Justin Stadnyk — Canadian Theatre & Musical Theatre Director
Justin Stadnyk is a Canadian theatre director, musical theatre director, actor and sound designer based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. With more than two decades of professional experience on Canadian stages, Stadnyk brings a performer’s instinct, a musician’s ear and a multidisciplinary understanding of theatrical production to his work as a director.
His recent directing credits include the Manitoba professional premieres of Kimberly Akimbo and Dogfight: The Musical for Dry Cold Productions at Prairie Theatre Exchange. His directing practice has also been shaped through professional assistant-directing and mentorship experiences at the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, Segal Centre for Performing Arts and beyond.
Stadnyk is represented as a director by The Talent House.
Directing
Kimberly Akimbo — Dry Cold Productions
Director: Justin Stadnyk
Prairie Theatre Exchange, Winnipeg
2026
Justin directed the Manitoba premiere of Jeanine Tesori and David Lindsay-Abaire’s Tony Award-winning musical Kimberly Akimbo for Dry Cold Productions.
The nine-person production brought together established Manitoba theatre artists and a new generation of musical theatre performers in a story balancing mortality, dysfunctional family life, first love and comedy.
In its four-star review, the Winnipeg Free Press described the production as “ably directed by Justin Stadnyk” and called the show “endearing and uplifting.”
The production reflected several elements central to Stadnyk’s directing practice: detailed acting work, tonal precision, musical storytelling, ensemble building and finding humanity inside material that moves rapidly between comedy and emotional complexity.
Dogfight: The Musical — Dry Cold Productions
Director: Justin Stadnyk
Prairie Theatre Exchange, Winnipeg
2025
Stadnyk made his Dry Cold directing debut with the Manitoba professional premiere of Dogfight: The Musical, with music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul and a book by Peter Duchan.
Set in San Francisco in November 1963, Dogfight examines masculinity, misogyny, military culture, compassion and the human cost of dehumanization.
For Stadnyk, the heart of the production was the contrast between inherited systems of cruelty and Rose Fenny’s radical empathy.
His director’s note asked a central question: Why stage Dogfight now? The production approached the musical not simply as a romance but as a story about the ways harmful cultural rituals are normalized, passed between generations and ultimately challenged by genuine human connection.
The production featured an all-Manitoba company of actors, musicians, designers and theatre artists.
Assistant Directing, Mentorship & Artistic Development
Beautiful: The Carole King Musical
Stadnyk served as Assistant Director to Kelly Thornton on Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, a co-production of the Segal Centre for Performing Arts in Montreal and the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre in Winnipeg.
Working across two major Canadian regional theatres gave him direct experience with the development, rehearsal, remounting and maintenance of a large-scale professional musical production.
The opportunity was supported in part by the Canada Council for the Arts and became an important bridge between Stadnyk’s extensive career as a musical theatre performer and his expanding work as a director.
Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre National Mentorship Program
Stadnyk was selected for the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre National Mentorship Program, where he was paired with acclaimed director and artistic leader Stafford Arima.
Arima’s Broadway, Off-Broadway, West End and Canadian directing career provided Stadnyk with an opportunity to examine artistic leadership, large-scale musical theatre direction and the relationship between directorial vision and institutional theatre-making.
Beaches — The Musical
Stadnyk also undertook an Intern Observer experience on Beaches — The Musical, working in proximity to director Lonny Price and associate director Matt Cowart.
Together, these experiences have allowed Stadnyk to study musical theatre direction at independent, regional and large-scale commercial levels.
Directing Approach
Stadnyk’s directing is informed by more than 20 years spent inside professional rehearsal rooms.
As a performer, musician, sound designer and theatre-maker, he approaches a production as an interconnected whole: text, music, movement, sound, rhythm, design and performance all contribute to the storytelling.
His background in musical theatre particularly shapes the way he understands rhythm. Even in spoken scenes, Stadnyk considers tempo, silence, transition, musicality and the architecture of emotional beats.
His rehearsal process is collaborative and performer-centred. Rather than imposing identical methods on every actor, he adapts communication to the individual artists in the room while maintaining a clear larger vision for the production.
He is particularly interested in theatre that combines strong theatricality with emotional accessibility: contemporary musicals, ambitious revivals, plays with musical or sonic possibilities, ensemble storytelling and work that can invite audiences into difficult subject matter through character and human connection.
A Director With a Performer’s Perspective
Before moving increasingly into directing and design, Stadnyk built a substantial career as a professional musical theatre performer.
Across more than 50 professional productions, he has worked with many of Canada’s major theatre organizations and commercial producers.
Selected performance credits include the Original Canadian Company of Kinky Boots for Mirvish Productions; Anne of Green Gables — The Musical at the Charlottetown Festival; work with the Shaw Festival, Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, Drayton Entertainment, Winnipeg Jewish Theatre, Dry Cold Productions and other companies; and the North American tour of Saturday Night Fever.
That history directly informs his directing.
Stadnyk understands the practical and emotional experience of the performer inside a production: auditions, table work, blocking, choreography, technical rehearsals, understudying, long performance runs and the continual process of keeping work alive after opening night.
He also understands the relationship between creative intention and practical execution — an awareness developed through years of working alongside directors, choreographers, musical directors, designers, stage managers, technicians and producers.
