School of the Arts Faculty & Staff

David Krasner is Dean of the School of the Arts at Dean College, is an actor, director, theatre historian, and teacher for over 40 years. He was the Head of Acting at Emerson College; Director of Undergraduate Theatre Studies at Yale University; Head of the Graduate Program in Directing at Southern Illinois University; and a teacher of acting, voice, speech, and movement at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York for nine years. He is the author or editor of ten books, ranging from acting, theatre history, African American theatre, modern drama, the philosophy of performance, and dramatic theory and criticism. He has twice received the Errol Hill Award for excellence in African American performance from the American Society for Theatre Research, and received the 2008 Betty Jean Jones Award for excellence in teaching American theatre and drama. He last performed as Eddie Carbone in Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge in 2011, excerpts of which can be viewed on YouTube by goggling DavidKrasnerAViewfromtheBridge.

Jim Beauregard is the Assistant Professor of Theatre and Dance and Technical Director of the Center for the Performing Arts at Dean College. Along with Dr. Myron Schmidt of Dean College, Jim has served as a Co-Vice Chair for the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, Region I. At Dean he has directed numerous productions, including Pirates of Penzance, The Crucible,

The Three Musketeers, Much Ado About Nothing, Victims of Paradise, Scapino!, My Father Never Prepared Me For This, and The Country Wife. Jim is founder and director of Dean College Summer Outdoor Theatre. He is a specialist in stage combat. He has served as the Associate Artistic Director and a principal performer at The Medieval Manor, Boston’s longest running show.

Dori Bryan teaches Musical Theater Ensemble. A BFA graduate of the Boston Conservatory of Music, Dori has been teaching and mentoring in the areas of acting, dance, musical theatre, and directing for the past 25 years.She has received national acclaim for her work as a director, choreographer and actor. In 2006 she was named Choreographer of the Year by The Sun Chronicle for her work as Resident Director and Choreographer for The Orpheum Theatre in Foxboro. Her most recent directing/choreography credits include Beauty and the Beast, Little Women, Jesus Christ Superstar, Seussical~The Musical, The Magic Flute, The Little Prince, The Producers, and Nunsense. In 2010, Dori won Best Director and Best Choreographer from the Eastern Massachusetts Association of Community Theatres for her production of RENT. Many of Dori’s former students are working professionally at both the Regional and Broadway level ~ crediting her for their artistic development.

Jeff Claassen is a professional trumpeter, composer, orchestrator and educator. Jeff’s compositions have been performed both nationally and overseas, and his music has been featured in two award-winning films. Appearing on nearly a dozen commercial recordings, ranging from jazz and classical to rock and world music, Jeff is an active performer in the Boston / New York area. He has performed and toured globally, playing such venues as Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, The Montreux Jazz Festival, The Village Vanguard, North Seas Jazz Festival, San Francisco’s Warfield Theater, Ryles Jazz Club, and Jordan Hall with such notable names as Bob Brookmeyer, Paquito D’Rivera, Smash Mouth, Gunther Schuller, War, Maria Schneider, and Herb Pomeroy. Jeff holds degrees from California State University, Sacramento (B.A. – Music Theory / Composition), and The New England Conservatory of Music (M.M., D.M.A. – Composition / Jazz Studies). Jeff is an Assistant Professor at Berklee College of Music, and has been on faculty at Dean College since 2006, teaching Introduction to Music, Fundamentals of Music Theory, and History of Rock & Roll.

Mike Duarte is set designer and scenic artist at Dean College. Mike is a graduate of Bridgewater State College with a B.S. in Physics and a minor in Secondary Education. He has been involved with education at various levels including High School and corporate training and development, most recently as Training Manager at Boston Scientific teaching leadership, customer service, and teaming. Mike has 35 years experience in theater as a singer/actor performing with Turtle Lane Playhouse, Longwood Opera, and Boston Lyric Opera. As a scenic designer/artist for the Orpheum Theater in Foxboro and Mansfield Music art Arts Society as well as numerous other theater groups. Mike is a recent EMACT DASH award nominee for set dressing.

