Paul S. Kassel

CURRICULUM VITAE

EDUCATION

MFA May '83 Florida State University/Asolo Conservatory
Thesis Performance: Edmund Kean: A Muse of Fire
BA May '81 Miami University of Ohio
Theater and Communications

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

State University of New York at New Paltz, New Paltz, NY

Sept. '04 - Present

Associate Professor/Head of Performance in the Department of Theatre Arts, School of Fine and Performing Arts.   Direct productions; Coach student actors; Recruit students; Teach acting (all levels);  Advise students; Serve on Departmental, College, and University Committees.

Major Accomplishments

Acting: An Introduction to the Art and Craft of Playing.  Allyn & Bacon.  Boston, 2007.

State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY

Assistant Professor of Theatre Arts in the College of Arts and Sciences.  Direct mainstage productions; Coach student actors; Recruit students; Teach acting (all levels), graduate seminar in acting theory; Advise students; Serve on Departmental, College, and University Committees.
2000-2003--Director of Undergraduate Studies—Responsible for recruitment and retention, advising, curriculum, website maintenance; represent Department at College meetings. 

     Major Accomplishments

Founded Asylum Theatre Company—professional repertory  ensemble performing on Long Island and New York City

Revised and redefined undergraduate mission and curriculum, focusing on collaboration, group learning, and creativity

Designed and implemented new course THR 100: Performing and Performance  

Bradley University, Peoria, IL

Aug. '93-May '98
Assistant Professor of Theatre Arts in the Slane College of Communications and Fine Arts. Head of Acting Program; Direct mainstage productions; Perform in mainstage productions; Direct touring production; Recruit students; Teach all levels of acting, stage movement, senior seminar in performance studies, theatre appreciation (summer/interim sessions), team-teach introduction to theatre for majors/minors; Advise students; Serve on Departmental, College, and University Committees.
   Major Accomplishments

 Designed and implemented new curriculum for the Performance Concentration

 Redesigned and developed recruiting program, implemented database management program, more than doubling enrollment of incoming classes in two years

 Adapted and directed, and organized productions of The Shakespeare Company, a touring group designed to introduce Shakespeare to underserved junior and high school
students

Professional Studio, New York, NY
Jan. '91-May '93
Weekly scene study class with working professional actors, emphasizing styles and techniques, auditions, career support; Bring in playwrights once a month for work on new material; Produce periodic showcases in conjunction with other theatre organizations.

The Anglo-American International School, New York, NY
Sept. '91-June '93
Director of Drama; Creative Wing Chair. Teach International Baccalaureate Theatre Arts, Improvisation and Theatre Games; Direct/Design productions; Develop curriculum.
    Major Accomplishments

Rebuilt entire theatre program, created curriculum, developed production program, participated in design and building of dedicated studio theatre facility
Participated in pilot program for the I.B. Theatre Arts program, developing curriculum, and generating assessment criteria

Ensemble Theatre Community School, Eagles Mere, PA
1989-93
Six-week summer program for high school students. Teach beginning acting and improvisation technique; Direct productions; Lead workshops in fencing, auditioning, and playwriting; Advise students; Develop curriculum; Design workshop for theater educators.

Ghost Light Theatre, New York, NY
1988-90
Nonprofit theater company. Teach acting, scene study for professional actors; Direct some productions; Write plays; Write sketches for showcase productions; Manage financial and administrative activities, publicity, development
    Major Accomplishment

• Wrote and produced The Velvet Pumpernickel, premiered at the Sanford Meisner Theatre, New York City, March 1990. 

• Who's Who Among America's Teachers: 1996, 1997, 2000, 2006
• Professional Achievement Award: Florida State/Asolo Conservatory, 1983

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Publications

Books

Acting:  An Introduction to the Art and Craft of Playing.  Allyn & Bacon.  Boston.  Expected publication January 2005.

"Random Acts." in Method Acting Reconsidered: Theory, Practice, Future.  Ed. David Krasner. New York.  St. Martin’s Press, 2000.

