By Lynn Venhaus
Quickly making a name for himself for his versatile work in local regional professional theater companies, Joel Moses continues to challenge himself through a variety of opportunities.
Recently, he was nominated for two St. Louis Theater Circle Awards – as a supporting performer in St. Louis Shakespeare Festival’s “As You Like It” as Duke Frederick, and for his leading role as a conflicted husband in the Albion Theatre drama, “Lungs.”
This follows winning two awards for the 2023 season, for leading performer as a pastor who is having a crisis of faith in “The Christians” and as a supporting performer in “Bronte Sisters House Party” as the black sheep brother Branwell.
After having a banner year in 2024, in both the acclaimed “All My Sons” production at New Jewish Theatre and “As You Like It” in Shakespeare Glen, both Circle-nominated ensembles, and playing the Jewish theoretical physicist Werner Heisenberg, who worked on the atomic bomb project at Los Alamos, in “Copenhagen” for St. Louis Actors’ Studio, he returns to The Gaslight Theatre in one of the great plays of the 20th century.
He stars as Jamie Tyrone in Eugene O’Neill’s magnum opus, “A Long Day’s Journey Into Night,” which is being directed by Austin Pendleton and features Meghan Baker, William Roth, Dustin Petrillo and Bridgette Bassa.
Moses was gracious to take our questionnaire and discuss this challenging work, which will run from Feb. 7 to Feb. 23, on Thursdays through Sundays.
Joel, who moved here during the pandemic with his partner Danielle, describes his journey as an actor in St. Louis and beforehand, and his joy in being part of collaborative teams.
He first worked with St. Louis Actors’ Studio on two one-acts, “The Zoo Story” by Edward Albee and Harold Pinter’s “The Dumb Waiter,” opposite William Roth, then has returned. He has worked with SATE, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, St. Louis Shakespeare Festival, Albion Theatre, New Jewish Theatre, The Midnight Company and West End Players Guild.
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Take Ten Q & A with Joel Moses
1. What is special about your latest project?
“I love working on challenging plays, and Long Day’s definitely checks that box. We have an incredible cast and production team, many of whom I am getting the opportunity to work with for the first time.
I think it could be easy to spiral into despair working on this play, but happily that’s not been my experience. Austin has this effortless way of creating an atmosphere of glee in the room. Beyond that, he is incredibly insightful about the work and infinitely curious about pretty much everyone I’ve seen him encounter. And his stories, the man has a story about seemingly everyone.”
2. Why did you choose your profession/pursue the arts?
“My mom says that from an early age I was always in character. Acting was the first thing I ever felt I was ‘good’ at. And when I started doing theatre in high school that was the first time that I really understood what it meant to be a part of a team. So those things were very appealing to me as a young person.
When I started college, I was planning to be a high school theatre teacher, but after my first semester I realized I only wanted to focus on Acting. I switched my major from theatre education to a BFA in theatre performance and never really looked back.”
3. How would your friends describe you?
“As someone who is reserved at first but opens up once I trust you. Someone who is thoughtful and compassionate, but also has a dry, cynical sense of humor. Someone who takes his work very seriously, but in many other ways is a silly goofball.
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4. How do you like to spend your spare time?
“I’m a bit of a homebody, so I do like to spend a lot of my downtime relaxing at home with my partner Danielle and our dogs and cat. I love to read, although working on plays can sometimes delay my progress on a book. I really love movies, even a lot of terrible ones. I would describe one of Danielle’s qualities as being a bit of an adventurer, and as a result I’ve spent much more time enjoying nature and visiting beautiful places in the 10 years we’ve been together.”
5. What is your current obsession?
“My current obsessions tend to be the shows I am working on. So right now, it is ‘A Long Day’s Journey Into Night.’ Also, pretty much any dog I see at any time.”
6. What would people be surprised to find out about you?
“I get anxious in social settings and can sometimes struggle with words.”
7. Can you share one of your most defining moments in life?
“I spent the summer of 2012 studying abroad at the Moscow Art Theatre. It was a very intense experience in many regards. We were in classes six days a week, seeing plays a few times a week, and trying to experience as much of Moscow as we could. I stood in Stanislavski’s home studio, Tolstoy’s Garden, visited Chekhov’s grave. It was an incredibly inspiring artistic experience that had a huge impact on how I think about and approach work. It was also a culture shock…this was 2012, Putin had just ‘won’ another election there (or was about to). I used to dream of going back to Moscow someday…sadly I don’t see how that would ever be possible again.”
