Paul Kassel is the Dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts and a full professor in the School of Theatre and Dance at Northern Illinois University. A professional actor for more than fifty years, Paul has performed Off- and Off-off Broadway, in regional theaters, and as a guest artist around the U.S. in over a hundred roles, from musicals to Shakespeare, in dramas and comedies, from classical to new work.
Most recently he played “Estragon” in a staged reading of Waiting for Godot at NIU and Miami University of Ohio. (A full production in collaboration with DePaul University School of Theatre is scheduled for June 2026). Prior to that, Paul played the “Stage Manager” in Kane Repertory Theater’s inaugural production of Our Town in St. Charles, IL. In addition to the stage, Paul has worked in film, television and as a voiceover artist, most recently contributing to the NIU Foundation Campaign Kickoff last June.
As a professional director, Paul staged Romeo and Juliet for Kane Rep at Pottawattamie Park in July 2021. Other directing credits include Is He Dead, Almost, Maine, and Good People for Halfmoon Theatre Company (Poughkeepsie, NY), and What Remains: Long Island Voice of 9/11—a devised play Paul scripted and staged for the ensemble he co-founded, Asylum Theatre Company. He has also directed college productions at Bradley University, Stony Brook University, and SUNY New Paltz. Paul received is MFA in Acting from the Florida State/Asolo Conservatory for Professional Actor Training and is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association and the Screen Actors Guild/American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.
Paul is delighted to reunite with Mary Nigohosian, with whom he is working on Seasons of Love (see more below), as well as thrilled to be working with Mason Moss for the first time.
Mary K. Nigohosian is a Chicago-based professional actress, voice teacher, and teaching artist. She has performed at numerous theaters throughout Chicagoland including Theatre At the Center, Raven Theatre, Northlight Theatre, Citadel Theatre, William Street Repertory, Windy City Playhouse, Porchlight Music Theatre, First Folio, Illinois Theatre Center and Fox Valley Repertory, Steel Beam Theatre and Brightside Theatre playing such roles as Luisa Contini in Nine, Kate in Kiss Me, Kate, Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard, Edie Bouvier in Grey Gardens and Violet Venable in Suddenly Last Summer. Mary can be seen as Margie in the independent film musical Broken and Beautiful and is a proud member of Actors Equity Association.
In the summer of 2021, Mary had the privilege of playing Lady Capulet in Romeo and Juliet with Kane Repertory under the direction of Paul Kassel. That meeting spawned several ideas for further collaborations between them including the performance of Seven Ages of Man, an Avalon string quartet commission composed by NIU School of Music Professor David Maki where Paul invited her to co-narrate the accompanying Shakespearean text. Additionally, Mary and Paul are working on a cabaret entitled Seasons of Love to be performed in the fall of 2026. Mary is humbled and delighted to have been invited to join him in this performance of Swan Song, a celebration of Paul Kassel’s life and career journeys.
Outside of the theatre, Mary is an active voice teacher working with students in middle school through adulthood. She is a teaching artist with BAMTheatre and has worked as music director and choral conductor for churches in the western suburbs. She is a wife, mother of two daughters, roller coaster enthusiast and grateful cancer survivor.
Mason Moss is a Chicago-based music director, conductor, pianist, and arranger whose career spans Broadway tours, regional theater, and original concert productions. Originally from Rock Island, Illinois, Mason has built a reputation for his musical precision, collaborative leadership, and passion for storytelling through live performance.
He spent several years on the road as Music Director and Conductor for the Book of Mormon North American Tour, leading the orchestra for more than 600 performances across the U.S. and Canada. In Chicago, Mason has worked with many of the city’s leading theaters, including Sunny Afternoon at Chicago Shakespeare Theater (Jeff Award nomination for Outstanding Music Direction), As You Like It at Writers Theatre in Glencoe, and Always Something There… at Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire. Additional keyboard credits include 42 Balloons at Chicago Shakespeare and Tina: The Tina Turner Musical with Broadway in Chicago.
Outside the theater, Mason is an active arranger and orchestrator. He co-created Solitary Man: A Tribute to Neil Diamond and Winter Wonderland, both premiering at Circa ’21 Dinner Playhouse in Rock Island. His orchestrations have also been featured at 54 Below in New York and in educational and community productions across North America.
