How it all Began

Patuxent River, MD
Hello Friends,

So this is my last week as a tour actor/director before I move on to the home office and I have been doing a lot of reflecting. What a better way to do that then to re-tell my MCT story (no worries I will be making broad strokes with these entries). Let's start at the beginning...

It was the end of June 2003. I had just finished my nine month internship at the Seattle Repertory Theatre. I was desperatly seeking work that would allow me to still act and teach. I was in a production for the now defunct Seattle Fringe Festival playing a father to a disturbed son in the depression (Trestle at the Pope Lick Creek)to which I was recieving no pay and drove 20 miles one way for rehearsal. The world was scary and exciting and I had no idea what lay ahead.

At the end of that faithful June I attended a theatre open audition were you spend one minute and thirty seconds performing two monolouges in hopes that some theatre company sitting in the darkened audience may call you back at some point in the near future. When done, I thanked the faceless crowd and made a calm confident exit (a dance that had been engrained into me from my college years). Before I could reach the door a voice called out from the populated void, "Matt, can you sing?"

My reply came quick but not as confident as my attempted exit.

"Yes."

I was handed a half piece of paper for a place called The Missoula Children's Theatre asking to come back TODAY for an interview about some tour thing.

A callback?! Today!?!! Usually you wouldn't receive a callback for weeks, sometimes even months!

At this point I can't remember if I was even excited about the callback or not. I was a little leery of something called "tour" and during my time between I headed back to the Rep and printed of my teaching resume as it had not been with my acting resume. At the Rep I distinctly remember someone even telling me to stay away from the Missoula gig. They hadn't heard good things about it or had a friend of a friend who had done it and didn't like it. Still, a callback is a callback and I went back with resume in hand to see what this was all about.

Upon arrival I was greeted by the two Missoula Reps; Beth Martin and Victoria Larson. I handed them my teaching resume and took my spot with about 5 other callbackees. I don't really remember much of the schpeel, though I know what the schpeel is; it is a 45 minute talk about how awful the job is. Working with kids every week, crazy drives and partners, staying at weird homes, the list goes on and on. (To be fair, this is actually the best tool we have for recruitment as candidates are openly encouraged to politely leave the moment they know that the tour is not for them).

I don't know what I did or say or maybe it was the fact that I brought a theatre teaching resume to an acting callback, but after about 30 minutes of the schpeel Beth decides to pull me out of the pack and starts to have a one-on-one interview with me. She wants to know about how I grew up, what I like about acting and teaching, on and on we go. It felt like a good 30 minutes. By the time our talk was finished the other candidates had all gone. I felt thrilled about this opportunity but knew better then to get my hopes up. Polite farewells were made and the promises of being in contact were spoken.

On the 30 minute drive back I received a call from Victoria asking if they could hear me sing over the phone since I had failed to do so at the callback. As I was driving on the interstate I politely asked if I could at another time. A time was set for two days later.

During those two days I sang my heart out to everything I could find. Any musical CD, old voice lesson books, the TV - anything! It had not been specified as to what they wanted me to sing so I prepared song after song for their consideration.

The two days passed and the call came at the appointed time. The kitchen table was full of sheet music and songbooks ready for action. I was nervous! I had sang in church and few musicals in High School, but never for a professional gig! Brief pleasantries were delivered and then:

"Alright, lets hear you sing!"

"Well, what would you like?"

"How about 'Happy Birthday'?"

Staring at all those books and music I gave my best version of that tell-tale song all the while looking around for some gag show TV camera. It was the longest 15 seconds of my life.

"Great. We will be in touch."

That was it. Done. I felt a bit deflated.

A week past, then two. I tried not to think of it but as any actor will tell you until you hear no then, to you, it still feels like there could be a yes.

When the call came I of course wasn't expecting it. However the offer was timeless. Nine month contract, starting in September. I was given a week to think it over, I am pretty sure I called back later that day.

The Adventure Continues - ML