24 Eighth Street, Apt. 1 |
Phone: (978) 302 0783 |
Websites: www.childdrama.com |
Cambridge, MA 02141 |
matt@childdrama.com |
www.youthplays.com |
To embark on a remunerative new career that allows me to use my skills as an organizer, manager and communicator in a supportive, dynamic environment that values creativity, precision, and personal initiative. By preference, I’d like to find an environment in which interaction and exchange with bright and diverse colleagues is possible and encouraged.
Writing, Editing and Proofreading – Published and extensively produced playwright; Publicity, advertising and fund raising copy production; Instructional materials and curriculum development; Event, facility and departmental reporting.
Facility and Event Management - Managing multiple, complex schedules, budgets and calendars; Facility utilization planning and maintenance; Event planning and support.
People Management and Team Building – Collaborative and supervisory team building; Excellent interpersonal skills and customer service ability; Strong people management as both mentor and supervisor of students and professional staff.
Use of Office Automation/Software – Extensive use of Microsoft Office since early 1990s; Strong computer skills and the facility to learn new software; PC and Mac OS and software literate; Personally use Word, Excel, Powerpoint, multiple email, calendar, contact and task managers, Photoshop and other photo and graphics packages, and numerous music management, notation, audio editing and video editing packages.
Web Site Development and Maintenance – Online publishing; e-book production; Web content production and maintenance; HTML authoring and maintenance; Site review and tuning for site impact and user friendliness/ease of use.
Graphic and Audio/Visual Communication – Photography, digital photography, and digital video (including editing); Graphic design and layout; Audio recording/editing.
Theatrical Production – Stage and musical direction; stage management; set and lighting design and implementation; marketing and promotion.
The Montgomery Academy and The Haverford School. Training in networking, web design, and various educational technologies.
UT Austin and MSU. Significant coursework in theatrical technology.
Straw Hat Players at MSU. Internships in acting and technical theatre.
Radcliffe Dance Program and MSU. Extensive dance and choreography training.
PLAYWRIGHT
Freelance (Self-Employed), 1990s - present
I am a working professional playwright and composer specializing in Theatre for Young
Audiences. My plays and musicals for children are produced regularly throughout the United States and have been produced in eight foreign countries. Fourteen of my plays have been published. I also market my own work through two websites, for both of which I serve as webmaster and designer. One of these, YouthPlays.com, is an innovative new approach to online publishing that has been extremely successful. The other, ChildDrama.com, includes a comprehensive K-12 drama curriculum that is now in use in several school systems. I am the author of two e-books on theatre education.
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SCENIC ARTIST/DESIGNER and STAGE DIRECTOR
Freelance, University, Public and Private Schools (K-12), New England Stage Works, Boston, MA, and Immediate Connections, Boston, MA, 1980s-present.
I have been active in set design and construction since high school, progressing from volunteer assistant to lead professional designer. I have served as stage director, music director and/or technical director for numerous productions since college and throughout my private school teaching career, working with students at all levels from lower school through college, and have also directed a number of adult productions. I currently work as a general scenic artist and designer for an independently owned scenic and lighting design firm, creating sets, lighting and sound and providing Audio/Visual support to schools and other organizations throughout eastern Massachusetts.
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PERFORMING ARTS CENTER MANAGER and DRAMA CHAIR
St. Luke’s School, New Canaan, CT, 2005-2007 (Mark Davis, Headmaster)
I managed all operations of a 500 seat, state-of-the-art Performing Arts Center, including budgeting, scheduling, and coordinating with outside performance groups. I was responsible for maintaining the physical plant and for contracting all new installations and repairs. I also administered a large theatrical production department and was responsible for hiring staff, scheduling rehearsals and performances, writing advertising copy, and promoting the program to students and the public internally and externally. In conjunction with the development department, I solicited contributions of time and money from alumni. I was responsible for the academic profile of the program and for maintaining the quality of all aspects of the student theatre experience. I provided stage direction, technical direction and/or mentoring of other staff for all school productions.
