Joeseph Carney Profile: Final Draft

Before getting the role as catering director for Bon Appetit Management Company at Roger Williams University, Joeseph Carney was looking to be on theater’s biggest stage: Broadway.

Clean-cut, muscular, handsome; a star was ready to be born. He recalls the first show he ever played in; a junior high school reenactment of The Wizard of Oz. “I realized that I got a great thrill from being on stage. The appeal for me was being appreciated by complete strangers.”

Carney attended the American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA) located in New York City and soon got his first professional acting job as a supporting role in the European tour of The Best of Andrew Lloyd Webber (Phantom of the Opera). By the age of 21, he was starring as Jesus in a national tour of the musical-turned-film Godspell, a modern-day take on the story of the New Testament. “Touring city to city at 21 years old and being the lead in a musical and getting to die on stage every night was a lot of fun. That was one of the times of my life.”

It should be said, however, that theater isn’t always fun and games. “A national tour is very demanding on your body. You’re doing 8 shows a week and you’re sleeping in a bus half the time. At one point, I was doing 30 shows in 30 days in 30 different cities.”

By the age of 24, Carney had gotten himself into the Actor’s Union and felt that he was ready for Broadway. It came down to him and one other person for the lead roles in Rent and Hairspray, but he came up short both times. “It was either some guy who had been in the business longer than I had or someone who was a B-list movie star. I just started to see the reality of theater. Even though I was taught in school that this is how it is, I had to experience that instability for myself.”

Carney’s main reason for leaving the stage was his wife Amanda, who was wardrobe supervisor for the national tour of Fame in 2004. “Her love was more important to me than the applause I got on stage. If I’m thinking that I could give myself to someone for the rest of my life and possibly have a family, then I need to be done with theater.” He thanks his grandparents - who raised him after his mother passed away when he was 3 years old - for giving him the courage to give himself to another person. “My grandparents showed me that having a relationship with someone is a lot of hard work but that it’s all worth it.”

Catering might not seem like the next logical step in a performer’s career, but for Carney it makes perfect sense. “It’s like being in theater. You get there, you unload a truck, you put on a show for people, you feed them, and then you load it all back up and do it again the next day.”

“If you didn’t have a passion for food and hospitality, it would reflect upon every event. He is always looking to do something different.“ says Tara Norcross, who was brought in as an assistant manager as the number of requested catering events began to be too much for Carney alone.

Eating healthy has always been a part of Carney’s routine on the stage, and because of that he is genuinely behind what his employer stands for. “Bon Appetit is all about what I’m about. Supporting local farms and serving healthy, well made food.”

Carney recollects the song he chose for his wedding, a song by Jason Mraz entitled ’Life is Wonderful’. “This is everything I could ever of hoped for in a job. I have security, stability, and I get to put on a show. My wife and I bought a house this past year and we’re thinking about starting a family next year. Life is truly wonderful.”