Click on a category to expand the credits.

The first play Joel can remember seeing was a production of “Fiddler on the Roof” at Diablo Valley College in 1986, where his father played the role of Tevye. At the age of 4 years old, he became obsessed with theatre.

Joel’s first play was in second grade, in a production of the musical “Cabbage Patch Dreams”. He played Colonel Casey, the narrator of the play and the stork that delivered the Cabbage Patch Kids. Over the course of his time in elementary, middle, and high school, Joel took part in over 40 productions, playing roles such as John Proctor in The Crucible, Claudio in Much Ado About Nothing, and Cyrano in Cyrano de Bergerac. His teachers in his youth were Jean Brown, Jim Macedo, and Kevin Cline.

His first play in community theatre was entirely due to nepotism. His father, David Roster, was directing a production of Bleacher Bums in Benicia, California, and cast his son as “The Kid”—a role with two lines right at the opening of the play. At 12 years old, Joel received a check for $50 for his participation in the play, and his mind was blown that he could receive money for doing what he loved. The summer after he left high school, at 17, he was cast in the Murphys Creek Shakespeare Festival repertory productions of Much Ado About Nothing and Romeo and Juliet—his first professional experience.

Accepted to Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, but having no way to pay for tuition, Joel instead went to Diablo Valley College, where he studied acting from Beth McBrien, Douglas Dildine, Les Abbott, Ray Stansbury, Ed Trujillo, and, most notably, Jim Kirkwood (who studied directly from Stella Adler, Michael Chekov, Lee Strasberg, and Sanford Meisner).

Joel started performing in local community theatre productions in the fall of 2000 at age 17, and has since worked all over California with performing arts organizations. He is a proud member of Actors Equity Association—the professional union for actors and stage managers in North America.