JOE KINOSIAN
Originally from Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, a suburb of Milwaukee that's infested with fireflies, Joe Kinosian (kih-NO-see-in) got his first training in theater and visual art at Milwaukee High School of the Arts, with the constant support of his tremendous parents, Bob & Sue. (Fun fact: Joe's publishing company is called Bob Plus Sue Music, in their honor.)
Moving to NYC during the last season of Sex and the City (do the math), Joe worked as an art department assistant for TV shows and rehearsal accompanist on the original Broadway The Color Purple before getting a taste of writing and composing. "This control feels good," he said to himself, fluttering his fingers together Mr. Burns-style.
Upon joining the BMI Musical Theatre Workshop, Joe met Kellen Blair, and their first professional endeavor got quickly off the ground. Murder For Two won the Joseph Jefferson Award for Best New Musical in its world premiere production at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, and Joe was nominated for Best Leading Actor. Since, yes, it's an honor to be nominated, it bears mentioning that Murder For Two's New York production was nominated for Drama Desk, Drama League, and Outer Critics Circle Awards too. Murder For Two has played across the country and around the world, and Joe has performed the role(s) of The Suspects over 700 times.
Photo: @thelaurelcreativeteam
Joe & Kellen's work has been performed at Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, and on Broadway at the Theatre World Awards. Their show It Came From Outer Space had successful runs at Chicago Shakespeare Theater and TheatreSquared in summer 2022, and Todd vs. the Titanic, their newest show (with bookwriter Scott Rothman), had its World Premiere in the summer of 2024.
Joe also wrote two children's musicals for TheaterWorksUSA with Marcus Stevens: Dragons Love Tacos (based on the bestselling book) and Live & Let Spy, which Joe also directed in its original filmed production.
In the world of podcasting, Joe wrote, composed the music, and provided 15 character voices for the acclaimed iHeartMedia history-comedy podcast Let's Start A Coup!; he also wrote the episode "Spider-Man's Surreal Adventures on Broadway" for iHeart's series Very Special Episodes. And as an actor, Joe has performed in Two Pianos, Four Hands, An Act of God, Dirty Blonde, and (a lifelong dream for Joe) the title role in The Nerd.