Mason is a proud member of the Chicago Federation of Musicians (AFM Local 10-208) and AFM Local 802 in New York.
He’s honored to serve as pianist for this special recital, celebrating the remarkable career and legacy of Dean Paul Kassel. Mason extends his heartfelt thanks to Paul for his artistry, generosity, and unwavering support of music and theater.
Tickets for School of Music concerts are available online only. There are prices for adults, seniors, faculty and staff and non-NIU students. NIU students are admitted free of charge to all performances with pre-reserved tickets. Most recitals are not ticketed.
The NIU College of Visual and Performing arts puts on more than 200 live performances and exhibitions every year. See what’s coming up next in the School of Music, School of Art and Design, School of Theatre and Dance and the NIU Art Museum.
Forty years ago four Miami University of Ohio acting students performed in a production of Waiting For Godot. Four decades later, those performers are reuniting for lived stage readings of the play Wednesday, March 19 at Northern Illinois University and Monday, April 21 at Miami of Ohio.
Paul Kassel, dean of the NIU College of Visual and Performing Arts initiated the project and will be joined by three of his fellow Miami of Ohio alumni. “As I look past my time as dean (Kassel plans to retire from the position at the conclusion of his second term in 2026), I’m returning to my roots as an actor and theater artist,” he said. “This reading seemed like a wonderful way to not only re-create one of the best roles of my life, but a way to reconnect to my friends within the profession.”
Kassel, who has served as dean since 2016 is a published author on the craft of acting, has edited a journal by and for actors and teachers of actors, worked on and off-Broadway and several films and television shows. He remained active in his professional career during his time in academia. He is joined in Waiting For Godot by Tony Freeman who has appeared in more than 250 plays including 24 years in The Lion King as part of Broadway, national and international tours. Eric Hissom is a playwright, actor and director based in Washington DC, and has New York credits that include a national tour of The 39 Steps and the off-Broadway production of China: The Whole Enchilada. Dion Graham played Rupert Bond on HBO’s The Wire, and has appeared in other TV series that include Madam Secretary, The Blacklist, Elementary, The Good Wife, Gossip Girl, NYPD Blue and more. He is also currently the series narrator for The First 48 on A&E.
The New York World-Telegram describes Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot: “Godot cannot be compared to any other theater work, because its purpose is so different. Two dilapidated bums fill their days as painlessly as they can. They wait for Godot, a personage who will explain their interminable insignificance, or put an end to it. They are resourceful, with quarrels and their dependence on each other, as children are. They pass the time ‘which would have passed anyway.’ A brutal man of means comes by, leading a weakling slave who does his bidding like a mechanical doll. Later on he comes back, blind, and his slave is mute, but the relationship is unchanged. Every day a child comes from the unknown Godot, and evasively puts the big arrival off until tomorrow…It is a tragic view. Yet, in performance, most of it is brilliant, bitter comedy…It is a portrait of the dogged resilience of a man’s spirit in the face of little hope.”
This live staged reading of Waiting For Godot is stage managed by Cornelia Reed, an M.F.A. acting student in the NIU School of Theatre and Dance.
Paul Kassel, Dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at NIU was the guest on Arts Engines with Aaron Dworkin, a weekly TV show that, “seeks to share the most valuable advice and input from arts administrators who tell their stories of creative problem-solving, policy, economic impact, crisis management and empowering the future of the field.”
Arts Engines is a partnership with Detroit Public Television, Ovation TV, The Violin Channel and American Public Media that reaches more than 100,000 viewers per week.
The College of Visual and Performing Arts is one of Arts Engines “creative partners” alongside institutions such as Carnegie Hall, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Opera America, Ravinia, Juilliard, Northwestern Bienen School of Music, Yale School of Music, University of North Texas School of Music, Interlochen Center for the Arts and others.
Kassel and Dworkin discussed collaborating with the arts ecosystem of a city.
We’re excited to announce six new members of our Arts Leadership Council (ALC): Christina Bourné (Forward Momentum Chicago), Taila Howe (Chicago Underground Film Festival), Paul Kassel (Northern Illinois University), Elizabeth Neukirch (Elizabeth Neukirch PR Consulting LLC), Tony Santiago (Arts + Public LIfe), and Jorge Valdivia (Chicago Latino Theater Alliance).
