Matt delves into the work of one of the greatest actors of our time

Every time I see Meryl Streep in something I’m beside myself. So I decided it would be beneficial for me to watch all of her work and see how she grows as an actor over the years. I expected her first film to be some bit part, but in actuality it’s a filmed version of a Broadway Production called “Secret Service”.

In the film, Streep plays Edith Varney a Southern girl madly in love with Captain Thorne (played by… wait, is it? John Thithgowe with red hair). The play is performed in four acts, three of which take place at the Varney home, one at a Confederate telegraph office. Preceeding each act the players sing a folksong in the style of the era (or from the era – not sure). Streep sings the song preceeding the act by herself. Her voice is beautiful and she is clearly well trained. This is particularly interesting to me as I’ve struggled with trying to decide if I want to pursue musical theatre or if I want to pursue film, television, and legit stage. Streep seems to have made a choice to go the legit route even though she has a beautiful voice.

Streep’s performance is very strong. After all, she is on Broadway. During the first scene she enters the Varney home having come from the President of the Confederacy with orders that will allow her love, Captain Thorne to stay with her rather than leave on the orders he has told her about. This is particularly impressive to me as she is fully engaged in the fact that something wonderful has happened. She seems headstrong and confident.

As she goes through the play and develops doubts about Thorne’s integrity, you can clearly see the struggle and her emotional life unfolding onstage. She trusted him and he has… wait, has he betrayed her? How could he? If he did? Fantastic to watch.

Matt tells you the secret to living in New York.

I have a t-shirt that says “Think Negative”. Every time I wear it people look at me funny and then come to the realization that it’s talking about HIV — brilliant slogan. It works because everyone knows that you’re supposed to think positive. Right?

I’m not going to pretend I make lots of money acting. Those of you who’ve read my blog entries can connect the dots. Recently I had to abandon my previous entrepreneurial exploits (web design) when my laptop died. So, I got a job in a restaurant. You know my history with those… the last one I was in was awful. Yet, I’m happy. I’m adjusting to life and my actor life hasn’t come to a stand still. People ask me if I like working at a restaurant and I tell them, for a restaurant, it’s great. I like the people I work with, the management’s great, the money seems like it will be good. I remind them I’m still pursuing acting, but yeah, it’s good. The acting things I’m doing in my life are very fulfilling and I get lots of good feedback from people which makes me happy.

Yet, I have some other friends who are doing amazing things with their careers and are complaining left and right… not enough money… too much rehearsal… not the right role. Sometimes, we find ourselves in positions that should be good but they aren’t. Yet, this isn’t the case with these friends. Yes it’s good, it’s great, but… I had the most amazing experience… but the business is hard and blah, blah, blah. I haven’t had the guts to confront these folks but if you’re reading this, please take it as constructive criticism and don’t get mad at me.

Enjoying your life as a whole is so important. I try to be content no matter what I am doing. Obviously some things get me more excited than others, but if we’re constantly looking ahead to things, we’re never really enjoying anything. Something to think about.

I’ve decided that these postings are going to be a little more personal because I feel the need to write this stuff down. Hope you enjoy.

Matt spends another three hours brooding about cash flow vs. creative fullfillment. Bonus casting coach details.

Nothing in N.Y. comes easy. That’s why when you achieve something you feel like you own the world. At this point in my career though, it doesn’t always take me long to realize I don’t. I’m sitting in Starbucks waiting for my very first rehearsal with Cherub Improv, a group that performs improv comedy at hospital, correctional facilities, nursing homes, etc… It should be an exciting moment. Instead, I’m haunted by my lack of income.

I shouldn’t be worrying about this. I should be in performing RENT. I got cast to do a regional production. But, sadly, I got uncast suspiciously close to my rejection of the producer’s offer to let him be “a bad influence” during the production. “I’m looking forward to being friends, but I meant that in the plutonic sense”, I said shortly after he tried to kiss me. “That’s too bad because I’m not looking for plutonic friends,” he replied. The next day I received a call stating that I was too young to play opposite their Roger.
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Matt works hard for the money but the ideas don’t always pay off. Today he hatches yet another scheme.

So, the idea solution to this problem is to just book a show that pays more than most of the shows I book. But I have no way of knowing if that will happen. And aside from my regular bills I need to send out postcards to tell everyone about the parts I’ve booked, I need money to print off my new headshots, I need money for my classes and to be able to meet casting people (oh yes, that’s a whole other can of worms — we’ll discuss later). It’s expensive to be an actor.

Lately I’ve been paying the bills flyering in Times Sq. Sometimes I teach computer lessons or build websites. I had a temp agency. I’ve waited tables. I’ve written magazine articles. I’ve setup video games for corporate parties. I do bus tours… yes I do. So yesterday my roommate asked me to take a look at his computer. It was speaking and crashing. Crazy right? Well, it just so happens I’m very good at fixing things like that. So while I was sitting there, going through the system registry. I thought, I’m going to make a Craigslist ad. Maybe I can get people to pay me to fix their laptops. Anything to keep money in my pocket and a flexible schedule.

Matt is inspired to spend four hours simmering things he found in his refrigerator by the daddy of all theatre publications./

So, it’s certainly been a while since I posted to musings. 2009 got a little crazy — in a good way. I was booking shows left and right and so my whole struggling artist thing didn’t seem to make much sense. But then I discovered Playbill listed my website and talked about my blog that explored life as an actor. Well, that inspired me to keep going. I still do plenty of struggling, but I’m also having a bit more success. So, in 2010, I promise to give you a larger picture of the life of an actor and try to explain everything there is to know about our way of life no matter what stage of my career I’m at. It’s not going to be all business, business, business though… oh, no! It’ll be a picture of my life. So, anyway, my first post in 2010, is part of what I hope will be a series of videos on how to cook on an actor’s budget. Enjoy! Continue reading The Actor’s Diet

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Sorry Ms. Garland. The road does not get tougher nor lonelier and rougher.

