Michelle Van Doeren
Michelle Van Doeren, M.A. – Director, Choreographer, Original Concept, and Author. Michelle Van Doeren conceived The Golden Door while maintaining a dual career as a performer working with Pittsburgh Musical Theater and a teacher in the Moon Area School District. As her professional career progressed, she entered the performing arts full time but always maintained a core motivation as an educator. She currently holds faculty positions in dance at the Conservatory of Performing Arts at Point Park University and in the School of Drama and Pre-college Program of Carnegie Mellon University. Past positions include directing the education program and teaching for the internationally recognized dance studio Steps on Broadway. Other teaching positions include faculty appointments at the Pennsylvania Governor’s School for the Arts and CAPA Pittsburgh. Her performance experience includes a successful dance and musical theater career in multiple institutions of Pittsburgh and New York, cruise ships, and various concert dance companies across the eastern United States. She holds a Masters of Arts in Education degree from the University of Pittsburgh.
Andrew Swensen
Andrew Swensen, Ph.D., M.A. – Producer, Librettist, and Author: Andrew Swensen is a lifelong educator and also provides contracted professional services to nonprofit organizations. He holds positions as adjunct faculty at Carnegie Mellon University and in the Conservatory of Performing Arts at Point Park University, where he teaches film, literature, aesthetics, and narrative theory at the undergraduate and graduate levels. He is the Producer and Executive Producer on a film currently in distribution, Journey to Normal. Earlier positions include Pittsburgh Filmmakers and The Pittsburgh Foundation. Swensen began his professional career in academic life and has held faculty positions at Brandeis University, Hamilton College, Wellesley College and Western Michigan University. He has taught in programs of comparative literature, cultural studies, the history of ideas, religious studies, film studies, creative writing, and Russian literature. He received his Ph.D. and M.A. from the University of Wisconsin, and his A.B. from the University of Michigan.
Scott Anderson
Scott Anderson – Composer and Music Director: Anderson has maintained a balanced career as a performer (piano), composer, arranger, sound engineer, and music educator. Anderson has won two Emmy Awards, the first in 2006 for his work composing the score for the documentary "From Pittsburgh to Poland: Lessons from The Holocaust” and the second in 2007 for his work as music director and co-producer of "Live From Studio A: American Standards.” Anderson has composed for multiple productions in film and television, including working as the composer for the documentary Journey to Normal and extensive work with WQED. In addition to being a composer, music director, and producer, Anderson demonstrates a remarkable diversity as a musician, having played keyboard for soloists including Kristin Chenoweth, nationally known rock and roll groups including the Temptations, the Drifters, Bo Diddley, the Coasters, Ronnie Specter, and the Vogues; jazz artists such as Claudio Roditi, Jerry Niewood and Marvin Stamm; and numerous local big bands. Anderson teaches a course on music in cinema for the Conservatory of Performing Arts at Point Park University and maintains a private studio for instruction. He is a graduate of the Duquesne University School of Music.