October 2, 2017

Matt is a junior Entertainment & Arts Management major at Drexel, and this summer, he worked at the Barrington Stage Company, a regional theater in the Berkshires of Massachusetts, as a house management intern. As an EAM major, He’s taken courses on volunteer management, accounting and finance for the arts, audience and fund development, promotion, press, and publicity, etc. in order to be successful in the world of entertainment, and specifically theater. Matt said, “These past few months I spent with Barrington have been really great and eye-opening for me. I had the opportunity to assist with the management of BSC’s 521-seat Mainstage, 114-seat St. Germain Stage, 120-seat Berkshire Museum Theater, and Mr. Finn’s (as in the composer of Falsettos & 25th Annual Putnum County Spelling Bee- William Finn) Cabaret.” In addition to management of the theaters themselves, Matt worked closely with the box office and production staff, making sure that the theater was ready to open and close on time. He personally supervised the volunteer ushers, staying in constant communication with a vast list of people through emails and phone calls, making sure that scheduling and seating was accommodating to them. He also managed audience services, making certain that patrons were comfortable and resolving any problems that occurred with seating or complaints with other patrons, staff, or the theater itself. He ensured prompt curtain times and maintained the condition of the theater as some of his other duties, creating an inviting atmosphere inside the theater and ensuring that maintenance cleaned and kept facilities in working order. Matt said that, “Overall, I met quite a few kind and interesting people who had similar interests and beginnings as I have and worked in fields that I was interested in, so I gained plenty of knowledge from conversations with them and some valuable connections.” BSC produced ten shows this summer on their 3 stages. Some new works and some classics, and Matt had the chance to be involved with every single one in some capacity, and this doesn’t include all the cabarets they put together. Matt even saw Stephen Sondheim attend one of his shows, Company, starring Aaron Tveit which Matt called “a very surreal experience,” and aside from stars, he met managers and arts administrators who have worked in Broadway theaters and globally. “It was a truly a worthwhile experience and something that I won’t soon forget.”

Matt has been a fixture in Co-Op Theater Company’s shows as a performer. You might have seen him as Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors, Nicky in last spring’s Avenue Q, as one of the creators and ensemble members/Donkey in The Devil’s Auction or in Almost, Maine.