Joel Kirk

Joel Kirk is a New York City theatre director and producer who specializes in the development of new plays and musicals. He has worked with New World Stages, Playwrights Horizons, NYMF, The Lark, New Dramatists, Sheen Center, Hudson Guild Theatre, Wide Eyed Productions, WorkShop Theatre, to name a few. Recently he worked with Tony Award Winner Reed Birney and Tony Award Nominee Sydney Lucas on the play Changeover. He has guest directed for NYU’S Grad Playwriting Program, Ball State University, Juilliard, and Fordham University’s Playwriting Program. Currently, he is developing two new plays and a new musical adaptation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet featuring such authors as Emmy-winning composer Gary Fry, and Grammy nominated composers Cody Fry and LOLO. Joel is the Chairman/CEO of Joel Kirk Productions LLC: a production company that produces commercial theatre.

Before launching Discovering Broadway, Joel joined NewYorkRep as their first Associate Artistic Director. He proposed and launched the company’s education fellowship. He worked alongside Artistic Director Markus Potter and Executive Director Gayle Waxenberg.
As a filmmaker, his documentary Race Across America: Gears to a Cure premiered at Flix Brewhouse in Indianapolis. His work for IWDC was featured at the Indianapolis Roof Ballroom. In 2012, his short film Rotating Clock won Heartland Film Festival. He directed, produced, and co-authored the film Of What Remains which won Best Screenplay and Best Editing from C.H.S Film Festival.

As a writer, he co-authored the new musical If You Don’t Outdie Me in association with the Virginia B. Ball Center Commission and the Brown County Playhouse. Joel is a recipient of Indianapolis Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 Class of 2023. He is a Member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Union Observership Class of 2018-2019 and 2019-2020. Joel graduated Ball State University in three years with a degree in Theatrical Directing.