Joseph P. McDonnell was born on the Southside of Chicago and graduated from Brother Rice H.S. He started acting and singing in productions there and at neighboring Mother McCauley H.S. He went on to attend and graduate from Northwestern University. After college, he moved to Los Angeles and lived with his older brother and a college friend. He starred in "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" as Debbie Reynolds' brother and after the US tour, reprised the role and choreographed a production with Argentine television star Susannah Jimenez in Buenos Aires. He played several roles in the US tour of "Jesus Christ Superstar" with Ted Neely and the late Carl Anderson. Upon moving to New York, he worked on Broadway in a revival of "Candide" and in Tom Stoppard's "Jumpers". In addition to film work, he directs one man shows and was the original director of "Urinetown" in the NY Fringe Festival in 1999. He currently lives in New York City.
