Caseen Gaines

Caseen Gaines is an writer, director, actor, and pop culture enthusiast. His first book, Inside Pee-wee's Playhouse, a behind-the-scenes look at the Emmy Award winning hit television show, will be published by ECW Press. He has won awards for essays on Flip Wilson's contributions to television and racial representation in the Planet of the Apes film series. Additionally, he has been published in The Obama Movement: Why Barack Obama Speaks to America's Youth, an anthology of essays compiled by Joseph Vogel. As co-founder and co-artistic director of Hackensack Theatre Company, Gaines has directed critically acclaimed productions of The Rocky Horror Show, Dreamgirls, Cabaret, and Rent. Hackensack Theatre Company's performances have played to thousands in New York metropolitan area and raised thousands of dollars for various charities including Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and Shelter-Our-Sisters. He had a featured appearance in Load-Lock-Love, an independent film produced by Feenix Films. He holds a B.A. in American Studies, Journalism and Media Studies, and English from Rutgers University-New Brunswick and is pursuing a Master's in American Studies at Rutgers University-Newark. Gaines can most frequently be seen in the classroom where he teaches high school English.