Bio
Matthew is Chairperson of the Department of Theater and Dance at Youngstown State University and is an Associate Professor of Theatre. He teaches Acting, Directing, Improvisation, Stage Combat and Mask. At YSU he has directed A Streetcar Named Desire, Early One Evening at the Rainbow Bar & Grille, Broke-ology, Twelfth Night, The Cherry Orchard, The Spitfire Grill, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Dead Man's Cell Phone, and the World-Premiere of Mr. Wheeler's. Since arriving in the Youngstown area, he has directed Our Lady of 121st Street, Good People, The Mystery of Irma Vep, and August: Osage County for the Youngstown Playhouse and Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches for the Oakland Center for the Arts. He also directed the highly-acclaimed production of Jackie & Me for Children's Theatre of Charlotte. He holds a B.A. in Theatre from Emporia State University and an M.F.A. in Directing from Northwestern University.
Over the past twenty-five years, Matthew has worked across the country as an actor, director, fight-choreographer and theatre educator. His professional acting credits include: Nick in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf with Phoenix Theatre, Bob Cratchit in A Christmas Carol with Actors Theatre of Phoenix, Hysterium in Forum with Whitehall Theatre, Malvolio in Twelfth Night with The National Players, and the title role in Hamlet with the UK/AZ Festival. He served as the founding artistic and marketing director of The Actors Group, located in Phoenix Arizona, from 1993 until 1997.
During his career, Matthew has directed award-winning productions of Bent, The Grapes of Wrath, Buried Child, Before it Hits Home, David’s Mother, The Crucible, and The Laramie Project. He has collaborated with playwrights on staged readings, workshop readings, and has helped develop scripts from readings through full productions.
He has worked with such diverse companies as: Actors’ Theatre of Phoenix, Phoenix Theatre, Theatre Works, Child’sPlay, Arizona Jewish Theatre, The Fulton Theatre, Playwrights’ Theatre, Children’s Theatre of Charlotte, The Youngstown Playhouse, Unseam’d Shakespeare and The Black Theatre Troupe.
He is 27+ Year member of Actors’ Equity Association, a member of the Association of Theatre Movement Educators, an associate member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographer, and a friend of the Society of American Fight Directors.
Over the past twenty-five years, Matthew has worked across the country as an actor, director, fight-choreographer and theatre educator. His professional acting credits include: Nick in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf with Phoenix Theatre, Bob Cratchit in A Christmas Carol with Actors Theatre of Phoenix, Hysterium in Forum with Whitehall Theatre, Malvolio in Twelfth Night with The National Players, and the title role in Hamlet with the UK/AZ Festival. He served as the founding artistic and marketing director of The Actors Group, located in Phoenix Arizona, from 1993 until 1997.
During his career, Matthew has directed award-winning productions of Bent, The Grapes of Wrath, Buried Child, Before it Hits Home, David’s Mother, The Crucible, and The Laramie Project. He has collaborated with playwrights on staged readings, workshop readings, and has helped develop scripts from readings through full productions.
He has worked with such diverse companies as: Actors’ Theatre of Phoenix, Phoenix Theatre, Theatre Works, Child’sPlay, Arizona Jewish Theatre, The Fulton Theatre, Playwrights’ Theatre, Children’s Theatre of Charlotte, The Youngstown Playhouse, Unseam’d Shakespeare and The Black Theatre Troupe.
He is 27+ Year member of Actors’ Equity Association, a member of the Association of Theatre Movement Educators, an associate member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographer, and a friend of the Society of American Fight Directors.