About
Joy Powered Productions engages in work that reveals and explores the depth and complexity of the human experience. We fuel and are fueled by work that sparks connection, stirs curiosity and radiates deeply soulful joy. We support projects that are bold, resonant and unafraid to wrestle with the real.
How we work
We believe the way a show is made shows up on the stage. So we invest in three things at once: the art, the artists and the audience. That means championing new voices, building rehearsal rooms where people can take real risks, and bringing audiences into work that stays with them long after the lights come up.
Our practice is simple to say and takes a lifetime to master: Receive. Respond. Return. Listen fully. Answer with care. Come back to the work, and to each other, stronger.
Melle Powers
Founder and Producer
Melle Powers is a producer, performer and cultural dramaturg who has spent more than 25 years in every kind of room: the free workshop and the Broadway rehearsal hall, the black-box solo show and the Edinburgh Fringe. She holds an MFA in acting from NYU, toured for a year with the Shenandoah Shakespeare Express, and has performed in more than 100 productions across film, theater, TV and voice.
For a decade she has partnered with theaters as a cultural dramaturg and culture consultant, including Red Bull Theater, where she is Culture & Community Consultant, Hudson Valley Shakespeare, Barrington Stage Company, and The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window at BAM and on Broadway. She co-founded The Mud/Bone Collective, a company formed for and by artists of color, and teaches at NYU Tisch and the David Geffen School of Drama.
Part of the Joy Powered Universe
Joy Powered Productions is a Joy Powered Universe company, alongside Powerful Communications (communication and leadership training for organizations) and The Make Good Project (a nonprofit supporting Black women artists and writers).