Kellee VanAken PhD
Joined Seton Hill
2011
Hometown
Holland, PA
Contact Info
vanaken@setonhill.edu

Directing credits: Letters to Sala, Good Person of Setzuan, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, A Little Night Music, Urinetown, Salvation Road, Running in Traffic by Denise Pullen (world premiere), Cabaret, Macbeth, Kindertransport, Life is a Dream, all at Seton Hill. Other directing credits: Mercy Train (Microscopic Opera), Rachel Carson Saves the Day! (Shakespeare in the Schools), Tammy Ryan’s Lost Boy Found at Whole Foods (reading), Phantasmagorilla (premiere) Opera Theater Pittsburgh, The Pirate Queen, Timeout with Didi and Rose!, autodelete (readings City Theatre Momentum). With visual artist and puppet maker Cheryl Capezzuti she has created and directed over half a dozen performances including Random Teleology, Songs from a Lost Civilization (Lovelace Puppet Festival), Mismatched Pair (Philadelphia Fringe Festival, Women’s Work Festival, Penn State Arts Festival, Black Sheep Puppet Festival), the musical Colorfast, with composer Douglas Levine, Night Flight, and Stuff (all for Pittsburgh International Children’s Theatre Festival. ) She worked for eight years as City Theatre’s Artistic Associate under Marc Masterson and Tracy Brigden. She also served as the Programming Supervisor at Gateway to the Arts.

Education

  • Ph.D, University of Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, PA) 2006
  • M.A., University of California-Davis, (Davis, CA) 1992
  • B.A., University of Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, PA) 1988

Organizations

Presentations

  • Preparing Students for the Profession: Professional Practice Courses and the Capstone Experience- Association for the Theatre in Higher Education Conference Boston 2018 Theatre and Dance Programs: Working Under a Big Umbrella- Association for Theatre in Higher Education Conference, Las Vegas 2017

Performances

  • Too Much of a Good Thing, Dining in Space (with Cheryl Capezzuti)- Maker's Fair Children's Museum Fall 2017 Too Much of a Good Thing (with Cheryl Capezzuti) - Pittsburgh Puppetry Guild Slam August 2017 Dining in Space (with Cheryl Capezzuti)- Pittsburgh Puppetry Guild Slam July 2016 All That We Know (music Douglas Levine, lyrics Kellee Van Aken) performed by Pittsburgh Mendelssohn Junior Choir November 2016 Random Teleology, Songs from a Lost Civilization (with Cheryl Capezzuti)- Margo Lovelace Puppet Festival-Summer 2015