Michael Cassel
An extraordinary producer with an international reputation.
Profile
Michael Cassel is one of Australia’s most respected and sought after producers of musicals and large-scale musical entertainment. He is also Australia’s youngest producer. At 36 he has been named a “visionary” and “a producer with global cred changing the face of the stage” by The Weekend Australian and already achieved a successful international career working for some of the world’s most prestigious entertainment companies including Disney Theatrical and Sir Cameron Mackintosh.
Current work
Cassel’s rise from setting up and producing Carols by Candlelight on NSW’s South Coast when he was 15 years old to running one of the country’s busiest independent musical production companies is a spectacular industry success story.
Ask Cassel – who knew he had to work in musicals when he saw Jesus Christ Superstar in the early 90s – what it takes to succeed in the musical theatre industry and it basically boils down to two things: passion and relationships.
He also credits a strong team for the company’s success. Cassel’s Michael Cassel Group has grown from a staff of two when he started in 2013 to sixteen.
Michael also sits on the executive council of peak industry body Live Performance Australia.
Previous experience
Producer: Cassel entered the professional producing arena in 1999, working for three years with his mentor Harry M Miller before joining James Thane at the newly-formed Disney Theatrical in Australia for the inaugural tour of The Lion King in Australia. Cassel went on to produce the first tour of The Lion King in Asia, before being invited to New York as Disney’s Director, International.
Disney: He ultimately worked for Disney for a decade, overseeing all Disney tours outside the US including Beauty and the Beast, AIDA, Mary Poppins, The Little Mermaid and High School Musical.
Productions: He returned to Australia in 2012 with Global Creatures (producers of Walking with Dinosaurs and Strictly Ballroom the Musical) before founding his own company, the Michael Cassel Group, in 2013. Their debut production was the 19-month national tour of Sir Cameron Mackintosh’s Les Miserables, before Cassel took the show to Asia where it is still touring. Today the Michael Cassel Group exclusively represents Cameron Mackintosh in Australia and has toured Singin’ In the Rain and Kinky Boots. From 2018 the Michael Cassel Group will produce the ten-year anniversary of Beautiful: The Carole King Story, Priscilla Queen of the Desert and an international tour of Disney’s The Lion King.
Media
Feedback
I have had the opportunity to work with the most extraordinary people in our industry and Michael Cassel is certainly one of them.
Michael Cassel is an extraordinary Australian who is rapidly building a major international reputation as a producer and creative director of theatrical productions and live entertainment events.
A brilliant show, a brilliant cast, full houses, all pulled together by you (Michael Cassel) brilliantly - the first of many.
