega to Lisa

    This year, the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s signature gala welcomed a host of top hats, pinstripes and impeccable suiting (and a fashionably late, pregnant Rihanna) in celebration of the Costume Institute’s new exhibition about the history of Black dandy fashion.But it’s the after-parties where politicians, athletes, celebrities and influencers, many of whom did not appear on the blue carpet, let loose.On Monday night, as it continued to rain, celebrities dispersed across the city to toast martinis and mull over the moment. Here’s a sampling of who was out and what they wore.Casa CiprianiA Mayoral Rendezvous at the SeaportTylaAmir Hamja for The New York TimesMayor Eric Adams arrived at Casa Cipriani, a private club in Lower Manhattan, for the nightlife impresario Richie Akiva’s annual Met Gala after-party, just before 1 a.m.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Soprano Patricia Racette to Lead Opera Theater of St. Louis

    Patricia Racette, who has a recent history of performing in and directing productions with the company, will begin as its artistic director this fall.The soprano Patricia Racette has performed on some of the world’s biggest stages, but she has long felt a special connection to Opera Theater of St. Louis, where she made her debut in 1993.Now Racette, 59, will deepen her ties to St. Louis: She will lead Opera Theater as its next artistic director, the company announced on Tuesday.Racette, who has directed productions for the company and overseen its young artist program for six years, said she was excited by the challenge of working to keep opera fresh and relevant.“It feels like a very natural evolution for me,” she said. “I feel we all have a stake in this.”She begins her tenure in October and will succeed James Robinson, who departed last year to lead Seattle Opera as general and artistic director.Racette said she would build on Opera Theater’s reputation for experimentation. The company, founded in 1976, has given the premiere of works like Terence Blanchard’s “Fire Shut Up in My Bones,” which later became the first work by a Black composer to be presented by the Metropolitan Opera. She said that she hoped to work with a variety of contemporary composers, including Kevin Puts, Jonathan Dove and Missy Mazzoli.“I have a perspective and passion for new works, and I’m going to enjoy applying that perspective and passion again on the other side of the curtain,” she said.Racette, who made her debut at the Met in 1995, is known for her portrayals of Puccini heroines. She has also ventured into other genres, including cabaret, which she said she hoped to bring to St. Louis. She said opera companies should not fear crossover repertoire.“These are our stories and traditions,” she said. “It’s an opportunity for accessibility, relevance and impact.”Many opera companies, including Opera Theater of St. Louis, are grappling with rising costs and the lingering effects of the pandemic. The company has benefited from a robust endowment, which is currently valued at about $100 million, and is exploring building a new home at the former headquarters of a shoe company in Clayton, a suburb of St. Louis. (Its theater is in another suburb, Webster Groves.)Racette said she was not daunted by financial challenges.“We’re just going to have to get more creative,” she said. “The arts in troubling times are more important than ever.” More

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    Trump’s Wishes Aside, Censoring Racial History May Prove Difficult

    Late last month, when two federal grants to the Whitney Plantation in Louisiana were rescinded, the Trump administration seemed to be following through on its promise to root out what President Trump called “improper ideology” in cultural institutions focused on Black history.After all, the plantation’s mission was to show visitors what life was truly like for the enslaved, contrary to the watered-down Black history that the president seemed to back.Then just as quickly, the grants were restored a few weeks later, the Whitney Plantation’s executive director said in an interview.Because the money had already been approved, “maybe it was an exposure for lawsuits,” the executive director, Ashley Rogers, said, “but who knows?”Ever since Mr. Trump issued an executive order in March decrying cultural institutions that were trying to “rewrite our Nation’s history, replacing objective facts with a distorted narrative driven by ideology rather than truth,” sites like the Whitney Plantation have lived with such uncertainty. An order specifically targeting the Smithsonian Institution tasked Vice President JD Vance and other White House officials with “seeking to remove improper ideology from such properties.”But reversals like the one in Louisiana and actions by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture seem to indicate some misgivings about the president’s order. They also show that putting historical knowledge back into the bottle after decades of reckoning with the nation’s racist history will be more difficult than the administration believes.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More