This Week’s Episode:
From being the musical director of one of the most well-known productions in the history of Broadway to now changing the world through story and our view of ourselves, my guest today has a well of wisdom to share with us. During his career and working on Hamilton as its musical director, Julian Reeve brought story to life through music and emotion. In this episode, he talks about the success of Hamilton and Lin-Manuel Miranda’s gift as a storyteller, being better as a performer the freer you feel, and becoming aware of perfectionism’s effect on him and using self-compassion as a tool to manage it.
In our interview, we explore such questions as: Why is Hamilton such a success? What did Julian newly discover that he could dive into, years after conducting the show? What happened in Puerto Rico that forced him to stop and essentially ended his career? What would he say to someone who acknowledges that their perfection prevents them from getting their story out there?
What you will learn in this episode:
- Why moral leadership is a powerful tool
- How to keep repeated storytelling fresh
- How to approach managing perfectionism
Who is Julian?
Julian Reeve was born in Cambridge, England and has enjoyed successful careers in music, business, and education. Before moving to the United States and becoming the Music Director for Hamilton on its first national tour, he traveled the world as a musician and worked on over 25 major musical theater productions across the U.S., Europe, and Asia.
In business and education, he produced and promoted the Oleta Adams in Concert UK tour, co-founded a London-based boutique talent agency representing over 100 performers, and worked extensively as a performance specialist in leading performing arts schools across the UK. He’d go on to become a faculty member of The Broadway Experience in Tokyo and New York and create an educational company that provides Broadway workshops to schools and theater communities worldwide.
At age 43, Julian suffered a mild heart attack after a performance of Hamilton in San Francisco. Identifying the root cause as perfectionism, he realized that having a better understanding of his perfectionism at an earlier age could’ve prevented this experience. He quit performing and started striving to change the way people perceive and manage perfectionism to ensure that perfectionists (and those who employ them) can still thrive.
To that end, he recently invented a superhero for younger perfectionists, Captain Perfection, and published a self-help book featuring the character. Julian aims for his creation to empower kids to develop healthy management techniques for their perfectionism through self-compassion. His book leans heavily on research that states that interventions with self-compassion moderate the link between depression and perfectionism, which he also talks about in his 2019 TEDx Talk and his work with businesses.
Links & Resources
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"Storytelling is an art form - and Kymberlee Weil is the master! I’ve been fortunate enough to work with some of the most talented creatives in the world, and Kymberlee is close to the top of that list.”
JULIAN REEVE
SPEAKER, AUTHOR, FORMER MUSIC DIRECTOR OF HAMILTON
JUNA KOLLMEIER
ASTROPHYSICIST, TED SPEAKER"I thought I had public speaking down pat. As a former Green Beret, I have followed a lot of quality leaders and coaches, and I would follow Kymberlee anywhere… Especially onto the red circle."
LTC (RET.) SCOTT MANN
GREEN BERET, ENTREPRENEUR, STORYTELLER, TRAINER, COACH, AUTHOR