Michael Andrew Cassara is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 casting director, director and producer

Theatrical producer

A theatrical producer is the person ultimately responsible for overseeing all aspects of mounting a theatre production. The independent producer will usually be the originator and finder of the script and starts the whole process...

 of musicals, plays

Play (theatre)

A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed...

 and films.

Career

Cassara serves as the resident casting director for the New York Musical Theatre Festival

New York Musical Theatre Festival

The New York Musical Theatre Festival is an annual three-week fall Festival which presents more than thirty new musicals at venues in New York City's midtown theater district...

, where he has cast over 40 new musicals since the festival's inception in 2004. His work has frequently been seen at many regional theatres including the Olney Theatre Center

Olney Theatre

Located just north of Washington, D.C. in Montgomery County, Maryland, the Olney Theatre Center for the Arts offers a diverse array of professional productions year-round that enrich, nurture and challenge a broad range of artists, audiences and students...

, the Goodspeed Opera House, Kitchen Theatre, Great Lakes Theater Festival

Great Lakes Theater Festival

Great Lakes Theater Festival is Cleveland, Ohio's professional classic theater company. Founded in 1962, the Festival is the second-largest regional theater in Northeast Ohio. It specializes in large-cast classic plays with a strong foundation in the works of Shakespeare and features an...

, Idaho Shakespeare Festival

Idaho Shakespeare Festival

The Idaho Shakespeare Festival is a regional repertory theatre located in Boise, Idaho, United States. Its performances are presented in the summer months, June to September...

, Gulfshore Playhouse and The Old Globe. As an educator specializing in entertainment industry topics and audition technique, he has taught master classes and workshops at Northwestern University

Northwestern University

Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....

, Kent State University

Kent State University

Kent State University is a public research university located in Kent, Ohio, United States. The university has eight campuses around the northeast Ohio region with the main campus in Kent being the largest...

, Clarion University of Pennsylvania

Clarion University of Pennsylvania

Clarion University of Pennsylvania, located on a campus in Clarion, Pennsylvania, is one of fourteen universities of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education ....

, The University of New Hampshire, Pace University

Pace University

Pace University is an American private, co-educational, and comprehensive multi-campus university in the New York metropolitan area with campuses in New York City and Westchester County, New York.-Programs:...

, Belmont University

Belmont University

Belmont University is a private, coeducational, liberal arts university located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. It is the largest Christian university in Tennessee and the second largest private university in the state, behind nearby Vanderbilt University.-Belmont Mansion:Belmont Mansion...

, New York University

New York University

New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...

, SUNY New Paltz, and also throughout Europe.

He is particularly known for his frequent collaborations with contemporary musical theatre writers and artists, including Brian Lowdermilk

Brian Lowdermilk

Brian Lowdermilk is an American musical theater composer and lyricist.-Biography:Brian Lowdermilk is a composer and lyricist of musicals. He is also a music director, arranger, vocal coach, and pianist....

, Kait Kerrigan

Kait Kerrigan

Kait Kerrigan is an American playwright and musical theater lyricist and book writer.-Biography:Kait Kerrigan is a playwright and a lyricist and composer of musicals. Originally from Kingston, Pennsylvania, she graduated from Wyoming Valley West Senior High School in Plymouth, Pennsylvania in...

, Richard Kind

Richard Kind

Richard John Kind is an American actor known for his roles in the sitcoms Mad About You and Spin City .- Early life :...

, John McDaniel

John McDaniel (musician)

John William McDaniel is an American theatre producer, composer, conductor, and pianist. He is known as the lead composer and producer of the 1996 television talk show The Rosie O'Donnell Show, for which he received six Daytime Emmy Award nominations, winning two.McDaniel is also known for his...

 and B. D. Wong. He is a member of the Casting Society of America

Casting Society of America

Founded in Los Angeles, California in 1982, the Casting Society of America is a professional society of about 350 casting directors for film, television, and theatre in Australia, Canada, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States. The society is not to be confused with an industry union. The...

.

Education

Cassara is a graduate of Hawken School

Hawken School

Hawken School is an independent, coeducational, college preparatory day school in Northeast Ohio.Hawken currently has two main campuses, the Lower and Middle Schools in Lyndhurst and the Upper School in Gates Mills, plus a third, an urban campus in University Circle, The Sally & Bob Gries Center...

 and Otterbein College where he received his BFA in musical theatre.

External links

• michaelcassara.net