John Simpkins
Director, Wild Child

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 - Second Stage, Le Poisson Rouge, Zipper Factory, Joe’s Pub, Ars Nova), 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). In addition to his directing, John is the Nagle Family Chair of Musical Theatre at Penn State University, where he curates a New Musicals Initiative that commissions writers yearly to work with the senior class on an original musical.  Upcoming projects include The Jonathan Larson Project in London, the world premiere of Wild Child at Laguna Playhouse, and Tyrants at Penn State.