The ALC is an advisory group that provides field intelligence, campaign strategy, programmatic feedback, and assists with membership recruitment.
Current ALC members include practicing artists, leaders of organizations, community leaders, and creative business owners from across the state of Illinois. ALC members attend 4 meetings per year and members commit to sitting on one sub-committee. As our eyes and ears on the ground, ALC members are consistently advocating for and recruiting new members to support the Alliance’s mission to fight for arts resources and policies that benefit our members and all Illinois residents.
Since 2022, the ALC has doubled in size, bringing in new perspectives and skill sets to advise the Alliance on strategy, programs, and membership development.
We are so excited to have these leaders with us and thank them for their tireless advocacy for the creative sector in their community and across Illinois! Read their bios below.
Dean, College of Visual & Performing Arts
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Northern Illinois University
Paul Kassel is the Dean for the College of Visual and Performing Arts and a full professor in the School of Theatre and Dance at Northern Illinois University. He manages the operation of the Schools of Art and Design, Music, and Theatre and Dance. Paul also oversees the operations of the NIU Museum and the Community School of the Arts (CSA).
From July 2013 to July 2015 Paul was Interim Dean for School of Fine and Performing Arts at SUNY New Paltz, and Associate Dean for two years prior to that. He was a professor of Theatre Arts at SUNY New Paltz (2004-2016) and at Stony Brook University (1998-2004) where he taught acting, voice, movement, directing, and directed plays. Paul began his academic career as Head of Acting at Bradley University from 1993-1998.
Paul’s book, Acting: An Introduction to the Art and Craft of Playing, was published by Pearson in 2006. He recently created a Substack– Playing: Notes on the art and craft of acting. He was the editor of The Players’ Journal, an e-journal by and for actors and teachers of acting from 2004-2016. In New York City for eleven years as a professional actor, director, and writer, Paul worked off, and off-off Broadway, in regional theaters, and in several films and television shows. Paul has maintained his professional career since entering academia, most recently performing the role of “Stage Manager” in Our Town (2019) and directing Romeo and Juliet (2020) with Kane Repertory Theatre in St. Charles, Illinois. Paul is currently developing a cabaret act of musical theater songs that surveys love from inception to maturity.
Christina Bourné is an accomplished nonprofit and fundraising professional with a focus in board and staff development, annual and campaign planning, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) implementation, and strategic planning. During her 15-year career, her unique skills have allowed her to work with longstanding and emerging leaders in arts and culture, education and youth services, and social justice in the nonprofit and corporate sector both locally and nationally. Christina considers herself a community organizer at heart and takes pride in building individual and organizational capacity through lasting change management frameworks that challenge clients and organizations to go beyond rhetoric to responsibility with equity and sustainability at the helm.
Christina currently serves as the Director of Development for Forward Momentum Chicago, Adjunct Consultant with Evolve Giving Group, and Board Chair of Awakenings Art. She also sings professionally with her family of nine comprised of her siblings and mother—The Bournés.
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Taila Howe
Director of Production Chicago Underground Film Festival marketing + creative
Doja Cat
Taila Howe is the Director of Production for the Chicago Underground Film Festival and runs the marketing + creative department for Doja Cat’s management team. She’s a Third-Culture-Kid with Polish roots, and has over ten years of cross-cultural and international experience bridging the communications gap between different societies, nationalities and perspectives. As a human-centered designer, nature lover and marketing strategist, she’s passionate about helping organizations grow their community, increase accessibility, and diversify revenue streams within the discourse of local and global social change.
Elizabeth Neukirch is a Chicago-based writer and PR/communications strategist. As the owner of Elizabeth Neukirch PR Consulting LLC, she works with arts, nonprofit and mission-driven organizations to create and execute public relations campaigns, with a focus on high-impact storytelling.
Her current clients/projects include the Fine Arts Building’s 125th anniversary, Far South Community Development Corporation, the Black Arts & Culture Alliance of Chicago, the National Hellenic Museum, and the Office of Inspector General for the Chicago Board of Education. Elizabeth is also a guest lecturer for the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where for seven years she has led an annual PR workshop for students in the Masters in Arts Administration and Policy program.
