Live Arts: Cassandra Moselle Of Whatnot Theatrics On the Five Things You Need to Create a Highly Successful Career in Broadway, Theater or Live Performance Art
An Interview with Savio Clemente
Know Your Value. In immersive theater, my work focuses on creating strong narratives told from multiple perspectives in linear time. Other immersive artists build looping stories that audiences can experience multiple times in a single show, or craft open-ended experiences where audience interaction shapes the outcome. I love seeing those approaches — but it’s not what I do. Early in my career, I sometimes felt pressure to imitate what was “successful” elsewhere. Over time, I realized that trying to copy other models diluted my voice instead of strengthening it. Standing behind my own artistic vision has helped me grow as a creator, and I’ve learned that knowing your value — and sticking to it — is one of the most important ingredients for success.
As a part of our series about creating a successful career in theatre, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Cassandra Moselle.
Cassandra Moselle is the Cofounder and Artistic Director of WhatNot Theatrics, a Seattle-based immersive theater company known for its richly narrated, real-time storytelling. A multidisciplinary artist with degrees in Drama, English: Creative Writing, and Women’s Studies from the University of Washington, Cassandra moved to Italy to earn her M.F.A. in Physical Theater. She toured Europe as a performer, consulted on screenplays as a translator, and got her start in voiceover in the heart of Rome.
Driven by a fierce commitment to bold narratives and boundary-breaking storytelling, Cassandra returned to Seattle to build the kind of theater she always dreamed of — intimate, immersive, and unapologetically original. Her original immersive works include Parlor House: Panic of 1893, The Body of Ciara Molloy, Censored, and her newest epic, The Wake of Annie Grady, a myth-laced Irish murder mystery.
Whether directing an ensemble, crafting a world from scratch, or hauling props across town, Cassandra leads with grit, vision, and an unshakable love of the magic only live theater can offer.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?
There was a weekend in maybe 8th or 9th grade and I was doing a theater show. However, all of my friends were going on a trip somewhere outside of Portland (I grew up in Seattle). And, I of course, felt completely left out of this trip. It was also unfathomable for me to consider dropping out of the show, but you could tell I was feeling FOMO hard. So my dad told me after the show that he would drive me the 4.5 hours to the place all of my friends were staying at just so I could have breakfast with everyone and drive back. This trip taught me that I need to get specific instructions for where I’m going (cell phones weren’t really a thing at the time) because he did in fact drive me through the night and arrive at the place but it was so late I couldn’t actually meet up with my friends because everyone was sleeping. But this is my favorite story to tell because it’s a snippet of how supportive my parents have been over the course of my life. Like my dad offered to drive the 4.5 hours there and then was prepared to drive the 4.5 hours back alone just so I can have breakfast and carpool back. Like that sounds ludicrous, but that’s just how my parents have always been. And even though it didn’t turn out how I expected, this is one of those memories that I’ll cherish forever and is one of those foundation pieces to how I turned out as a person. As an adult, I feel fortunate that my parents always supported me no matter how far-fetched the idea was, because I’ve felt confident enough to take risks and also know that failing is another way of learning the skills to get where you want to go.
Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?
I did a couple study abroad programs during my undergrad at the University of Washington. One of them was to study at the University of Hull, Scarborough campus in England. While there, we took a field trip to Manchester to see The Stan Won’t Dance Company. When I say my jaw was on the floor and my mind was blown, please know these are understatements. The stage was tilted at an angle and it was surrounded by bars, kind of like the apartment setting was in a cage. The show had a couple, but the couple only moved when these dancers (which is 100% not the right word) moved them. The dancers’ movements were coordinated so beautifully, so precisely, that as they moved around the bars they would brush against or move the actor on stage and that’s how the actor moved, when someone moved them in this choreographed way. I had never seen anything like it, and it completely changed the trajectory I was on and sparked my love for physical theater. To this day, I still get chills when I remember seeing that for the first time.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
I did Running Start in high school, so I completed my high school diploma and Associate’s Degree at the same time. When I transferred to the University of Washington as a drama major, I quickly found myself drawn to Women’s Studies and English classes as well. I distinctly remember two undergrad advisors who helped me navigate the process — as a first-generation college student, I really needed guidance. I told both of them I wanted to earn three degrees, and neither talked me out of it. Instead, they helped me understand the bureaucracy of completing three separate degrees and encouraged me to pave a path that felt right for me. I return to this moment often, wondering what might have happened if they had said, “Nobody earns three degrees” or discouraged me from following my gut. Especially at impressionable ages, having people not only support you but actively help you navigate uncharted territory can make all the difference. I hope they both know how often I think of them and the major positive impact they had on my life.
