Faculty Profile for Cassandra Ann Abate

Biography Section

Biography and Education

Cassie Abate is a Co-Head of the Musical Theatre Program. Cassie originally hails from Sarasota, FL and has spent the last 15 years working as a performer, director and choreographer in New York and throughout the country. Cassie received a BFA in Musical Theatre from The University of Miami and an MFA in Musical Theatre from San Diego State University. Other training includes Ann Reinking’s Broadway Theatre Project and Gil Stroming’s Break the Floor in New York City. Cassie was an adjunct professor in the Musical Theatre Program at Montclair State University as well as a Graduate Student Instructor at San Diego State University where she taught dance at the undergraduate and graduate level.

Research Interests

Cassie is the author of The Art of Practice of Musical Theatre Choreography, published by Methuen Drama/Bloomsbury. She has directed and choreographed at theatres all over the country including 5 summer seasons at Connecticut Repertory Theatre, Utah Shakespeare Festival, Barrington Stage, ZACH Theatre, The Steven Sondheim Center, The Redhouse Arts Center, and Theatre Workshop of Nantucket. Favorite shows include West Side Story, La Cage Aux Folles, Gypsy (Starring Leslie Uggams), Man of La Mancha (Starring Terrence Mann), The Drowsy Chaperone (Starring Pat Sajak and Liz Larsen), The Music Man (Starring Barretr Foa) A Chorus Line, and Guys and Dolls. She served as assistant choreographer for The Brain from Planet X at the New York Musical Theatre Festival. Cassie acted as an SDC Observer and performer for Sophisticated Ladies starring Maurice Hines at the historic Lincoln Theatre in Washington, DC. She was also the associate choreographer for the world premiere of The World According to Snoopy.

Texas State choreography and directing credits include A Chorus Line, Seussical, Legally Blonde, Kiss Me Kate, Anything Goes, Urinetown, and Rent. For her work at Texas State, Cassie is a four-time winner of the Austin Critics Table Award as well as the Broadway World Award for Best Choreography. As a performer, favorite credits include the National Tour of Urban Cowboy, 42nd Street at North Shore Music Theatre, My Fair Lady at the Connecticut Repertory Theatre starring Terrence Mann, Lady Be Good at Surflight Theatre, West Side Story and Peter Pan at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Pirates of Penzance, Singin’ in the Rain, The Boyfriend, and Little Women. Cassie is a member of Actor’s Equity Association, and Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (Associate Member). www.cassieabate.com