Prior to starting her independent consulting practice, Elizabeth was senior vice president of Chicago PR firm The Silverman Group, where for a decade she represented world-class cultural institutions ranging from Lyric Opera and Steppenwolf Theatre Company to Cirque du Soleil touring productions. She received an honorable mention in PR Daily’s Nonprofit PR Awards for her national media campaign in support of Jessica Stockholder’s Color Jam public artwork presented by Chicago Loop Alliance. Elizabeth has also served as public relations manager for Chicago Shakespeare Theater, worked in Goodman Theatre’s Education and Engagement department, and was a contributing writer and advertising account manager for The Daily Chronicle and The MidWeek newspapers.
As a fiction writer, Elizabeth is currently working on her first novel, a speculative Greek American immigrant story narrated by a chorus of opinionated village women. She is grateful for the support she has received for this project from the Illinois Arts Council Agency, Tin House Summer Workshop, Ragdale Foundation and Vermont Studio Center. A graduate of StoryStudio Chicago’s Novel in a Year program, Elizabeth currently serves on StoryStudio’s Associate Board. She is a contributing writer for the Chicago Review of Books and Third Coast Review.
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Tony Santiago
Creative Engineer Arts + Public Life, We Will Chicago, Honey Pot Performances
Board Member Katherine Dunham Center (E. Saint Louis)
A creative engineer centering technology to help connect people to the arts, Santiago manages Arts + Public Life’s Performance Residency and teaches the Community Actor’s Program for high-school-aged youth at Green Line Performance Arts Center in Washington Park. Professional credits include Community Data Manager for We Will Chicago with Honey Pot Performance, Spinning Home Movies with the South Side Home Movie Project Producer, and Editor and Technical Director of the Rapid Response Series with Illinois Humanities. Tony currently sits on the board of the Katherine Dunham Center in East Saint Louis. When not working, Tony enjoys cooking, biking, and watching movies on the big screen.
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Jorge Valdivia
Executive Director Chicago Latino Theater Alliance (CLATA)
Jorge Valdivia is the Executive Director for the Chicago Latino Theater Alliance (CLATA). With over twenty-five years of experience in arts and media management. As a self-identifying Queer Mexican American, Valdivia has centered his work in diversity and equity through social practice, public engagement, and advocacy in the arts. He has won awards and been recognized for his contributions to both the Latino/Latine and LGBTQ communities. Prior to becoming executive director of CLATA, Valdivia served as the Director of Performing Arts for the National Museum of Mexican Art where he led the Museum in presenting a year-round calendar of events focusing on performing arts, literature, and film. There he also curated the Sor Juana Arts Festival, a multidisciplinary arts festival that he successfully expanded into seven cities. Valdivia has also cultivated partnerships in Chicago, across the country and beyond with various arts organizations and has curated festivals, events, and experiences on major stages like Harris Theater and Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park in Chicago, Discovery Green and The Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, The Mexican American Cultural Center in Austin, and El Claustro de Sor Juana in Mexico City.
(l to r) Blaise Magnière, Marie Wang, Anthony Devroye, Cheng-Hou Lee
The Avalon String Quartet, artists in residence at the NIU School of Music will perform an original composition based on one of Shakespeare’s most famous speeches.
“All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts, His acts begin seven ages.”
Thus begins one of Shakespeare’s most famous speeches, spoken by the misanthropic Jacques in the comic masterpiece, As You Like It. It is also the basis for a new string quartet, composed by NIU School of Music Professor David Maki and performed by the Avalon String Quartet.
David Maki
This piece, specially commissioned by the NIU College of Visual and Performing Arts in honor of NIU’s 125th anniversary, will have several parts, each introduced with the accompanying text performed by actress Mary Nighosian and actor (and Dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts) Paul Kassel.
We hope you’ll join us at the world premiere of this exciting marriage of great music and theatre!
Wednesday, September 7, 7:00 p.m., NIU Music Building, Recital Hall
String Quartet in F Major, Op. 135 by Ludwig van Beethoven The Seven Ages of Man, by David Maki String Quartet in G minor by Leo Sowerby
