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In 1991 he was tapped to work alongside owner Richard Carrothers, serving as Project Manager during the design and construction phases of the theatre in Overland Park.
Since 1992 he has supervised the production of every show at the New Theatre for Mr. Hennessy and Mr. Carrothers, working with countless talented directors, designers, actors, technicians and volunteers. Joe credits his very talented resident staff as the key to his department’s success.
Away from the office, he is passionate about bicycling, reading, politics, and his marriage to mezzo soprano Elaine Fox - though not necessarily in that order. Joe has found a new and very responsive audience in his son Joey and daughter Gentry.
I grew up just outside St. Louis. My folks were hard-working, and very loving. We didn’t have a lot, but we were happy and my brother, three sisters and I never felt like we missed out on anything. I credit my parents for that.
I did my first play in third grade…DAMON AND PYTHIAS. I don’t recall which I was, but my “co-star” in that production is also still doing theatre – Shakespeare in the Seattle area. Makes you think, huh?
I liked sports in high school, but in the 10th grade I was cut from the basketball team. Someone suggested that I try out for the musical – OLIVER. It had been years since I had done a play, and I didn’t really know what a musical was. But I did, and I got a part. I was the Bow Street Runner…the policeman who shoots bad guy Bill Sykes at the end of the show. Each night before I made my entrance from the back of the theatre my drama teacher would ask me if I had taken the safety off the blank gun. I grew more and more offended. At the fourth and final performance she did not ask me, and I forgot. I’m standing on stage, pointing the gun…and nothing happens. Bill Sykes is standing there, looking at me. No one knows what to do. I’m lost… confused. I say “Bang.” Bill Sykes falls, and I run offstage. Immediately I figure out what happened, and what a bonehead I am. I try to never forget.
No matter what I tried – music, architecture, sports – theatre kept intruding on my life, presenting me with opportunities. AA in Communications from Meramec Community College in 1983. BA in Theatre - Musical Theatre from Tarkio College in 1985. The summer after graduating I wound up in Kansas City – unemployed – in a nice town with nice people and plenty of theatre. I decided to stay and picked up odd jobs. I struck the BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE set at the Waldo Astoria. I painted the set for GROUCHO, A LIFE IN REVUE at Tiffany’s Attic, before Hennessy and Carrothers took it to New York and London. Then, in December of 1985…. (a drumroll please)…I became an Amazing Attic Kazoo. One year of waiting tables was enough, though.
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From there it was a steady climb in an organization that I enjoyed, and for a product that I loved. Bartender, Bar Manager, and four years as house manager at Tiffany’s. In 1990 I hired the love of my life – Elaine. But I was a perfect gentleman, and waited until her last night of employment to ask her out on a date. The rest, as they say, is a lovely and romantic history. In 1991, Richard Carrothers asked me to work with him on the development of the New Theatre – an extraordinary opportunity and a very exciting 20 months. Here was an opportunity to create a brand new dining and entertainment experience that utilized the best of what we had learned at Tiffany’s and Waldo. In my life this time period shall always be unparalled.
Once the theatre was open, Richard was pleased enough with my work as Project Coordinator that he invited me into the production department. It’s 1992, and things had come full-circle, I was now in charge of the theatre department, and I worked side-by-side with Richard and Dennis to build each of the shows that we would present. To say that there was a lot for me to learn would be an understatement, but Mr. Carrothers and Mr. Hennessy are generous and supportive (if not patient) mentors.
17 seasons and 85 shows later I’m still here. And it is still exciting. In 2007 I had the opportunity to direct a hilarious farce, OUT OF ORDER, starring Gary Sandy. In 2009 the lovely Joyce DeWitt starred in the music review HATS! that I directed. Every day brings with it new and different challenges. Creative challenges. Personal Challenges. But the team of theatre professionals that I have been able to assemble in this department is exceptional. They are bright, inventive and endlessly creative, each in their own unique way. And we could not put together the shows that we do without them. And the actors and actresses that we have here in Kansas City, in combination with select artists from around the country, make each performance a joyful event.
And always there is the “product” – the unique combination of theatrical entertainment, dining and beverages, and excellent customer service in an environment that is clean, bright and comfortable - that Kansas City has taken to it’s heart.
So right now, my life is about trying to find a balance. I ride a bicycle for recreation. Elaine and I play with our son, Joey and daughter, Gentry. (God, they make me happy!) I read books. I play too much poker. I am discovering the joys of landscaping our home in beautiful Shawnee. Occasionally I take a motorcycle road-trip. One year I appeared in a production of MAN OF LA MANCHA with Elaine (who is really an excellent singer and mother). And lots of theatre. Seeing shows, reading about shows…budgeting, scheduling, researching and planning…shows.
That’s the long and the short of it. I didn’t mention breaking my leg playing softball, jumping from a perfectly good airplane, or getting the window of my ’72 Ranchero shot out. I omitted nearly drowning during a triathlon, or boxing girls (who hit really hard). I left out golf with Don Knotts and Jamie Farr, watching the Super Bowl with Tom Poston, or being robbed at gunpoint. And probably some more that I’ve forgotten. But one thing that I’ll always remember….
What a bonehead I am.
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