Craig Handel has been working professionally as an actor, playwright, director, teacher, and combat choreographer since 1978. He has appeared on the NBC daytime drama The Doctors and on Showtime’s Original Series Brotherhood. He has written plays produced Off-Off Broadway at The Westbeth Theatre Center, Fools Without Fear, and The Cumberland Company. Since 1999 he has been the principle fight choreographer for Providence’s Tony Award winning theatre Trinity Repertory Company. At Trinity Rep Craig has choreographed fights for Othello, Peter Pan, The Henriad, Hamlet, Richard III, West Side Story, and Cyrano de Bergerac among others. He recently staged the Abduction Ballet for Amanda Dehnert’s reimagining of The Fantasticks at Longwharf Theatre in New Haven and restaged it for Arena Stage in Washington D.C. He choreographed the fights for Commonwealth Shakespeare’s highly acclaimed production of Hamlet, starring Burn Notice lead actor Jeffrey Donovan as Hamlet and choreographed Brian Dennehy in Trinity Rep’s production of Pound on Demand. He was Kathleen Turner's fight coach for the film Jewel of the Nile and served as fight captain for Kiss's music video All Hell's Breakin' Loose. He teaches Stage Combat all over New England including Brown University, University of Rhode Island, and Salve Regina University. He has been honored by The Kennedy Center's American College Theatre Festival for his fight choreography in Salve Regina University's production of Hamlet and as a playwright for his original play Public Speech, Private Thought,.

Lisa Granata holds Bachelors of Fine Arts degree in General Fine Arts from the Maryland Institute College of Art. She has a Masters of Fine Arts degree in Painting from Cranbrook Academy of Art and a year’s study in Florence Italy at Studio Arts Center International. Lisa has been teaching a variety of Studio Art classes at the Attleboro Museum School since 1993 and teaching the art history class titled Introduction to Visual Arts at Dean College since 2002. Her exhibitions include galleries and museums on the east coast in the mid west and in Italy.

Matthew Greene recently spent 6 years as a Blue Man in the popular Blue Man Group, performing over 1,000 shows and playing in front of millions. He has helped the company create new works and implement new techniques that have gone on to be smash hits. He has either written, acted in or directed more than 60 pieces of theatre and film, and enjoys the freedom to move from one discipline to the next. Matt's work has been seen at such theaters as the Charles Playhouse, Astor Place Theatre, Hartford Stage, Connecticut Repertory Theatre and Carnegie Hall to name a few. A graduate of the University of Connecticut's Drama department he has also done graduate work in Directing at Indiana University.

Daniel B. Kozar is Director & Instructor for Theatre. Since leaving a career in the Fashion Industry, Daniel has costumed/wardrobed over 140 Theatrical, Film, and Television Productions, and has worked with such notables as Blythe Danner, Larry Bryggman, Paul Benedict, Paul Price, and David Wheeler. His past credits as costume and / or set designer include working with such regional theatre and television production companies, as diverse as Bay Colony Productions, (Foxborough, MA), Shakespeare Now!, (Boston, MA), Vokes Theater,(Wayland, MA), Metro Stage (Cambridge , MA) Scout Productions, Boston, MA and Mansfield Music and Arts, (Mansfield, MA) In addition he has played principle roles in such diverse productions as, The Producers, Peter Pan, Wizard of Oz, Macbeth, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Romeo and Juliet, The Sound of Music, Little Women, 1776 and Twelfth Night. Daniel holds degrees from Marywood University in Scranton, PA, and The Fashion Institute of Technology, New York, NY, and is a member of Stage Source, USITT ( United States Institute of Theatre Technology), the Costume Society of America, and holds office on the Design and Technology Committee for the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, New England Region.