You probably have a lot of fascinating experiences. Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
One of the most interesting stories from my career happened at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2016, when I produced my first show, Nerdlesque, at the PBH Free Fringe. I had fallen in love with the Fringe back in 2014, when I attended for the first time during grad school. The city was alive with performers from all over the world — people talking shop in pubs until the wee hours, inviting me to shows, and sharing the kind of creative energy that leaves you breathless (and exhausted). That first visit was transformative, but I knew I couldn’t just attend — I had to produce.
Fast forward to 2016: after months of fundraising and assembling a team, we arrived in Edinburgh to perform our show. But we’re competing for our audience, so we’re on the Royal Mile handing out flyers during the day, running back to our apartment to get ready in the evening, and then dragging our suitcases to perform at our venue at night. Walking into the venue that first night, seeing the audience take their seats in a space we had brought to life from scratch, and watching them respond — laughing, cheering, donating — was electric. Everything we had worked for suddenly existed in that one shared experience. The fact that this was possible through PBH Free Fringe, which matches artists with venues at no cost, made it even more incredible (if you don’t know about PBH Free Fringe, please look them up).
Standing there that night, watching the audience laugh and cheer, I just felt the kind of thrill you only get in live performance — the energy, the unpredictability, the connection. It reminded me why I love making theater: not just the shows themselves, but the moments when everyone in the room is fully present, sharing an experience together.
It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
When I first started my LLC, I decided I could handle the taxes myself. Big mistake. If you don’t know what a K-1 form is and you have an LLC, let me save you some suspense — the IRS will be more than happy to explain it to you in the form of a fine. I’ll never forget opening that letter and feeling my heart drop. Nothing quite compares to the panic of the IRS telling you that you owe money when you thought you had done everything right.
After I paid the fine (and recovered from the heart palpitations), I learned an invaluable lesson: either pay a professional to handle the things you don’t fully understand, or invest in proper training. For me, that meant leaning into the support structures available. Today, my nonprofit WhatNot Theatrics is fiscally sponsored by Shunpike, an incredible arts organization that supports artists. They handle all the taxes, licenses, etc., which frees me to focus on the creative work. It’s a huge relief — and a reminder that asking for help is not a weakness, it’s a strength.
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?
Right now, I’m working on one of the most ambitious and thrilling projects of my career — The Wake of Annie Grady. It’s a 239-page immersive theater epic with 13 characters, and I’m directing, producing, and even acting in it.
The story drops audiences into Dublin, Ireland, on July 5, 1867 — a city on edge after the failed Fenian uprising. Rebels are on the run, a deadly cholera outbreak has swept through the streets, and new science is turning old beliefs about disease on their head. In the middle of this storm, Annie Grady, a beloved teacher, is pulled from the River Liffey. Officials rule her death an accident — but few believe Annie simply drowned. The circumstances are too suspicious, and the whispers in the community refuse to be silenced.
What makes this project truly electrifying is how audiences will experience it. We’re transforming Seattle’s historic Stimson-Green Mansion into an Irish wake, and every guest attends as a mourner. They’ll move through the house, eavesdrop on secret conversations, and piece together Annie’s story one encounter at a time. By the end of the night, they may even know the truth — because when the living gather, the dead tell tales.
It’s part mystery, part historical drama, and it all unfolds around you in real time. I can’t wait to watch people get swept up in Annie’s world.
You have been blessed with success in a career path that can be challenging. Do you have any words of advice for others who may want to embark on this career path, but seem daunted by the prospect of rejection, lack of support, or failure?