8. Who do you admire most?
“Alexander Gelman. Gelman was the director of the School of Theatre and Dance at NIU when I was in the MFA program there, and the Artistic Director of the Organic Theater Company when I was a member of that acting company. He is my great teacher and continues to be a mentor to me today.”
9. What is at the top of your bucket list?
“I’m going to give the nerdiest answer I can and say I want to play a character in each of the four great Chekhov plays before I’m done: Three Sisters, The Cherry Orchard, Uncle Vanya, The Sea Gull.”
10. What is your favorite thing to do in St. Louis?
“I do love seeing as much theatre as I can, and there is so much great theatre here – and something for everyone’s tastes. At any point in the season, you can find new, classic, and weird plays, something to make you think, or something to help you escape. We are lucky to have such a great artistic community with a lot to offer.”
I also love that St. Louis is such a good beer town, so I enjoy visiting local breweries when I can. And I’m always interested in finding a good cheeseburger so that gets me out and about.”
11. What’s next?
“Auditions, auditions, auditions. Hopefully some callbacks. If anyone is casting out there, I have some availability in my calendar I’d love to discuss with you. Maybe a comedy. I think I’m due for a comedy.”
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More Information on Joel Moses
Birthplace: near Kansas City, Mo.
Current location: St Louis
Education: BFA: Theatre Performance – University of Central Missouri – 2006.
Moscow Art Theatre – Summer Acting Intensive – 2012.
MFA: Acting – Northern Illinois University – 2013.
Day job: I don’t really have one full time job, but juggle a handful of part time jobs. I adjunct at SLU and Webster, and I absolutely love teaching. I love working with students and getting to be a part of their process. I’m also a teaching artist for Prison Performing Arts and work a few lunch shifts at a local brewery.
First job: Fry Cook. Dairy Queen.
First play or movie you were involved in or made: “I think I was a rain drop in a play about agriculture in first grade.”
Favorite jobs/roles/plays or work in your medium?
It is so hard for me to pick favorites, but here are some particularly memorable roles in no particular order.
• Ubu in King Ubu, Organic Theater Company
• Einstein in Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Organic Theater Company
• Hamlet in Hamlet, Northern Illinois University MFA Thesis Performance.
• Branwell in Bronte Sister House Party, SATE.
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And 2024 was kind of a golden year for me. I loved all these projects I worked on last year.
• Lungs, Albion Theatre.
• George Deever in All My Sons, New Jewish Theatre.
• Heisenberg in Copenhagen, St Louis Actors’ Studio
• Duke Frederick in As You Like It, St. Louis Shakespeare Festival.
Awards/Honors/Achievements:
St. Louis Theater Circle Awards:
• Outstanding Performance in a Drama: The Christians – West End Players
• Outstanding Supporting Performance in a Comedy: Bronte Sister House Party – SATE
Favorite quote/words to live by: “The truth of ourselves is the root of our acting.” Sanford Meisner
“What is utterly absurd happens in the world.” Gogol
A song that makes you happy: “Scatman” – Scatman John
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“A Long Day’s Journey into Night” premiered in Sweden in February 1956 and opened on Broadway in November 1956, winning the Tony Award for Best Play. O’Neill received the 1957 Pulitzer Prize for Drama posthumously for the work, which is openly autobiographical in nature. The title refers to the setting of the play, which takes place during one single day.
The performances are Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings at 8 p.m. and on Sundays at 3 p.m. General admission tickets are $60 each plus fees, $55 each plus fees for students with valid ID and seniors 65+, available via Ticketmaster or at the theater box office one hour before show time. For more information, visit stlas.org or email help@stlas.org.
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Lynn (Zipfel) Venhaus has had a continuous byline in St. Louis metro region publications since 1978. She writes features and news for Belleville News-Democrat and contributes to St. Louis magazine and other publications.
She is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic, currently reviews films for Webster-Kirkwood Times and KTRS Radio, covers entertainment for PopLifeSTL.com and co-hosts podcast PopLifeSTL.com…Presents.
She is a member of Critics Choice Association, where she serves on the women’s and marketing committees; Alliance of Women Film Journalists; and on the board of the St. Louis Film Critics Association. She is a founding and board member of the St. Louis Theater Circle.
She is retired from teaching journalism/media as an adjunct college instructor.