Daniel Taylor and Miles Heymann in "What's Wrong with Angry?"

On a late Saturday afternoon, the wooden doors into the Celebration Theatre swing open, and the intense smell of fresh paint wafts throughout the contained playing area. Tall, youthful director Michael Matthews makes his way to an audience chair and plops down. A long day for Matthews will become even longer with an invited dress rehearsal for What’s Wrong With Angry?, which begins in fewer than four hours.

Yet calm washes over a genial Matthews, who stretches out his paint-splotched legs and exudes sincere Southern warmth and charm. He is in his element. The former artistic director of the Celebration has recent double wins for direction at the NAACP Awards ceremony, and he will soon learn that he has been nominated for an Ovation Award for his recent staging of Take Me Out at the Celebration. But Matthews prefers to celebrate what others have done with him – to enable his good fortune and creative endeavors. Celebrations can be short-lived, and Matthews firmly believes he has much more to accomplish.

From The Ashes

Michael Matthews

“That which does not kill us makes us stronger.” Matthews seemingly embodies Friedrich Nietzsche’s quote as he describes his childhood. Born and raised in Darlington, South Carolina until 10 years of age, Matthews survived a “living hell” at a Chattanooga, Tennessee, Christian preparatory school through the 10th grade.

Although Matthews knew he was different from other children by the third or fourth grade, “knowing” he was gay didn’t make it any easier. “I fought it and fought it and fought it and fought it…all the way through junior high, all the way through high school.” Church was no help. “We would go to worship on Wednesday nights, Sunday mornings, Sunday nights. At a young age, I remember praying to take this feeling away. I didn’t know what to do with it and it didn’t go away.” An excruciating internalized hurt was further exacerbated by constant physical and verbal abuse from bullies. “I was repeatedly called every name in the book and had more than my fair share of bloody noses, day in and day out. It was relentless.” Matthews eventually struck back. “Those who were hurting me and terrifying me, I would try to give back as much as I could…It was an awful, awful, awful time.”

But Matthews found a saving diversion “in this mess of a time” and one that would eventually give him direction. During his junior and senior years, he attended an inner city performing arts high school. He found a new love — theater — and worked as an actor at local venues whenever possible. Enthusiasm to grow creatively led him to attend Columbia College Chicago, a private arts and media college. He found a creative and collaborative environment. with accomplished faculty having extensive professional expertise and networks. All this helped Matthews realize his potential as a director.

Daniel Taylor and Miles Heymann

His face brightens upon reflection. “School (at Columbia College Chicago) was one of the best experiences of my life. I didn’t want to leave. I lapped it up.” For example, “My very first directing class, we were given 50 dollars. We had to do a one-act play, stripping everything down, making it about the work. It was an amazing time, and I was able to do some fantastic projects. And it was how I learned to communicate with my actors and learned to collaborate with my designers.”

Upon earning a B.A. in directing, Matthews hit the ground running in the Windy City. Success and recognition followed him – at Journeymen Theater, Trap Door Theatre, Serendipity Theatre Collective, Victory Gardens Theater, Circle Theatre. Yet a feeling of discouragement began to arise as he tried to break through what he calls a glass ceiling. “I felt like I couldn’t move to the next level – to LORT theaters. It’s an old boy’s network and they kept using their own people.”

Fate took over. Almost simultaneously, life, desire and plans collided. Matthews was presented with a prime opportunity to attend graduate school at Northwestern; however, a seemingly sure thing fell apart during the application process. When Matthews’ significant other needed to move to Los Angeles for business reasons, he states, “It was the perfect storm and I knew it was time for a change.” Off to LA he went.

Hello, LA

"The Bacchae"; photo by David Elzer

It’s August 2004. At age 28 and having no sense of the LA theater scene, Matthews decided to see what the lay of the land was. “I thought theaters only existed on Santa Monica Boulevard, so I walked down the street. I’m looking at these banners on poles and I’m thinking, ‘Oh, boy, this is interesting.’ I kept walking and ended up at the Celebration Theatre.”

Matthews immediately realized some of the shows he had done in Chicago had their premieres at the Celebration. “I knocked on the door and someone was here. It was crazy…. I love history, seeing places talked about. Just walking into the space, just knowing some of the shows, knowing some of the playwrights I’ve loved and adored who had their works here… it was one of those experiences where I wanted to work in this space, especially where the mission is incredibly important.”

According to the mission statement, “Celebration Theatre is a community of artists dedicated to presenting innovative, provocative and relevant work that examines the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer experience. We endeavor to challenge society’s perception of this community and give a vibrant voice to its evolving identity.”

Vision became reality. Matthews discovered the Celebration was seeking an artistic director, and he applied for the open position. After several weeks of interviews, he was hired in February 2005 and began a new journey – a graduate school of a different nature.