I’ve really had to blaze my own path and stay true to myself. One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that the road to success is paved with failure — and that’s a good thing. Failure is how we grow, experiment, and learn what works. Instead of fearing it, I try to welcome it, because every failure means I’m one step closer to where I want to be.
When it comes to lack of support, I think it’s easy to get caught in our own worlds and forget that community is something we build, not something we wait for. One practice that’s been transformative for me is choosing one friend and hyping them up — consistently, intentionally, and quietly. If they post something on social media, I like and comment. If they’re doing a show, I buy a ticket. If it’s their birthday, I send a gift. Over time, that energy comes back to you, and you start creating the kind of supportive, vibrant community you want to be surrounded by.
And finally — don’t let the fear of rejection stop you. Every artist, every leader, every creator you admire has been rejected many times. Rejection isn’t the end of the story — it’s proof that you’re putting yourself out there.
Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in the live performance industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?
Someone once told me, learn one new skill at a time instead of trying to learn twelve, and that advice has stuck with me. For The Wake of Annie Grady, there’s a pivotal moment in the show where I needed to figure out a piece of technology to make the entire show work (no spoilers, of course!). Instead of layering a dozen new elements into the production, I focused on just one new challenge.
This approach is so helpful because everything else in the show comes naturally — I can execute those elements confidently — while this one new challenge allows me to grow and refine a new skill. It keeps the process manageable, prevents me from getting overwhelmed, and lets me build my abilities steadily, which is essential for thriving in the live performance world without burning out.
What are your “5 Things You Need To Create A Highly Successful Career in Broadway, Theater or Live Performances” and why? If you can, please share a story or example for each.
Know Your Value
In immersive theater, my work focuses on creating strong narratives told from multiple perspectives in linear time. Other immersive artists build looping stories that audiences can experience multiple times in a single show, or craft open-ended experiences where audience interaction shapes the outcome. I love seeing those approaches — but it’s not what I do. Early in my career, I sometimes felt pressure to imitate what was “successful” elsewhere. Over time, I realized that trying to copy other models diluted my voice instead of strengthening it. Standing behind my own artistic vision has helped me grow as a creator, and I’ve learned that knowing your value — and sticking to it — is one of the most important ingredients for success.
Business Skills
I wouldn’t be where I am today if I hadn’t learned how to produce theater. Early on, I realized that relying on others to make opportunities happen would limit me, so I taught myself. I launched an LLC in 2011, closed it to go to grad school and after grad school, I returned to the field by founding my nonprofit, WhatNot Theatrics, in 2018. Since then, I’ve written grants to fund projects, created budgets to bring ideas to life, and learned how to market and promote my work. Developing these skills has been empowering. Instead of waiting for someone else to hand me a role, I’ve had the freedom to build the kind of projects I want to perform in — and in the process, I became the actor and artist I truly wanted to be.
Innovation
Innovation is central in my work. I think a lot about how a story is told. I create strong, epic narratives in linear time, told from multiple perspectives, that audiences have to fully experience to understand. I’m always exploring new ways to guide people through a story, keeping them engaged and surprised, without losing the thread of the narrative.
One of the things I love most is weaving in small, unplanned 1:1 moments — interactions that are unique to an individual audience member, moments no one else will experience. I want people to feel the weight of the overarching themes while also encountering personal surprises that make the story feel alive from their own point of view. It’s not about gimmicks — it’s about crafting experiences that are both epic and intimately unforgettable.
Adaptability
Live performance is unpredictable — audience reactions, technical glitches, or last-minute changes can all force you to pivot on the fly. Being adaptable lets you keep the story alive, maintain audience immersion, and stay cool, calm, and collected under pressure. In immersive theater, this often means adjusting how scenes flow in real time based on how an audience is moving through the space, or improvising small interactions to ensure everyone experiences the story fully.
Curiosity
Curiosity is a wonderful spark that inspires me to move past the initial thought, idea, or text and dig deeper. For The Wake of Annie Grady, I brainstormed new show ideas and this was the name of a show I wrote down, amongst other show ideas. I then began to get curious about this, who was Annie Grady? How did she die? Where did she die? Where does the surname Grady come from? From these questions, The Wake of Annie Grady was written. When I write a new script I visualize the characters speaking to each other in my head and I just listen. I get curious about the world the characters operate in and how those things impact the characters. I do a lot of research, just like an insane amount, because I fall down rabbit holes as I’m trying to learn more about something.
