Rachel Sussman was eight years old when she first saw “Les Misérables.” The national tour was passing through Detroit, and her family took her to see the production on New Year’s Eve. When young Cosette came on stage to sing “Castle on a Cloud,” Sussman fell in love with theater.

This fascination with theater eventually led Sussman to Tisch School of the Arts, where she trained with The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute and the Experimental Theatre Wing. During her sophomore year in 2010, an internship at Second Stage Theater introduced her to producing.

Now, nearly 14 years after graduating from NYU, Sussman is a Tony Award-winning producer and has worked on shows like “Suffs,” “Parade” and “Prima Facie.” Her latest producing credit is for the Broadway production of “Liberation,” a dual-narrative play by Bess Wohl about the women’s liberation movement. As “Liberation” wrapped up previews ahead of opening night, Sussman spoke to WSN about the production and how her experience at NYU has shaped her career as a producer.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

WSN: What is one thing you wish people knew about being a producer?

Sussman: There is definitely a belief that producers hold all of this outsized power. It is true that, in many situations, we are the employers of many folks on the show, but we’re also trying to manage our position and do what’s right for the show, sometimes at a cost to ourselves. People are gobsmacked to find out that producers actually do not make any money until the show has commercial life.

WSN: Tisch professors often tell students that their future collaborators are sitting in the room with them. Has that been true for you? 

Sussman: My best friend is one of my NYU classmates, Rachel Brosnahan. We had a really ambitious class, many of whom I continue to stay in touch with in my professional world — Matt Rogers, Stephanie Hsu, Hannah Solow. It was a fellow NYU classmate of Shaina Taub’s who introduced us and sent me her email so I could pitch ‘Suffs’ to her. The world is extremely small, and if you go to NYU, the chances that you’re going to be working with your classmates in the future are really high. It’s a very special thing to have that shared history.

WSN: How has your training as an actor influenced your approach to producing? 

Sussman: Having an acting foundation and training allows you to be extremely skilled interpersonally. You typically have a high emotional intelligence and a sense of how to communicate with people and can be attuned to their needs. On a collaboration, like making a new piece of theater — which is such an incredible team sport — using my skills that I’ve built as an actor are necessary every day. It helps me to really understand and put myself in the shoes of all these other team members in all of their different roles to understand what they’re going through. 

WSN: What has been your experience partnering with women’s rights nonprofits for ‘Liberation?’

Sussman: I do a lot of work at the intersection of art and advocacy, and those social impact partners all have a thematic alignment with the show in their mission. We have this opportunity for folks involved in each of those nonprofit organizations, where we’re either working with them to help donate tickets to their auction, or they’re helping to bring in a big group of folks in their own community. All of them feel aligned in many ways with the story of ‘Liberation,’ in particular organizations surrounding women’s rights. And very similarly, we worked with a lot of organizations on ‘Suffs’ — like the ERA coalition — and it felt very meaningful to be able to trace the story and what you’re seeing on stage with how you can apply it in the real world, especially on shows that have this sort of level of social consciousness.

WSN: Is there any piece of advice you received during your time at NYU that has stuck with you to this day? 

Sussman: My takeaway from my time in ETW was to be exactly who you are. Don’t try and fit somebody else’s idea or try and fit a mold — you can be the mold. That really helped me grow confidence to say: if there’s something I want to do, I can do it, and I can pursue it, and I don’t need to wait around for somebody to give me permission or show me how, because I can figure it out myself.

WSN: What is one message that you hope people leave the theater with after seeing the show?

Sussman: In short, to call your mom. Bess has created an incredibly specific story that feels so universal that every person in that room leaves the theater thinking about their own mom and their relationship to her. If you can, I hope you see the show and then give your mom a call and talk about it with her.

“Liberation” is currently playing at the James Earl Jones Theatre until Jan. 11. Tickets are available online, and $30 tickets are available at the box office for those under 30 years old.

Contact Chantal Mann at [email protected].