{"id":1046094,"date":"2026-09-06T02:32:40","date_gmt":"2026-09-06T02:32:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1046094\/"},"modified":"2026-09-06T02:32:40","modified_gmt":"2026-09-06T02:32:40","slug":"exclusive-claybourne-elder-is-ready-to-share-stories-hes-avoided-for-years-and-yes-hes-nervous","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1046094\/","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive: Claybourne Elder Is Ready to Share Stories He\u2019s \u2018Avoided\u2019 for Years \u2014 and Yes, He\u2019s Nervous"},"content":{"rendered":"

Claybourne Elder<\/a> may seem like an open book on Instagram \u2014 he talks about life as a dad, takes followers behind the scenes at The Gilded Age and even isn\u2019t afraid to show some skin. But there\u2019s more to tell, he says\u2026 and the time is now.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When it comes to his upcoming 54 Below show, Can I Tell You Something?<\/a>, Elder exclusively tells BroadwayWorld, \u201cI can share that it\u2019s not being livestreamed because I don\u2019t want anyone outside the room to hear the stories!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The concerts, held September 8 and 9, will be \u201cdeeply personal,\u201d he says, \u201cbut also hilarious.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

While the Little Shop of Horrors star has previously opened up about growing up in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and even revealed he was kicked out of the Mormon-run Brigham Young University (BYU), there\u2019s plenty to unpack \u2014 and by doing so, he says, \u201cwe sort of dispel the shame.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

A lot has changed since Elder came to New York to pursue musical theater. He racked up a handful of Broadway and Off-Broadway credits \u2014 earning a Drama Desk nomination for his performance in One Arm \u2014 got married to director Eric Rosen<\/a> in 2012 and welcomed son Claybourne \u201cBo\u201d Philip Rosen<\/a>-Elder in 2017.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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As Elder gets older, he\u2019s constantly learning more about himself as he strives to instill good morals and values in his son, now 9.<\/p>\n

\u201cI try to give him a broad worldview, but [what I teach him is] really actually pretty simple, which is the same thing my mom told me when I came out,\u201d Elder explains. \u201cShe just said, \u2018I just want you to be a good person.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Looking back on the \u201cembarrassing\u201d moments in his life \u2014 or the ones that hold shame \u2014 makes Elder \u201ctotally\u201d nervous, he admits. However, \u201cI think that\u2019s sort of the point. As I\u2019m getting older, I think about what we leave behind a lot more.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not like he\u2019d necessarily change anything, though. \u201cThe experiences you go through are the things you need to go through so that you can become the person you are now,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd if you are a person that you love right now \u2014 which sometimes I am, and sometimes I\u2019m not \u2014 I wouldn\u2019t want to tell myself not to go through those things. I would just want to tell myself that things are going to be hard, but that you can get through them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Elder is also learning that there is power in setting boundaries. On a recent podcast episode<\/a>, the actor revealed he was asked to come into work at Broadway\u2019s Company on a night he\u2019d taken off to be with his son or else the show would have to be canceled due to the lack of understudies.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Exclusive:<\/p>\n

The actor\u2019s son was \u201ccrushed,\u201d he said on the podcast<\/a>, and since then, he\u2019s learned to say no to things and shake the \u201coverachiever\u201d mindset he came to New York with all those years ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was detrimental to my mental health for a long time,\u201d Elder tells BroadwayWorld. \u201cBecause you\u2019re constantly saying yes to everything, then nothing is good enough. Also, you\u2019re saying yes to so many things that when something really great comes along, you\u2019re just waiting for the [next] best thing to come along rather than loving the thing you\u2019re doing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

These days, \u201cI\u2019ve started keeping a list of things that I say no to at my therapist’s request,\u201d reveals the actor and director, whose production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee recently opened at Massachusetts\u2019 Cape Playhouse. (\u201cIt is an embarrassment of riches as far as cast goes<\/a>,\u201d Elder, who earned a degree in dramaturgy and directing from the University of Utah, says of the company that includes Julia Murney<\/a>, Alex Wyse<\/a> and more.)<\/p>\n

\"Exclusive:<\/p>\n

Elder says he gets \u201ca massive amount of strength\u201d when he looks at that list of projects he\u2019s turned down, adding that he\u2019s making space for creative and personal endeavors that really matter. \u201cI know that sounds kind of hokey, but it\u2019s really true,\u201d he explains. \u201cWhen I\u2019m feeling like, \u2018Nobody\u2019s asking me to do anything,\u2019 I can look at that list, and I can say, \u2018This didn\u2019t work out because my son\u2019s chorus concert is that night, and I\u2019m just not going to miss that.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

With Elder\u2019s upcoming 54 Below show, he hopes \u201cthis is a way of letting people in even more into my life.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cInto who I really am,\u201d he notes. \u201cAnd maybe not the version you see on Instagram.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Claybourne Elder<\/a><\/p>\n

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Photos: THE SONGS OF JEREMY SCHONFELD At 54 Below<\/a><\/p>\n

Singer-songwriter, composer, filmmaker, and storyteller Jeremy Schonfeld returned to New York City for a one-night-only concert, The Songs of Jeremy Schonfeld, at 54 Below. Check out photos of the show.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t Michael Gioia has held various senior editor positions at publications including People, Parade, The Messenger, Star and Playbill, where he covered Broadway and the theater industry for nearly seven y… (read more about this author)<\/a><\/p>\n

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