Graduate School – Celebration Style

To describe his tenure at the Celebration from February 2005 to August 2008, Matthews quotes from Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities – “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” When he began work, “It was me, a set of keys and the space. There was no company, no season, no subscribers.” The theater produced shows but not in seasons, which precluded the possibility of subscribers.

Scene from "Take Me Out"; Photo by Michael Calas

“Coming from Chicago I was used to every theater having a company and a season. So I formed a company not just of actors but people who were passionate about telling great stories and telling them really well. We formed a season of four shows, one of which was a musical called Play it Cool which I championed (and which was Ovation-nominated for world premiere musical). And it just [recently] opened Off-Broadway, which I’m excited about.”

Matthews was nominated for a 2007 Ovation Award for direction — and not just for one play at the Celebration in the directing category but two – The Bacchae and Beautiful Thing. Both plays were also nominated for Best Play Production (Intimate Theater).

While reinvigorating the Celebration, Matthews’ energy as artistic director waned after three years. “There came a point when I found myself in the building from nine in the morning to midnight, six days a week… easily. You’re doing all these shows, opening one and auditioning another, in rehearsals for the next one, balancing out the space…. I was trying to get an engine going, to get the wheels spinning, to make all of the inside work. I couldn’t get out to promote the theater. It came to a point where I couldn’t stay inside anymore.”

Focused On Directing

Michael A. Shepperd took over the reins as artistic director in September 2008 but Shepperd made certain to keep Matthews as the Celebration’s resident director. Shepperd emphasized the importance of Matthews’ impact on the theater as well as on himself. “He was the sole reason I was gifted with the Celebration Theatre for three years, and because of his initial vision, I was able to bring the Celebration as far as I did.” Shepperd added about Matthews, “He is one of those true artists who have increasingly become a dying breed. He cares about people and especially the craft.”

The Company of "Women of Brewster Place, The Musical"

Matthews responds likewise about Shepperd and personally thanks him for the gift of The Women of Brewster Place, the Musical which Matthews directed in the spring of 2010. “Michael Shepperd was given the musical by Tim Acito (book, music, lyrics) and Shep asked me to direct the show. It was my first musical. I was in love with Gloria Naylor and her books when I was a kid. Tim wanted to revamp the script (produced before at Arena and the Alliance) so we worked on it together. Being able to bring that to life, to work with Ameenah Kaplan, the choreographer, and the designers…. There was nothing better. It was so much fun.”

In the past year, Matthews has enjoyed an impressive ride as a director. In addition to his just-announced  Ovation nomination for Take Me Out (click here for more on Matthews and Take Me Out) and his two NAACP honors for Take Me Out and The Women of Brewster Place, the latter received last year’s Ovation Award for best production of a musical (intimate theater) along with a best director nomination for Matthews. His staging of Haram! Iran! was nominated by GLAAD for best production of a play. And The Bacchae performed at the Edinburgh Theatre Festival.

Now and Upcoming

At the ripe age of 35, Matthews is ready to take it to the next level. Celebration’s first production in its 29^th season, Patrick Wilde’s What’s Wrong With Angry?, opened September 9 and is Ovation-recommended. Matthews first directed it in a return visit to Chicago in 2005, at the Circle Theatre. Asked what drew him to it again, he says that media accounts of bullied and sometimes suicidal teenagers “had an emotional impact on me and took a long time to process. I wanted to do something. What can you do? People were making videos which was amazing. We’re a theater. What can we do? We can do a play.

Daniel Taylor and Kelly Schumann "What's Wrong with Angry?"

“WWWA takes place in 1993. There’s this 16-year-old boy, Stephen, who loves life and is full of joy; knows who he is and is constantly beaten. At a point in the play, a teacher, Simon, wipes blood off Stephen’s face and says, ‘It gets better.’ Just the fact he said that, and with the ‘It Gets Better’ Campaign, it stirred something up in me and I wanted to do the show. I want it to be a way for me and the theater to give back to the community in light of the recent attacks and in light of the things going on in this world. This is our video; this is our way of saying, ‘It does get better’.”

While the bullying story-line certainly strikes a familiar chord with Matthews, another significant part also personally connects with him – when you’re told your love isn’t acceptable. For 13 years, he has been with his partner and proudly states they are now married. And Matthews firmly believes the play’s message is as relevant now as it was in the early 1990s. “It’s a story that has to be told.”

In March 2012, Matthews will embrace another musical at the Celebration, The Color Purple. “It fits the mission of the Celebration, it’s never been done in a theater with less than 1,000 seats, it’s a fantastic challenge and raises the game to a whole other level.”

What’s Wrong With Angry? presented by the Celebration Theatre. Performances Thurs.-Sat. 8 pm; Sun. 3 pm. Tickets: $30. Celebration Theatre, 7051B Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood. 323-957-1884. www.celebrationtheatre.com.

***All What’s Wrong With Angry production photos by Miguel Montalvo