It’s been a while since I’ve posted a “musing.” Only ten months ago this portion of the site was a place for me to regale the world with my tales of awful roommates, leftover turkey meals, etc… I started talking about these things because my career as an actor in Los Angeles was always very cushy.

When I moved to NYC I was determine to leave as many of my creature comforts behind so that I could really focus on being an actor. I vowed to spend my energies honing my craft and auditioning rather than worrying about comfortable furniture, sushi dinners, and items that cost more than $5 (only partly joking). I really wanted to go for it. As I’ve often said, Tobey Maguire supposedly lived on friends couches and survived on rice and beens. I wanted to be that dedicated. I’m proud to say, that I have. I’ve learned a lot and I’m still learning. I guess what I’m saying is this year I’m struggling a bit less. I’ve been involved in seven projects this year and I’m not done yet.

So, it’s time to take this blog in a different direction. According to Webster, the definition of muse is 1) to meditate on, 2) to comment thoughtfully or ruminate upon. But the origin of the word is actually a noun. Muse (noun): the spirit that is thought to inspire a poet or other artist; source of genius or inspiration. So, from now on, I’ll share things that inspire me as an artist. But not now. Now I’m tired of typing. :) Still, doesn’t that sound nice?

Summer is here but Matt is experiencing a brief winter moment.

What the hell happened this week? Why do I feel like I’m recovering from being hit by a truck? As much as people complain about working 9-5, and as much as I know I did when I did it, it gives you structure. Sometimes you wind up in this place where you’re struggling just to get out of your apartment. “What’s he talking about?” Let me start at the beginning.

The stars aligned this week to deliver me with lots of bad news. During the Tony Awards I found out I might lose my apartment — I just got a bed finally from my cousin when he moved to Portland. Yes, that wasn’t so great. I miss my cousin. The apartment struggle went on for a few days and then seemed to fizzle as if it was never an issue. I’m still not convinced that I’ve heard the last of it. Then everyone I’ve ever known in my life came to me with stories of breakups, death, depression, drugs, and the dreaded loss of a job. I actually lost a friend because apparently I wasn’t sympathetic enough to the job loss situation. A part of me didn’t care, it was too much for me to process in one week.

You see, I had things I was dealing with — and I always do. My chosen profession makes me somebody banks don’t want to deal with. It’s impossible for me to get an apartment in this city without subletting. I think I’m very talented but you’re always asking yourself, even when you are working as I am, will I ever achieve that level? But when people start talking about their losses, I often realize that Read the rest of this entry »

Whether is was Oannes or Dionysus, St. Genesius or St. Vitus, somebody’s been looking out for Matt.

They say that it’s no good to keep banging your head against a brick wall. It’s certainly a bloody metaphor isn’t it? I mean that would hurt. While, I’ve not been beating my head against anything, I’ve reached a point in my career where I need to accomplish some new things to move forward. So does that mean I’m punching the wall? I better get something to wrap my hand with.

Though it’s hard to believe, we’re almost halfway through 2009. Fortunately, I’ve been in some production or another since the beginning of the year. My acting has also been improving significantly since about November. I walk out of auditions and hear people say “wow, he was good” from outside the door. These things say to me, “Matthew (I don’t always go by Matt), you’re ready to crank things up a notch. You need an agent.”

Without delay, I bought some envelopes, wrote some letters to 30 different agencies that sounded promising and enclosed my resume and… oh no! Read the rest of this entry »

Matt gets sappy about his first year in NYC and network television… box wine was not involved.

Wow! What a fantastic day. What a fantastic first year in New York for that matter. April 30th marked one year in this crazy city. It was a year of cold showers, cockroaches, hunger, profiteering sublessors, poverty, rejection, rodents, nights without heat, homesickness, superficial socialite hypocrites, and destroyed credit. Despite it all, the year was so amazing that none of the nonsense could keep me down.

Right now I’m reading Dracula, something I thought I’d never do as vampires are one of the few things that terrify me. In it, Bram Stoker writes, “we learn from failure, not from success!” I can’t count count the amount of times I failed in this past year. But I can tell you that each time, and I’m so thankful that this is the case, something inside me said, “get back up, brush yourself off, and do it again.”

There were lots of risks involved with coming to New York. First off, I didn’t have anywhere to live. My family all thought I did but they would’ve been worried sick if they knew I didn’t. I started in a hostel which wasn’t bad, the main problem was Read the rest of this entry »

As the New York sun slowly decides to share its warmth, Matt’s life and career are heating up and depression’s thawing.

As actors, we’re taught about objectives and how they should lead your character through a story. My friend’s objective was strong enough to get him safely to his bed. He of course, didn’t want to wind up in a compromising situation, or be late for his work function the following day. I’m telling you this because as the weather is growing warmer, I feel like I’ve come out of hibernation. I read my last blog about eating all that leftover Thanksgiving turkey and realized that somehow, I came out of winter better than I went into it. I’m doing a show, I’m making ends meet — even if it is on very little, and I’m not working some stupid job… I’m a working actor. Ok, ok, I do a few other things to make money here and there other than the show, but my days are filled with lots of activity pertinent to being an actor. Read the rest of this entry »