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PERFORMING ARTS CHAIR
The Montgomery Academy, Montgomery, AL, 1999 – 2004. (Archie Douglas, Headmaster)
I administered an acclaimed program of music, forensics, and theatre arts coursework and extracurricular performance opportunities. I was responsible for all department budgets, and for maintaining the quality and academic direction of a unified program. I approved all course offerings and designed those in the theatrical area. I was responsible for all aspects of a large program of extracurricular theatre productions, including hiring of staff, budgeting, publicity, interacting with the press and other media, and internal and external promotion of the program. I stage and music directed numerous productions each year. I created and maintained an extensive web presence for the program, documenting past productions, illustrating curricular goals and achievements, and promoting the present program and productions.
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INSTRUCTOR
Johns Hopkins Center for Academic Advancement, 2000-2004 (summers). (Michelle Switala, Site Director)
I taught academically gifted youth in a summer program administered by Johns Hopkins
University. I designed a rigorous and comprehensive curriculum that taught creative and expository writing through the study of the literature and practice of the Theatre. I maintained extremely detailed records of each student’s progress, and provided the program and the students with individual narrative assessments of each student’s success. After my first year, I also served as a mentor for other Drama Instructors.
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DRAMA TEACHER
The Haverford School, Haverford, PA, 1995 – 1999. (Dr. Joseph Healey, Headmaster)
As the school’s first Lower School Drama Teacher, I designed and implemented a comprehensive curriculum of coursework and extracurricular opportunities. I trained other teachers in the use of drama as a teaching tool. As a member of the Technology Support Group, I trained other teachers in the use of emerging media technology in the classroom. I designed sets for many Upper School productions and stage directed others. As a member of the Lower School Curriculum Committee, I studied the impact of various curricular approaches, and made recommendations for strengthening an already strong program.
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RESARCH ASSISTANT / TEACHING ASSISTANT
University of Texas Dept. of Theatre and Dance, 1993 – 1996. (Dr. Coleman Jennings, Professor)
As a teaching assistant, I assisted the professor with undergraduate classes. I lectured, corrected papers and exams, maintained class and grade records, and directed all class productions. When the professor suffered a long illness I took over as lead teacher of the class for some time. As a research assistant, I read and evaluated literally hundreds of playscripts for possible inclusion in a reference work being prepared by the professor. I wrote a detailed analysis of each script, and maintained a database of strengths and weaknesses of scripts across a variety of criteria.
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SET DESIGNER
American Experience Theatre, Haverford, PA, 1995. (Scott Schwartz, Artistic Director)
I designed and supervised the building of the set for a small professional theatre’s production of Once on a Summer’s Day. I was responsible for maintaining the technical production budget and for supervising volunteer and part time staff.
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ARTS CORPS RESIDENT (National Endowment for the Arts Grant)
Free Street Theatre, Chicago, summer, 1994. (Julie Glazer, Administrative Director.)
As part of Arts Corps—a pilot program of the National Endowment for the Arts—I served as project historian, playwright, and assistant director for Free Street Theatre’s Summer Youth Program. With a partner, I directed a group of ten underprivileged teenagers from Chicago’s public housing projects in writing, rehearsing, and touring a theatrical presentation.
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PRODUCING DIRECTOR
Indian Hill Arts Youth Summer Theatre, 1990 – 1993. (Harry Chalmiers, Executive Director)
For four summers, I oversaw all aspects of a large youth summer theatre program hosted by a local arts organization. When I took over the program it served about thirty children and employed a staff of one. After four years I had expanded the program to serve over one hundred young people each summer, moved the productions to a larger and more centrally located venue, and hired a large staff of professionals to bolster the educational and artistic value we provided those students. I was responsible for maintaining budgets, hiring staff, programming productions, and overseeing publicity. Our casts were area students from grade 6 through college.
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