Sound, Music & Multidisciplinary Theatre-Making
Music and sound are particularly central to Stadnyk’s artistic work.
In addition to directing musical theatre, he has worked professionally as a sound designer, including multiple productions for the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre.
Royal MTC sound-design credits include Indecent, The Piano Teacher and Hockey Mom, Hockey Dad.
His wider sound-design work has included productions for Winnipeg Jewish Theatre and Talk Is Free Theatre.
This technical and musical background gives Stadnyk an unusually integrated relationship with sound when directing. Underscoring, transitions, silence, environmental sound and musical architecture can be considered as storytelling tools from the earliest stages of a production rather than added only at the end of the process.
Artistic Leadership
Stadnyk previously served as Associate Artistic Director of Talk Is Free Theatre.
That experience, combined with his work as an independent business owner and producer, broadened his understanding of theatre beyond the rehearsal room to include programming, production logistics, budgets, audience development, marketing and the practical realities facing producing organizations.
His directing therefore sits at the intersection of artistic ambition and producibility.
The goal is not simply to generate an interesting concept. It is to identify the clearest theatrical idea and build a process through which actors, designers, musicians, producers and audiences can all participate in making it successful.
Press & Critical Reception
Kimberly Akimbo — Winnipeg Free Press
★★★★ / 5
“Ably directed by Justin Stadnyk.”
The Winnipeg Free Press praised the production’s ability to blend broad comedy, painful family dysfunction and first love, ultimately describing Kimberly Akimbo as “endearing and uplifting.”
Selected Professional Affiliations & Companies
Justin Stadnyk’s professional theatre work has included relationships with the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, Segal Centre for Performing Arts, Mirvish Productions, Shaw Festival, Charlottetown Festival, Dry Cold Productions, Winnipeg Jewish Theatre, Talk Is Free Theatre, Drayton Entertainment and other Canadian theatre organizations.
He is represented as a director by The Talent House.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Justin Stadnyk?
Justin Stadnyk is a Canadian theatre and musical theatre director, actor and sound designer based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. His directing credits include Kimberly Akimbo and Dogfight: The Musical for Dry Cold Productions.
What musicals has Justin Stadnyk directed?
Stadnyk directed the Manitoba professional premieres of Dogfight: The Musical in 2025 and Kimberly Akimbo in 2026, both produced by Dry Cold Productions at Prairie Theatre Exchange in Winnipeg.
What kind of theatre does Justin Stadnyk direct?
His primary interests include musical theatre, contemporary plays, reimagined classics and emotionally driven ensemble work. His background in performance, music and sound design gives his directing a particularly strong relationship to rhythm, musicality and sonic storytelling.
Where is Justin Stadnyk based?
Justin Stadnyk is based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, and works professionally across Canada.
Has Justin Stadnyk worked at the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre?
Yes. His work with Royal MTC has included assistant directing Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, participating in the theatre’s National Mentorship Program with Stafford Arima, sound designing Indecent, The Piano Teacher and Hockey Mom, Hockey Dad, and performing in multiple Royal MTC productions.
Who has Justin Stadnyk studied directing with?
His professional directing development has included mentorship with Stafford Arima through the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre National Mentorship Program, assistant-directing experience with Kelly Thornton on Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, and an intern-observer experience with Lonny Price and Matt Cowart on Beaches — The Musical.
Who represents Justin Stadnyk as a director?
Justin Stadnyk is represented by The Talent House, Toronto.
Selected External References
Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre — National Mentorship Program: Justin Stadnyk & Stafford Arima
Royal MTC — National Mentorship Program: Past Mentees & Mentors — Royal MTC 2023/24 pairings. Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre
Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre — Professional artist biography listing Kimberly Akimbo and Dogfight as directing credits
Royal MTC — Artist Biography: 2026 Royal MTC Regional Tour Program — Royal MTC bio explicitly lists Director: Kimberly Akimbo, Dogfight (Dry Cold). Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre
Segal Centre for Performing Arts — Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Assistant Director
Segal Centre — Beautiful: Beautiful: The Carole King Musical — Assistant Director. Segal Centre
Dry Cold Productions — Kimberly Akimbo, Director
Dry Cold — Kimberly Akimbo: Kimberly Akimbo — Director. Dry Cold Productions
Dry Cold Productions — Dogfight: The Musical, Director
Dry Cold — Dogfight: Dogfight: The Musical — Director. Dry Cold Productions
Winnipeg Free Press — Uplifting musical Kimberly Akimbo one for the ages
Winnipeg Free Press — Kimberly Akimbo: Uplifting musical Kimberly Akimbo one for the ages — the review says the Winnipeg premiere was “ably directed by Justin Stadnyk.” Winnipeg Free Press
Winnipeg Free Press — Musical explores cruelty, connection and beauty
Winnipeg Free Press — Dogfight: Musical explores cruelty, connection and beauty — substantial feature Justin’s directorial approach to the material. Winnipeg Free Press
The Talent House — Justin Stadnyk, Director
Talent House: Justin Stadnyk — Director — director representation page.
Representation & Professional Inquiries
Justin Stadnyk — Theatre Director / Musical Theatre Director
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Director representation: The Talent House
Official website: justinstadnyk.com