Refereed Articles

"The Four Fundamental Verbs:  An Approach to Playing Actions."  Theatre Topics.  9 (1999):  181-195

Abstracts/Book Reviews

"John Barrymore: Shakespearean Actor." Book Review.  Theatre History Studies.  18 (1998): 173-174.

Miscellaneous Published Materials

Rationale Task Force.  Theatre Studies in Higher Education: Learning for a Lifetime.  Booklet. Association for Theatre in Higher Education.  August 1997.

Editorship

The Players' Journal For and by members of the community of actors and acting teachers. Managing Editor. 2005-Present.

The Beat: The Official Newsletter for the Acting Program Focus Group of the Association
for Theatre in Higher Education. 1992-1998

Papers and Panels

Invited Lectures and Papers

"Acting Teaching/Teaching Acting." Presenter. Performance Studies Conference. University of Massachusetts. Amherst, MA. 2-4 June 2005.

"Prime Performance:  Taking and Eliciting Effective Action.”  Performing the World Conference.  Montauk, NY.  13 October 2001

"The First Folio Approach.” Presenter.  Millennial Shakespeare: Performance/Text/Scholarship Conference. Hofstra University.  Westbury, New York. 11 November 1999.

Conference Papers/Presentations

"Build Your Best Case: The External File."  Presenter. Association for Theatre in Higher Education Conference. Chicago. 31 July - 2 August 2006.

"Class War."  Actor. Ten-minute Playwriting Competition. Association for Theatre in Higher Education Conference. San Francisco. 28-31 July 2005.

"The Circle-A tool for generating organic blocking in rehearsal."  Panel participant. Association for Theatre in Higher Education Conference. San Francisco. 28-31 July 2005.

"Adjudicated Workshop of Debut and Adapted Acting Exercises."  Adjudicator. Association for Theatre in Higher Education Conference. San Francisco. 28-31 July 2005.

"Staging and Performing Intimacy."  Panel Chair

"Now What? Training Actors to Bridge the Gap Between Improv and Text.”  Panel Participant.  Association for Theatre in Higher Education Conference. New York, NY.  31 July -3 August 2003.

"The BA(sics): Actor Training for the Liberal Artist."  Panel Participant.  Session Coordinator.  Association for Theatre in Higher Education Conference. Washington, DC.  2-5 August 2000.

"Wreaking Havoc:  Creating Violence Through Collaboration of Acting, Voice and Movement."  Panel Participant. Association for Theatre in Higher Education Conference. Washington, DC.  2-5 August 2000.

“Symphony of Silence.” Actor.  Ten-minute Playwriting Competition.  Association for Theatre in Higher Education Conference.  Toronto, Ontario.  26 July-1 August, 1999.

"Surviving the Masterclass at the On-campus Interview." Panel Chair. Association for Theatre in Higher Education Conference. San Antonio, TX. 9-11 August 1998.

"Will Theatre Survive? A Rationale for Theatre in Higher Education." Panel participant. Association for Theatre in Higher Education Conference. Chicago, IL. 5-9 August 1997.

"Negotiating the Creative Relationship: Teaching and Directing Students." 1996 Illinois Theatre Association Conference. Chicago, IL. 5-6 October 1996.

"Emotion and the American Acting Student: Multidisciplinary Perspectives," panel participant. 1996 Conference of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education. New York City, NY. 7-10 August 1996.

"Shakespeare Unplugged!" workshop on performing Shakespeare. Illinois High School Theatre Festival. Illinois State University, Normal, IL. 5 January 1996.

"The First Folio in Performance: an Actor's Perspective," paper presented; "A Master Shakespeare Class with Patrick Tucker--the Monologue," Workshop Chair. 1995 Conference of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education. San Francisco, CA. 9-12 August 1995.

"The Peer Review Process: Peer Reviews for Actors and Teachers of Actors;" panel participant. 1995 Mid-American Theatre Conference. Kansas City, KS. 17 March 1995.

"Tales from the Script: Surviving as an Actor in New York City," presentation at the Illinois High School Theatre Festival. University of Illinois, Champaign, IL. 4-5 January 1995.

