Michael Andrew Cassara (born April 14, 1981 in

Cleveland Heights, Ohio Cleveland Heights is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. The population was 45,312 at the 2020 census. One of Cleveland's historic streetcar suburbs, it was founded as a village in 1903 and a city in 1921. History The area that is ...

) is an American

casting director In the performing arts industry such as theatre, film, or television, casting, or a casting call, is a pre-production process for selecting a certain type of actor, dancer, singer, or extra to land the role of a character in a script, screenp ...

, educator, and genealogist. His casting work spans

musicals Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...

plays Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

, and

films A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of Visual arts, visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are gen ...

and he has been nominated for two Artios Awards by the Casting Society of America.

Career

Cassara serves as the resident casting director for the

New York Musical Theatre Festival The New York Musical Festival (NYMF) was an annual event held each summer from 2004 to 2019 in New York City's midtown theater district. It mounted more than 30 new musicals each year, more than half selected through an open-submission, double- ...

, where he has cast more than 70 new musicals since the festival's inception in 2004. Recent New York credits include ''

Forbidden Broadway ''Forbidden Broadway'' is an off-Broadway revue parodying musical theatre, particularly Broadway musicals. Conceived, written, and directed by Gerard Alessandrini, the show has been updated many times to parody new musicals and productions. The r ...

'', ''

Fat Camp A fat camp, weight loss camp, or fat farm is a type of residential program where people who are overweight or obese go to attempt to lose weight through exercise and lifestyle changes. Overview One goal of weight loss camps is to help the guests ...

'', The '' Jack Cole Project'' (dir. Chet Walker), and a number of independent films including ''

Clear Blue Tuesday ''Clear Blue Tuesday'' is a 2009 musical film directed by Elizabeth Lucas. It premiered at the Quad Cinema in New York City on September 3, 2010. Plot Over the course of seven years, eleven New Yorkers affected by the events of September 11, 2001 ...

'', ''Grantham and Rose'', and ''Contest''. His work has frequently been seen at regional theatres including Gulfshore Playhouse, the

Olney Theatre Center Located in Olney, Maryland, the Olney Theatre Center is one of the two official state theaters of Maryland. Olney Theatre Center is situated on in the middle of the Washington–Baltimore–Frederick "triangle." There are three indoor venues: th ...

, the

Goodspeed Opera House Goodspeed Musicals is a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and advancement of musical theater and the creation of new works, located in East Haddam, Connecticut. Its landmark Goodspeed Opera House is a distinctive feature of ...

, Kitchen Theatre,

Great Lakes Theater Festival Great Lakes Theater, originally known as the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival, is a professional classic theater company in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1962, Great Lakes specializes in large-cast classic plays, often performing th ...

, Idaho Shakespeare Festival, and The Old Globe. As an educator specializing in entertainment industry topics and audition technique, he has taught

master classes ''Master Class'' is a 1995 play by American playwright Terrence McNally, presented as a fictional master class by opera singer Maria Callas near the end of her life, in the 1970s. The play features incidental vocal music by Giuseppe Verdi, Giaco ...

and workshops at

Baldwin Wallace University Baldwin Wallace University (BW) is a private university in Berea, Ohio, United States. Established in 1845 as Baldwin Institute by Methodist businessman John Baldwin, it merged with nearby German Wallace College in 1913 to become Baldwin-Wallace ...

Clarion University of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Western University, Clarion (PennWest Clarion, formerly Clarion University of Pennsylvania) is a campus of Pennsylvania Western University in Clarion, Pennsylvania, United States. The institution was founded in 1867 and offers as ...

Elon University Elon University is a private university in Elon, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1889 as Elon College, the university is organized into six schools, most of which offer bachelor's degrees and several of which offer master's degrees or ...

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

Kent State University Kent State University (KSU) is a Public university, public research university in Kent, Ohio, United States. The university includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio located in Kent State University at Ashtabula, Ashtabula, Kent State ...

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

Ohio Northern University Ohio Northern University (Ohio Northern or ONU) is a private college in Ada, Ohio, United States. Founded by Henry Solomon Lehr in 1871, ONU offers over 60 programs across five undergraduate and graduate colleges and is affiliated with the Unit ...

Ohio University Ohio University (Ohio or OU) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Athens, Ohio, United States. The university was first conceived in the 1787 contract between the United States Department of the Treasury#Re ...

Otterbein University Otterbein University is a private university in Westerville, Ohio, United States. The university was founded in 1847 by the Church of the United Brethren in Christ and named for United Brethren founder, Philip William Otterbein. It has been as ...

Pace University Pace University is a private university with campuses in New York City and Westchester County, New York, United States. It was established in 1906 as a business school by the brothers Homer St. Clair Pace and Charles A. Pace. Pace enrolls about ...

SUNY New Paltz The State University of New York at New Paltz (SUNY New Paltz or New Paltz) is a public university in New Paltz, New York. It traces its origins to the New Paltz Classical School, a secondary institution founded in 1828 and reorganized as an a ...

, The University of New Hampshire, The University of the Arts, and also throughout Europe. In 2013, he cast the world premiere of

Robert Wuhl Robert Wuhl (born October 9, 1951) is an American actor, comedian, and writer. He is best known as the creator and star of the television comedy series '' Arliss'' (1996–2002) and for his portrayal of newspaper reporter Alexander Knox in Tim B ...

