JOSH CHENARD
DIRECTOR & TEACHING ARTIST
Josh Chenard is an Associate Professor of Theatre at Dean College outside of Boston, Massachusetts. Before Dean, Josh served on the faculty of Virginia Commonwealth University and as the Head of Acting at New Mexico State University.
An Associate Teacher of Fitzmaurice Voicework®, Josh is also a certified instructor of the Michael Chekhov Technique having earned his certification through the National Michael Chekhov Association and the late Mala Powers, acknowledged world wide as the foremost authority on Mr. Chekhov's technique. Along with Ms. Powers and Ms. Fitzmaurice, Josh has had the good fortune to train and learn from master teachers and performance practitioners such as Patsy Rodenburg, Frankie Armstrong, Arthur Lessac, Stephen Wangh, Tony Montanaro, and with Moisés Kaufman and the Tectonic Theater Project learning their unique and powerful approach to theatre making and performance: Moment Work. A sought after Guest and Teaching Artist himself, Josh has led workshops and classes all over the country including at the University of California, Berea College, the University of Southern Maine, Indiana University, SOL Acting Academy, Richmond Shakespeare, Bates College, SPARC, Midwestern State University, TheatreLAB, The Actors' Place INC, the American College Theatre Festival, the Virginia Theatre Association, A.W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts, John Tyler Community College, the Tennessee Arts Academy, Virginia Union University, the Virginia Thespian Festival, the Southeastern Theatre Conference and overseas at Queen Mary University in London, England.
As an actor and director, Josh has worked in a variety of educational, professional, and regional venues including at Two Lights Theatre Ensemble and Portland Stage in Portland, Maine, Acadia Repertory Theatre Company in Bar Harbor, Maine, the AYTB Theatre Company in Boston, Massachusetts, Richmond Triangle Players and Richmond Shakespeare in Richmond, Virginia, the Michael Chekhov Connection in Los Angeles, California, SPARC's New Voices for the Theatre, Cadence Theatre Company, the No Strings Theatre Company in Las Cruces, New Mexico, the University of Southern Maine where he appeared in the American Premiere of Xavier Durringer's A Taste of the Killing on the Tip of the Tongue and has worked with theater luminaries such as Olympia Dukakis and Mark Medoff, and with such notables as New York Times Best Selling Author Rebecca Goldstein and International film actress and author Emmanuelle Chaulet, who directed Josh as Adam in the original and critically acclaimed Rest Stop at Oak Street Theater in Portland, Maine. Other favorite roles include Paul in To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday, Chuck in Alan Ball's All That I Will Ever Be, Artie Shaughnessy in House of Blue Leaves and Lucien Wilbanks in John Grisham's A Time to Kill directed by David Leong.
Recent Directing credits include critically acclaimed productions of the musical Mr. Popper's Penguins for Virginia Rep's Children's Theatre at Willow Lawn, A Doll's House and Moth at Richmond, Virginia's TheatreLAB and Eugene O'Neill's American classic Desire Under the Elms at the Firehouse Theater (Richmond Theatre Critics Circle Best Director Nomination), The Trip to Bountiful and Les Precieuses Ridicules at Virginia Commonwealth University, Our Town, Other Desert Cities, the Mystery of Edwin Drood, James and the Giant Peach and The Misanthrope at The American Southwest Theatre Company, the Chicago Premiere of Peter Pan: The Boy Who Hated Mothers at the Athenaeum Theater, the Virginia Premiere of Lord of the Flies for the Henley Street Theatre Company, and an exploration of the Costa Rican folk tale La Segua with Shawn Elliott (Broadway's City of Angels) and Tiffany Rachelle Stewart (Broadway's Curious Incident) at the Lincoln Center Directors Lab in New York.
Along with membership in the Lincoln Center Directors Lab, Josh also holds memberships with the Voice and Speech Trainer's Association, the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, The National Michael Chekhov Association, the Southeastern Theatre Conference, the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival where he previously served as the New Mexico State Chair, and on the Richmond Theatre Critics Circle Theatre Alliance Panel.
Beyond the world of theater, Josh is an advisor and coach for health professionals, lawyers, news anchors, doctors, and business groups providing performance based strategy sessions and workshops on artful communication, objectives, voice, energy and presence.
"I met Josh in the summer of 1996...that summer began what is now a wonderful association with a gifted teacher and talented man. Not only is Josh a delight to work with, he also understands and recapitulates the acting technique with ease...wonderful, creative and inspiring..."
-Mala Powers, Actress & Former Executrix, Michael Chekhov Estate
"Chenard's direction of the play, Properties of Light, which William Storm had adapted from my own novel of that name, was, for me, a revelation. Chenard managed to so transform the play into an independent work of art that it was only while watching it performed that an entirely new interpretation of what it all means came to me. As deeply as I had once inhabited the story and its characters, his brilliant direction drew out a possibility that had been hidden to me."
-Rebecca Goldstein, New York Times Best Selling Author
"Josh is a wonderfully kind and caring teaching artist…his attention to the actor's journey elevates him to a higher level. I cannot recommend Josh highly enough!"
-Paul Michael Valley, 1776 Broadway, Another World NBC
"Josh is that rare combination of artistry and intelligence, with an eye on the doable and practical. Josh immediately feels like an old friend, the friend that also happens to have a vast knowledge of the world of acting. If he doesn't have a tool in his tool- box, chances are it hasn't been discovered yet.
-Julie Fogh, Founder Vital Voice Training
"…his pedagogy was clearly superb. He is a warm, kind, direct, inspiring, and energizing teacher."
-Emmanuelle Chaulet, International actress, films include All the Vermeers in New York and Eric Rohmer's Boyfriends and Girlfriends
"Josh Chenard defines thinking outside of the box. He leads with a particular passion for visceral bold exploration of text and character, something actors are hungry for. He works in a way that elevates the bravery, the love, the playfulness, and the guts inside of all of us."
-Tiffany Rachelle Stewart, Broadway The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime
"Josh Chenard has a knack for picking shows and casts. The shows he chooses are usually a little offbeat, and he seems to find the perfect casts to go with these productions. He has a very good eye for directing..."
-Maureen King / Maine Journal Tribune
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