"[10][1] From July to September 2010 he played the lead role in a revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Aspects of Love at the Menier Chocolate Factory in London.

[14][15][16] Arden's regional theatre credits include Pippin, God of Vengeance, Falsettoland, Tom Jones' Harold and Maude, West Side Story, Songs for a New World, The Common Pursuit and The Winter's Tale.

Beginning in October 2014, Arden played the role of Quasimodo in the new musical The Hunchback of Notre Dame at San Diego's La Jolla Playhouse.

[20] On May 3, 2016, Arden received a Tony Award nomination in the category Best Direction of a Musical for his work on the Spring Awakening revival.

[22] He then returned as the first Artist-in-Residence at the Wallis Annenberg Center, where he directed productions of The Pride and Merrily We Roll Along,[23] for which he earned a 2017 Ovation Awards nomination for Best Director of a Musical.

[24] Arden directed the first Broadway revival of the musical Once on This Island, which began previews on November 9, 2017, and opened on December 3 at the Circle in the Square Theatre, where it ran until January 6, 2019.

[27] The cast includes Hailey Kilgore and Alex Newell in their Broadway debuts as Ti Moune and Asaka, Lea Salonga as Erzulie, and Merle Dandridge as Papa Ge.

[28] Next, Arden directed Annie at the Hollywood Bowl in July 2018 for the venue's annual summer musical production, with a cast including Ana Gasteyer as Miss Hannigan, Lea Salonga as Grace Farrell, and Megan Hilty as Lily St Regis.

[29] Following this Arden was slated to direct Jefferson Mays in his one-man adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol at Los Angeles' Geffen Playhouse beginning October 2018.

[32] The production transferred to Broadway in March 2023 with the cast led by Ben Platt and Micaela Diamond as Leo and Lucille Frank.

Arden had a recurring role in the NBC series Kings as Joseph, the secret boyfriend of the closeted gay heir to the throne, Prince Jack Benjamin.

Having also worked in film, he is a featured actor in director Colin Spoelman's independent effort Underground, the story of five friends who become trapped inside a cave system deep below a mountain ridge in central Kentucky.