"I Am not an Island: Integrating Voice, Movement, and Acting in the Classroom and Curriculum," Panel Chair; 1994 Conference of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education. Chicago, IL. 27-30 July 1994.

"A Master Shakespeare Class with Patrick Tucker," Workshop Chair. 1994 Conference of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education. Chicago, IL. 27-30 July 1994.

"Secrets of Screen Acting with Patrick Tucker," Workshop Chair. 1994 Conference of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education. Chicago, IL. 27-30 July 1994.

"Reaching Equilibrium: 21st Century Acting Theory," Paper presented at the 1993 Conference of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education, Philadelphia, PA. 4-7 August 1993.

"Have at You! Dueling as an Acting Method and a Metaphor for the Dramatic Illusion," Workshop presented at the 1992 Conference of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education. Atlanta, GA. 12-15 August 1992.

"An Overview of Theatre, Censorship and Art Education," paper and workshop presented March 1991 at the Arts Festival of The Chapin School, New York, NY. 25 April 1991.

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GRANTS

$4,000 – Production grant. Oberon Foundation.  Two Rooms.  Produced by Asylum Theatre Company.  September 2003

$976 - Arts Decentralization grant.  Suffolk County.  what remains: long island voices of 9/11. Produced and created by Asylum Theatre Company. December 2001

$2,000 - Arts Decentralization grant.  Huntington Arts Council. what remains: long island voices of 9/11.  Produced and created by Asylum Theatre Company. December 2001.

$3,000 - Performance grant to fund Taller.  Produced by Asylum Theatre Company.  Oberon Foundation.  15 July 2001.

$854 - Performing Arts Tour of The Shakespeare Company to under-served secondary schools. Peoria Area Arts and Science Council Arts Regranting Program. December, 1994.

Internal/University Program Grants

$1,100 - Combined Individual Development Award (UUP), School of Fine and Performing Arts, and Department of Theatre Arts grant for one-week residency with "Everybody Loves Raymond." CBS Television. Los Angeles, CA. 6-10 December 2004.

$400 - Combined grant to attend the Webster University Theatre Movement Institute. Instructional Improvement & Innovation Grant - $200. College of Fine Arts - $100. Department of Theatre Arts - $100. Bradley University. July 1995.

$2250 - Combined grant to facilitate Bradley University production of Lysa Strata, including fee for composer Michael Leslie, fee for Women/Minorities guest lecturer Willa Taylor, and equipment rental. Research Excellence Committee - $1200. Iben Lectureship/Department of Theatre Arts - $1050. Bradley University. November 1994.

$1500 - Combined grant to bring guest lecturer Willa Taylor (Educational Director, Lincoln Center) to campus for series of lectures dealing with issues of gender, multicultural performance, and urban violence associated with Bradley University production of Lysa Strata. Iben Lectureship - $750. Women's Studies Program - $250. Teaching Excellence Grant for Visiting Minority/Women Scholar Residency - $500. Bradley University. November 1994.

$1250 - Combined grant to attend the Webster University Theatre Movement Institute. Instructional Improvement and Innovation Grant - $650. College of Fine Arts - $300. Department of Theatre Arts - $300. Bradley University. July 1994.

$200 - Research and Sponsored Programs grant. Production research. The Government Inspector.  National Actor’s Theatre, New York.  Bradley University. January 1993

Academic Travel Grants

$1,000 - Academic Travel Grant to attend 1999 Conference of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education. United University Professionals. SUNY Stony Brook. July 1999.

$500 - Academic Travel Grant to attend 1998 Conference of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education. Department of Theatre Arts. SUNY Stony Brook. August 1998.

$650 - Academic Travel Grant to attend 1997 Conference of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education. Bradley University. August 1997.

$1050 - Academic Travel Grant to attend the 1996 Conference of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education. Bradley University. August 1996.

$850 - Academic Travel Grant to attend the 1995 Conference of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education. Bradley University. August 1995.

$500 - Academic Travel Grant to attend the 1994 Conference of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education. Bradley University. April 1994.

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COURSES TAUGHT