Joe Moeller’s tale is a classic local-boy-makes-good story.
After graduating from St. Xavier High School, he went on to the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music’s vaunted musical theater program, where he won an Enquirer/Acclaim Award in his sophomore year. From there? Broadway, of course.
Not exactly.
“I didn’t get a Broadway show until 2022 – 11 years after I graduated,” Moeller said. But he stayed busy. He spent the better part of a decade performing in regional theaters and in the occasional tour. He danced the tango in “Evita” in Texas. He spent three months in “Mamma Mia!” in Las Vegas. He was Macavity in a production of “Cats” in Massachusetts, where he was also seen as the Tin Man in “The Wizard of Oz.”
“& Juliet“ was the show that finally landed him on Broadway.
“I got spoiled working in New York,” Moeller said. “I’d been working out of town for so long. Finally, I was able to go home to my husband and to my dogs every night.”
By most measures, Moeller had arrived. But it wasn’t enough. His roles were still small. And for the most part, he was in the ensemble and understudied a couple of the leading roles.
Now he’s back on the road. But this time, he has a major role in a show that has become an audience favorite, “Shucked.” The Tony Award-winning show, part of the Broadway in Cincinnati series, opens Feb. 10 at the Aronoff Center and runs through Feb. 22.
“I performed at the Aronoff back in 2018, in ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’,” he said. “But I was an Oompa Loompa, so you probably couldn’t have picked me out.”
This time he’ll be hard to miss. “Shucked,” a zany musical filled with puns, slapstick humor and more references to corn than a dozen productions of “Oklahoma,” is anchored by a pair of storytellers who tell jokes, nudge the story forward and pop in and out of the onstage action. Moeller – called JoeMoe by his friends – is one of those two storytellers.
“I had auditioned for this role two years ago,” he said. “When I didn’t get it, I was devastated. I thought it was the perfect role for me.”
When the producers asked him to audition again last year, he didn’t hesitate. This time it went better and he stepped into the show’s National Tour production in Providence, Rhode Island in October. For the record, despite the generic-sounding character name – “storyteller 2” – his role is one of the show’s most memorable.
Reflecting on his career for a moment, Moeller recalls the moment where he became smitten with live theater.
“I was in 7th grade and my oldest sister, Nikki, was working the sound booth in a production of ‘The Sound of Music’ at Ursuline Academy,” he said. “She said she needed help. But I can’t remember what I did that was very helpful. I was so enamored by what was happening on the stage.” The following year, Ursuline’s musical was “The Music Man.”
“They needed kids for the show,” Moeller said. “My parents said ‘Joe can probably sing.’ And it turned out that I could. I auditioned. And I got in.”
Within a year, he was enrolled in CCM’s preparatory program and spending every Saturday, singing, acting and dancing. “What can I say. I fell in love with being onstage. And now here I am.”
‘Shucked’
When: Feb. 10-22.
Where: Procter & Gamble Hall, Aronoff Center, 650 Walnut St., Downtown.
Tickets: starting at $40.
Information: 513-621-2787; cincinnatiarts.org.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: How a ‘corny’ show brought a St. Xavier grad to the Broadway spotlight
Reporting by David Lyman, Special to The Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
