Joe Langworth

Joe Langworth is an American theater director, choreographer, casting director, singer, and dancer who appeared on Broadway between 1975 and 2009. Born on July 19, 1966, he grew up in Port Chester, New York, where he attended Port Chester High School. He later studied communications at the State University of New York at Geneseo, from which he graduated, and subsequently returned to the institution as an associate professor of dance. He also taught at the State University of New York at New Paltz, where he choreographed productions of The Producers and Rent and directed both the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and Oklahoma.

Langworth's performing career on Broadway and beyond spanned roughly fifteen years. He was part of the closing company of the original production of A Chorus Line and appeared in the Tony Award-winning original production of Ragtime, which starred Audra McDonald, Marin Mazzie, and Brian Stokes Mitchell. His Broadway credits also include On the Twentieth Century and the 2001 revival of Stephen Sondheim's Follies. Outside of Broadway, Langworth performed in Las Vegas alongside Ann-Margret and took part in European tours of West Side Story. He additionally served as assistant dance captain on the national tour of the Tony Award-winning musical Thoroughly Modern Millie.

In 2006, Langworth transitioned from performing to casting, joining the New York-based firm Bernard Telsey Casting, Inc. The agency, identified in a February 26, 2006 New York Times article by Jesse McKinley as one of New York's premier casting operations, supplied casts for Broadway productions including Rent, The Color Purple, Wicked, Legally Blonde, and The Drowsy Chaperone. At Telsey, Langworth's most prominent casting work was the first Broadway revival of South Pacific, which opened at Lincoln Center Theater in April 2008 starring Kelli O'Hara, Paulo Szot, Danny Burstein, and Loretta Ables Sayre. Beyond his casting responsibilities on that production, Langworth also served as its associate choreographer; the revival received seven Tony Awards in 2008. He further served as dance captain for the production's national touring company.

In 2009 and 2010, Langworth worked as associate director to Sheryl Kaller on both the off-Broadway and Broadway productions of Geoffrey Nauffts' play Next Fall, which earned Tony nominations for Best Play and Best Director in 2010. His directing work continued in 2012, when he staged cabaret performances for Broadway couple Jenny Powers and Matt Cavenaugh, as well as Laura Osnes's cabaret debut at the Cafe Carlyle in New York City. The following year, he directed Paulo Szot's solo concert at the Spoleto festival in Italy and at the New York nightclub 54 Below.

Langworth's regional directing credits include productions of South Pacific, West Side Story, and Carousel at Musical Theatre West. For his direction of West Side Story, he received the SAGE Award for Best Direction in 2016 from the Los Angeles theater critics. He also directed the regional premiere of Companion Piece by playwright Kevin Armento in the inaugural season of Denizen Theater in New Paltz, New York.

In September 2022, Langworth debuted an original musical, Fixing Frankie, at the Chain Theater in New York City, created in collaboration with Steve Marzullo. The work, described as semi-autobiographical, follows fifty years in the life of a gay Italian-American, including events during the AIDS epidemic. Langworth contributed the book, lyrics, and direction. The cast included George Psomas, Laura Pavles, Robert Montano, Felicia Finley, Andrea Bianchi, Steve Scionti, and Miguel Jarquin-Moreland. The musical made its off-Broadway debut in 2025.

Langworth married James Matthew Jones in October 2016 in West Park, Town of Esopus, New York. Jones is a global public health expert who served as communications and policy director to Senator John Kerry and as executive vice president of The Vaccine Fund, a multibillion-dollar charity founded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.