What people are saying about Joel Ferrell.
No director has staged two, back-to-back mainstage shows at the Dallas Theater Center in 25 years (if we exclude ‘Christmas Carols’). Joel Ferrell not only did it, he did it with two of the DTC’s best productions recently: ‘Dividing the Estate’ and now, ‘Cabaret.’ READ FULL ARTICLE
The Talented Joel Ferrell: The Director as Workhorse by Jerome Weeks, ArtSeek.org
Texas theatrical insiders have always known that if somebody gave Joel Ferrell all the resources Broadway directors enjoy, he could turn out a musical as good as any in the country. With Cabaret, it has finally happened.In the nearly 45 years since librettist Joe Masteroff and songwriters John Kander and Fred Ebb wrote the show, Cabaret has evolved. For the Dallas Theater Center version, which opened Friday, Ferrell has taken it a step further.
Lawson Taitte, Dallas Morning News (2011)
Of course there’s Kander and Ebb’s potent score, but Ferrell’s direction is stand-out. His deftness with political subtext, foreshadowing the horrors of the Holocaust and conveying the allure of institutionalized hatred as a rallying point for a defeated and scared proletariat, echoes realities of our own politically divisive society with haunting poignancy.
Arnold Wayne Jones, Dallas Voice (2011)
Director Joel Ferrell has paced this dark, witty play to zip along like a knockabout farce (it clocks in at a swift 75 minutes sans intermission). But God of Carnage is more of a newfangled comedy of manners, making great, mean fun of certain types of modern urban snobs. … It’s a smart evening of theater, expertly staged to deliver surprise visual whammies.
Elaine Liner, Dallas Observer (2012)
Media Resources
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Joel Ferrell is a seasoned director, choreographer, actor, educator, and consultant of American theater. Spanning more than forty years, Joel has worked with some of the nation’s best commercial, regional, and community theaters and universities to deliver dynamic performances and cultivate up and coming artists. Learn more at www.joel-ferrell.com.
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Joel Ferrell is a seasoned director, choreographer, educator, and consultant based in Dallas, Texas.
Mr. Ferrell has directed and choreographed extensively around the country for Dallas Theater Center, Denver Center Theater, Portland Center Stage, North Shore Music Theater, and many more. Mr. Ferrell is the former Associate Artistic Director of Dallas Theater Center (2011-2019) and Artistic Director of Casa Manana Musicals (Fort Worth, TX; 1996 to 2001).
He has served as adjunct theater faculty for Southern Methodist University, Texas Weslyan University, and The University of North Texas, as well as teaching regularly for Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas.
His acting credits include Broadway National tours, regional theater, television and film, most recently appearing in the Dallas produced film, Final Dress.
Ferrell is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and a proud member of Society of Directors and Choreographers and Actor’s Equity Association.
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Joel Ferrell 