About Cassel

At seven we moved from Kingston, Jamaica to Scarborough, Ontario. At nine I learned how to play hockey and began taking tap dancing lessons. I was inspired by Bobby Orr of the Boston Bruins and by Arthur Duncan of The Lawrence Welk Show. Skating, whizzing across the ice, and playing hockey was fantastic. Imitating Arthur Duncan as my mother would watch The Lawrence Welk Show then taking lessons to learn the actual steps was euphoric. Though I didn’t know it yet, that was what I wanted to do. But first, there were sports to play.

At seventeen I saw the movie Fame and found inspiration in the character of ‘Leroy’. Canada’s Wonderland’s, The Best of Broadway was my first professional job. Dance scholarships in Toronto and New York City led to dance companies such as Judith Marcuse’s Repertory Dance Company of Canada, Les Ballets Jazz de Montreal, and The National Tap Dance Company of Canada.

Musical theatre shows followed such as A Chorus Line, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Crazy for You, and Sophisticated Ladies. At the Shaw Festival, On the Town and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and at the Stratford Festival, Kiss Me Kate. THEN came Canadian Stage Company’s, Angels in America: Millennium Approaches and Perestroika and a Dora nomination. That was unexpected. Me? The dancer? Acting? Even more unexpected was the opportunity to play ‘Mr. Bojangles’ in the U.S. National Tour of Fosse and to be directed by Ann Reinking.

That all seems like a lifetime ago. Yet it has taken this lifetime to understand the purpose. In 2019 I collaborated with writer/director, Charles Robertson, to create a one-person show about the early life of Josiah Henson. We have a purpose and a responsibility. Alone on a bare stage with no props, no set and no way out, JOSIAH proved to be an artistically beneficial vehicle; sharing the story of a little-known, yet highly relevant, historical figure and improving my skills as a storyteller.

It took me a while to figure it out. It isn’t about amassing credits and moving on to the next show, it’s about being with fellow artists, sharing our artistic individuality, and creating….for you.

There is nothing else in this world that I would rather be doing. Gratitude overflows. What a gift to be given these opportunities to tell our stories. It’s true. The work is the play. The play is to inspire.

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