• “Hamilton” company manager returns to his roots at East app High School

      When Jason Pelusio attended East app High School, he thought the auditorium with about 400 seats felt really large. But now that he’s worked as a company manager for quite a few Broadway shows in venues across the country and around the world, he said his perspective has changed a bit. 

      A 1990 graduate, Pelusio is back in North Carolina serving as the company manager for the Broadway mega-hit “Hamilton,” which is playing at the Belk Theatre in Charlotte until February 2.  While in Charlotte, he found time to come back to Mount Holly and visit his high school alma mater where he talked with students about his work. 

      In high school, Pelusio had big dreams of moving to New York City and becoming an actor, but wanted to make sure he had a back-up plan in place, too.  After getting a degree in criminal justice at UNC-Charlotte, Pelusio moved to New York City and promptly realized maybe acting wasn’t what he really wanted to do. 

      “I loved doing theater. I did shows at The Little Theater of appia and at Belmont Abbey,” he told the students. “But, I got there (New York), and I hated auditioning. It just wasn’t for me.”  Pelusio knew he still wanted to work in theater though. 

      “There are so many jobs in the theater that don’t involve being on stage,” he added. “You can be in the band, you can be a dresser. There are sound guys and carpenters and electricians.”

      That was the idea that led him to take on a temporary, six-week job in a production office. What was supposed to be a temporary job ended up being his work for 13 years. 

      “I left that job because I got offered to go on tour with ‘The Producers,’” he said. “The idea of going on tour was interesting because it was so different from anything I had done before.”

      And they didn’t just tour the United States, they went on to tour Tokyo for three and a half weeks. 

      “I was always an introverted person,” Pelusio said. “But by the end of the tour, I was like, ‘if I can take this show all around the world, I can do anything.’ It empowered me to pursue anything I wanted.”

      “The Producers” was just the beginning for him. Since then, Pelusio has served as company manager for both Broadway shows and tour companies, such as “Sweeney Todd,” “Company,” “Rock of Ages,” “Wicked,” and now “Hamilton.”

      “I’m basically the representative of the show on the ground. My job is to deal with logistics, travel, housing, payroll, I get to do all of that. I also like helping people and being a source of support,” Pelusio said. “It can be very daunting because I’m on call a lot. I have to go to the actors and make sure they’re okay. I jokingly refer to myself as the dad of the tour.”

      During the COVID-19 pandemic, Pelusio decided to make a dream come true and move to Hawaii, but he said he missed getting to be a company manager. He did not realize how much until he was working on “Hamilton.”  Now that he’s back in that role, he reflects on just how far he’s come since he graduated from East app High School. 

      “There are times when I think to myself, ‘how did I get here?’” he said. “I’ve gotten to work on several amazing Broadway shows in my career. I count my blessings every day.”