JOHN SIMPKINS
Stage Director
Professor & Chair of Musical Theatre – Penn State University
John Simpkins directed The Jonathan Larson Project (Drama Desk nomination) Off-Broadway in 2025 at the Orpheum Theatre. Also in New York, he directed the three-time Drama Desk nominated Off-Broadway production of Bloodsong of Love (by Tony nominee Joe Iconis) at Ars Nova. Additional Off-Broadway productions include ReWrite (Urban Stages), The Plant That Ate Dirty Socks (Theatreworks, USA- Lucille Lortel Theatre) and The Bus (59E59). His work has also been seen on New York stages directing Things to Ruin (which he co-conceived at Second Stage, Le Poisson Rouge, Zipper Factory, Joe’s Pub, Ars Nova, NYMF), The Black Suits (Public Theatre), and all fifteen years of The Joe Iconis Christmas Extravaganza (54 Below).
John’s additional directing of new musicals includes the World Premieres of Joe Iconis’ Love in Hate Nation (Two River Theater), The Black Suits (Center Theatre Group/ Kirk Douglas Theatre) and Family Album (which he co-conceived). He also directed Tyrants (music and lyrics by Alexander Sage Oyen, book by Nora Brigid Monahan) at the National Archives in Washington, DC. International productions include the World Premiere of Legendale (music by Andrea Daly, words by Jeff Bienstock) at Fredericia Teater in Denmark.
Regionally, John has directed Jersey Boys (Weston Playhouse), I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change (Engeman Theatre), Raging Skillet (World Premiere – Theaterworks Hartford), Legendale (American Premiere – Human Race Theatre Company), Hairspray (North Carolina Theatre), The Black Suits (Barrington Stage), Damn Yankees (Engeman Theatre), A Wonderful Life (Engeman Theatre), Annie (Sacramento Music Circus), Cabaret (Sacramento Music Circus), and Evita (Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma).
John served as Artistic Director at Sharon Playhouse from 2011-2016– where he directed Quartet (starring Tony Winner Elizabeth Franz), Judge Jackie: Disorder in the Court (Kooman/ Dimond), Nine Wives, True Love, Georgie (written by and starring Ed Dixon), Merrily We Roll Along, Big River, Falsettos, Les Miserables, They’re Playing Our Song, Damn Yankees, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Altar Boyz, Rent, A Funny Thing…Forum, and The Wedding Singer.
A strong supporter of the development of new work, he created a New Musicals Initiative at Penn State Musical Theatre and has commissioned and directed Love in Hate Nation (Joe Iconis), The Last Day (Mike Reid/ Sarah Schlesinger), The Lucky Boy (Kirsten Childs), Dust and Embers (Sam Salmond), Nostalgia Night (Matthew McCollum/ Sofya Levitsky-Weitz), Make it All Better (Gilbert Lewis Bailey II), Me and My Friends Killing Nazis (Alexander Sage Oyen/ Lauren Marcus/ James Presson), In-Gauged (Christian Thompson/ Maria Wirries), The Morris and Essex Line (Joshua Salzman/ Ryan Cunningham), Trampoline (Deborah Abramson/ David Kirshenbaum), and Centralia (Adam Chanler-Berat/ Julian Hornik).
In addition to his directing, John is the Nagle Family Chair of Musical Theatre at Penn State University. Prior to joining Penn State, he was a member of the faculty at NYU - where he directed Sweet Smell of Success, Floyd Collins, A Man of No Importance, The Fix, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Violet, Urinetown, Merrily We Roll Along, Parade, Fiorello! and A New Brain. His production of Parade was preserved and is on reserve at Lincoln Center’s Theatre on Film and Tape Archive. He holds a Bachelor of Music from Miami University and a Master of Arts from NYU.