Dr. Amy Matten is an Assistant Professor of Communications as well as the Assistant Dean of Academic Administration for the college. She holds a Ph.D. in interpersonal communication from the University of Minnesota, an M.Ed. from The Pennsylvania State University, and a B.S. from Boston University. She has taught courses in public speaking, interpersonal communication, listening, small group communication, persuasion and communication theory. While she loves teaching and learning about all forms of communication, her particular passions focus on how we use communication to develop and maintain relationships. She is a member of the National Communication Association, the Eastern Communication Association, the International Listening Association and the AAUW. Prior to working at Dean College, she has worked and taught at a number of institutions around the country including University of Wisconsin-Stout; Bristol Community College (Fall River, MA); University of Minnesota-Twin Cities; Boston University; and Penn State University

Vic Michaels is an Associate Professor of Communications and also serves as the General Manager to the College’s radio station WGAO. He has been at Dean College for 25 years. He holds a BS degree in Marketing and an MBA from Bryant University, as well as an MA in Media Arts from Emerson College. He has a broadcast career that spanned more than 20 years in the Providence, RI radio market including 10 years on-air at 92 Pro-FM. He is also President of his own DJ & video service, the Vic Michaels Sound Company. He is a member of the National Association of Broadcasters, the Broadcast Education Association, the American Disc Jockey Association, the Intercollegiate Broadcasting System and the National Association of Mobile Entertainers. In 2010 he received the Teaching Excellence Award here at Dean College.

Sarah Mott has spent years enjoying the exploration, discovery and process inherent in art making. She holds a BFA from Massachusetts College of Art. Her company, Clay Matter, has produced one of a kind ceramic birdhouses, birdbaths and garden sculpture featured in numerous publications and exhibited in fine craft galleries and museums throughout the US and the world. Repeatedly her work has focused on subject matter that is drawn from a connectedness to nature and man’s interaction with the environment. Sarah has served on the board of Trustees of the Attleboro Arts Museum since 1986 and ha been an Adjunct Professor of Visual Art at Dean College since 1995. In June of 2008 Sarah was one of seven Massachusetts artists chosen to travel to and exhibit her work in Peru. This program, The Art Ambassadors: from Massachusetts to Lima, and its inaugural exhibition, Witnessing Our World 2008, was part of a cultural arts exchange program sponsored by the Peru Office of Foreign Affairs along with the United States and Peruvian Embassies. Teaches Survey of Studio Art.

Tom Shaker is Professor and Coordinator of the Communication Arts Program. Tom received his undergraduate degree from Emerson College and his master’s degree from UMASS. While teaching at Northeastern University Tom earned his doctorate degree from Boston University. He has worked for years producing, directing and editing various video productions including documentaries, corporate video and music video productions. Tom is currently working on a documentary and book about Rhode Island jazz history. He also is a speaker for the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities, giving talks on jazz and diner history. Tom serves on the board of directors of the New England Jazz Alliance and the American Diner Museum. He can be heard Monday nights as host of “Soul Serenade” a weekly radio program on WICN (90.5FM and www.wicn.org). Tom also hosts “Spirits of Rhythm” featuring vintage jazz, blues, gospel and swing music on
WGAO, Dean College radio (88.3FM).

Mike Akers, Manager, Telecommunications Center- a 2003 graduate of Dean College and a 2005 graduate of Suffolk University. He obtained his degree in the communication arts and science. Mike is the current studio manager here at Dean College and technical advisor to the Dean College video production classes. Mike also lends his technical expertise to the campus radio station for broadcast remotes and events. He is the coordinator of the Dean College sports broadcasting team and also the Dean news broadcasting team. Outside of Dean College, Mike does freelance video production and promotional work for musicians on a local and national level. Mike has been a frequent contributor to the online music website jambase.com writing concert reviews, album reviews and other features. Mike hosts the Organic Jam on the campus radio station and stays in tune with the independent music industry by interviewing artists and playing their music on the show each week.

Tracy Nowak is the Academic Advisor for the School of Arts. She has a M.Ed from Springfield College in Student Personnel Administration in Higher Education and a B.A. from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in Communication. Tracy joined the Dean College community in the fall of 2010, with over five years advising and student development experience at such schools as Salve Regina University and St. Thomas Aquinas College. In addition to her role as an advisor, Tracy is also the Transfer Services Coordinator, serves on the Dean College Judicial Council, and is a member of the Honors and Awards Committee.

Dean College is proud to showcase the achievements of staff & faculty. Among the many accomplishments of Dean Krasner is his published book, An Actor's Craft: The Art and Technique of Acting.