For the benefit of our readers, could you describe how the skill-sets you need in a theater performance are different than the skill-sets you need for TV or Film?
In theater, you’re telling the story in real time with no second takes. Your body and voice have to carry, your timing has to land with a live audience, and you have to stay fully present no matter what happens — missed cues, tech glitches, or unexpected audience reactions. Theater is about sustaining energy and precision for the entire arc of a scene or even an entire evening, because there’s no “cut” or “reset.”
TV and film, on the other hand, demand a hyper-focus on subtlety. The camera catches everything — the flicker of an eye, the smallest shift in breath — so you make internal choices rather than external ones, focusing on emotional truth that reads clearly on camera and letting the smallest expression or breath tell the story. You also have to be able to drop into emotional truth on command, often completely out of sequence.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
I’ve always been inspired by the concept of sister cities — I was fortunate to receive a scholarship to study at the University for Foreigners in Perugia because Seattle and Perugia are sister cities. That experience showed me how powerful international cultural exchange can be.
If I could inspire a movement, it would be a Sister Cities Immersive Exchange. Artists from sister cities would collaborate to create immersive installations, performances, or site-specific experiences in each other’s communities. In my vision, each city forms an artistic team: one team travels to the other city, guided by the host team, exploring the local culture, history, and stories. They then spend two weeks or a month co-creating site-specific work. Afterwards, the host team travels to the guest team’s city to repeat the process, creating a full-circle exchange.
The result? Audiences don’t just watch — they step into a living dialogue between cities, cultures, and communities. It’s art as a bridge, sparking curiosity, connection, and understanding in a way that could ripple across the globe.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“If it scares you, it’s probably worth doing.” I love how direct and uncompromising it is — it’s about courage, risk, and leaning into growth. This resonates deeply with me as I frequently wear multiple hats to get a production like The Wake of Annie Grady made. The budget for this show is the biggest risk I’ve ever taken on. Yes, I mitigated some of it with grants and a fundraising event, but there’s still real risk if ticket sales don’t cover the remaining costs. I was never intimidated by the size of the script — a 239-page epic — or by creating new characters and storylines in rewrites that I hadn’t anticipated. I’m producing this show at a venue I’ve adored for years, but it’s a historic venue with real historic venue risks. There are a million reasons not to do a show like this, and few reasons that make sense on paper. Yet, here we are, early in rehearsals, and it feels electrifying. The production is coming alive in ways other projects haven’t, and it’s completely indescribable. It’s bold, ambitious, and happening — and that’s something I’m deeply proud of.
We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.
If I could have breakfast or lunch with anyone, it would be a visionary who knows how to turn imagination into reality — someone like the creators behind Cosm, who are reimagining how we experience movies by blending storytelling, environment, and audience participation; Omega Mart (Meow Wolf), which transformed an ordinary space into a fully realized world that invites curiosity, discovery, and wonder; or Punchdrunk, who turned entire buildings into living narratives where every corner tells a story. I’d love to learn how they’ve navigated the intersection of creativity and business, and how they’ve built experiences that are both sustainable and endlessly inspiring.
I have a vision for a space I own and operate where every detail matters to the story, where guests don’t just experience something — they step into a world that’s constantly evolving, inspiring, and full of wonder. Talking with someone who’s turned bold ideas into thriving realities would help me explore how to fund, sustain, and grow my own vision. How can my idea support artists, sustain creative work, and thrive as a business? Because I can’t wait to make it happen.
How can our readers continue to follow your work online?
The best way to follow my work is on social media — you can find me under my name, Cassandra Moselle, or follow WhatNot Theatrics. You can also stay in touch through my website, www.cassandramoselle.com where you can sign up for my newsletter to get updates on upcoming projects, performances, and immersive experiences.
This was very meaningful, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!
Live Arts: Cassandra Moselle Of Whatnot Theatrics On the Five Things You Need to Create a Highly… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.