's play ''Hit-Lit''. He is particularly known for his collaborations with contemporary musical theatre writers, including

Gerard Alessandrini Gerard Alessandrini (born November 27, 1953) is an American writer, director, lyricist and composer, best known for creating the off-Broadway musical revue '' Forbidden Broadway''. He is the recipient of Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre, f ...

Neil Berg Neil Berg is an American composer/lyricist best known for the hit off-Broadway musical ''The Prince and the Pauper'', as well as the Award-Winning rock musical "THE 12", ''Grumpy Old Men: The Musical.'', ''Off- Broadway’s The Sabbath Girl'', '' ...

Randy Blair Randy Blair is an American actor and writer, best known for originating the role of Hipolito/Elton John in the Broadway musical '' Amelie''. Writing career His work as a bookwriter and lyricist includes '' Gigantic'' (Vineyard Theatre), '' Perez ...

, Douglas J. Cohen,

Joe DiPietro Joe DiPietro (born 1961) is an American playwright, lyricist and author. He is best known for the Tony Award-winning musical '' Memphis'', for which he won the Tony Awards for Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score as well as for writi ...

, Tim Drucker, Kait Kerrigan,

Timothy Huang Timothy Huang (Traditional Chinese: 黃明展, Pinyin: Hwang Mingtzan) is a Taiwanese American playwright, actor, composer and lyricist. He is the creator of the award-winning one-man musical, ''The View from Here'', the song cycle ''LINES'', and ...

Bree Lowdermilk Bree Lowdermilk (formerly Brian Lowdermilk) is an American musical theater composer and lyricist. Biography In addition to writing music and lyrics, Lowdermilk is also a music director, arranger, vocal coach, and pianist. They are an alumnus of ...

Ryan Scott Oliver Ryan Scott Oliver (born August 27, 1984) is an American musical theatre composer and lyricist. He is a 2011 Lucille Lortel Award Nominee and the recipient of both the 2009 Jonathan Larson Grant and the 2008 Richard Rodgers Award for Musical Thea ...

, Richard Maltby, Jr., and

David Shire David Lee Shire (born July 3, 1937) is an American songwriter and composer of stage musicals, film and television scores. Among his best known works are the motion picture soundtracks to '' The Big Bus'', '' The Taking of Pelham One Two Three' ...

and artists including

Hinton Battle Hinton Govorn Battle Jr. (November 29, 1956 – January 30, 2024) was an American actor, singer, dancer, and choreographer. He won three Tony Awards, all in the category of Featured Actor in a Musical. He was the first to portray the Scarecrow ...

, Sheryl Kaller,

Richard Kind Richard Bruce Kind (born November 22, 1956) is an American actor and comedian. His television roles include '' Carol & Company'' (1990–1991), Dr. Mark Devanow in '' Mad About You'' (1992–1999, 2019), Paul Lassiter in '' Spin City'' (1996–20 ...

, Dan Knechtges,

Baayork Lee Baayork Lee (born December 5, 1946) is an American actress, singer, dancer, choreographer, theatre director, and author. Early life and career Lee was born in New York City's Chinatown, to an Indian mother and Chinese father. She started danci ...

, John McDaniel,

Joe Morton Joseph Thomas Morton Jr. (born October 18, 1947) is an American actor. Known as a character actor for his numerous roles on stage, television and film, he has received several awards including a Primetime Emmy Award as well as a nomination for ...

, Billy Porter,

Lonny Price Lonny Price (born March 9, 1959) is an American director, actor, and writer, primarily in theatre. He is best known for his New York directing work, including ''Sunset Boulevard'', '' Sweeney Todd'', ''Company'', and ''Sondheim! The Birthday Co ...

, Randy Skinner,

Alex Timbers Alex Timbers (born August 7, 1978) is an American writer and director best known for his work on stage and television. He has received numerous accolades including two Tony Awards, a Golden Globe Award, a Drama Desk Award, as well as nominations ...

, and

BD Wong Bradley Darryl Wong (born October 24, 1960) is an American actor. Wong won a Tony Award for his performance as Song Liling in '' M. Butterfly'', becoming the only actor in Broadway history to receive the Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, Outer Crit ...

. He is a member of the

Casting Society of America The Casting Society, formerly known as the Casting Society of America (CSA), is a professional association of about 1,200 casting directors and associate casting directors for film, television, theatre, and commercials in Canada, Europe, Austral ...

Education

Cassara is a graduate of

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 Chester Township, plus a third, an ur ...

and

Otterbein College Otterbein University is a private university in Westerville, Ohio, United States. The university was founded in 1847 by the Church of the United Brethren in Christ and named for United Brethren founder, Philip William Otterbein. It has been as ...

where he received his BFA in musical theatre.

Genealogist

A lifelong genealogist, Cassara specializes in Italian and Sicilian research and has spoken numerous times at the RootsTech conference in

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Salt ...

. He is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists and holds a Certificate in Genealogical Research from

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

References

External links

michaelcassara.net
* 1981 births Living people American theatre directors American casting directors Otterbein University alumni {{musical-theat-stub