Meet Stephanie Dean
When I was eleven, my parents took me to see The Phantom of the Opera in Los Angeles; I already knew the cast recording by heart because my father had played it around the house for years. When the chandelier rose and my seat vibrated with the music, I caught the musical theatre bug.
Growing up with two brothers and a neighborhood full of kids (naturally, a built-in ensemble!), I just assumed everyone created plays for their siblings and friends, and tried to charge the neighbors admission. Though my parents drew the line at the box office, that didn’t stop the rehearsals, the dramatic fallouts, or the on‑again, off‑again basement productions in our home.
Skipping years of plot twists (involving multiple moves, developing a deep disdain for mayonnaise, and an ever‑growing collection of musical soundtracks), I followed my instincts and my heart, earning a BA in musical theatre from Emerson College. After moving back home to save money for the classic “live the dream in New York” plan, I unexpectedly found teaching and fell in love all over again — this time with helping others recognize their own talents and abilities. That discovery led me to pursue my MFA in Performance and Pedagogy at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Fast forward to today: Michigan is home, and I am an Associate Professor of Theatre at the University of Michigan–Flint where I teach voice, movement, musical theatre history, and musical theatre performance, in addition to directing a main stage production each year. Throughout my career, I have worked internationally and regionally as a director, vocal coach and performer. Recently, I got to spend a semester teaching theatre in a huge manor in the countryside of England. I live in what I lovingly call “beautiful chaos” with my wonderful husband, our two mischievous boys, and two adventurous cats—one who will eat anything and one with world‑class FOMO. When I’m not in a rehearsal room or classroom, you can usually find me outside, traveling, quilting, or at the pottery wheel, coaxing messy, unruly clay into something unexpectedly beautiful.
Beyond the Degrees …
I love learning (which is one of many reasons why teaching college is the perfect career for me!), and I am always seeking out specialized training to gain skills as a director, actor, and teacher. Training not only deepens my artistic practice, but it also informs the care I bring to the people in the room.
My voice pedagogy is grounded in extensive training in contemporary commercial music singing and vocal techniques through both the CCM Vocal Pedagogy Institute at Shenandoah and Somatic Voicework™ (The LoVetri Method). I hold a Level III Certification in LoVetri Somatic Voicework™ and have completed all three levels of training at the CCM Institute at Shenandoah, as well as additional coursework in singing and teaching pop/rock and musical theatre styles.
In my acting and directing practice, I am certified in The Alba Method (CL2), a physiologically based technique for accessing, sustaining, and safely modulating emotional states. Additionally, I have completed a training course in intimacy direction with Intimacy Directors International (now Intimacy Directors and Coordinators), and I am currently enrolled in their Intimacy Professional Accelerator Program. I also hold Youth and Adult Mental Health First Aid USA certification through the National Council for Mental Wellbeing. All of this supports my commitment to creating rehearsal and classroom environments that are technically rigorous, emotionally attuned, and consent-forward.