Today we’d like to introduce you to Matt Wallace.
Matt, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Originally from St. Louis, I grew up in Bowling Green, Kentucky – the GM corvette plant brought a lot of us St. Louisans there in the 1980s – my Dad worked on the assembly line. At around 8 years old, I discovered theatre and the arts – began directing my siblings and neighborhood friends in movies and plays, putting on puppet shows, and was truly happy when creating and storytelling. I participated in community and school theatre throughout my youth, and later got an agent and worked in commercials and film. After graduating from Webster University Conservatory of Theatre Arts in St. Louisville studying acting, I spent five years in Chicago as an actor and director.
In 2001, I was cast in A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM and LOVE’S LABOUR’S LOST back in Kentucky at Kentucky Shakespeare Festival in Central Park. That summer, I fell in love with Louisville, Shakespeare, and my future wife Tina Jo – who were playing opposite each other. We decided to stick around and stay, as long as we were still able to get work here. 21 years later, we have a home here, two beautiful teenagers, and careers in theatre. I spent 10 years working as an actor and director with Kentucky Shakespeare and after a three-year hiatus from the company to pursue other work, I returned in 2013 for my dream job – Producing Artistic Director of Kentucky Shakespeare, getting the opportunity to lead this amazing organization. I just started my tenth season in this position. It’s my home.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
When I was offered this position in 2013, Kentucky Shakespeare was going through a tough time – a couple of leaders there for short periods, much financial debt, little public programming offered, and disenchanted public and staff. .
The organization had lost its way. It was an extremely challenging time for this organization, coming back from such a historic low took its toll on me and so many working to restore and build.
But by getting back to the core of our mission, engaging the community, and artists, rebuilding damaged relationships, and a homecoming of sorts, we have been able to build the company back and achieve greater heights than ever before. Thanks to the amazing board members, artists, staff, audience, and community members, over the past decade, we have experienced historic growth – we are thriving and have experienced a renaissance – serving record numbers through Shakespeare in Central Park, education and outreach tours, and many community programs. “O brave new world, That has such people in’t!” – The Tempest , William Shakespeare.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
BIO and Information on Kentucky Shakespeare.
Since 2013 Matt Wallace has served as Producing Artistic Director of Kentucky Shakespeare, where he has directed productions including Enter Ghost. an immersive haunted Hamlet experience, Shakespeare’s R&J, Twelfth Night, The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Turn of the Screw, Shakespeare in Love, Celebrate 60: the Kentucky Shakespeare Festival Anniversary Production, Shakespeare in the Parking Lot: Macbeth, As You Like It, King Lear, The Comedy of Errors, Othello, Titus Andronicus, Much Ado About Nothing, Julius Caesar, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, The Tempest, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hamlet, and Richard III. Favorite acting credits with the company since 2001 include the Player and Guildenstern in productions of Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing, Orlando in As You Like It, and Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Since 2008, Matt has been Director of Shakespeare Behind Bars Kentucky Programs and Director/Facilitator of Shakespeare Behind Bars at Luther Luckett Correctional Complex, where he has directed productions/seasons of Macbeth, The Winter’s Tale, The Merchant of Venice, Romeo and Juliet, Richard III, Much Ado About Nothing, Pericles, Twelfth Night, Julius Caesar, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and King Lear. He served as Program Director and Facilitator of the SBB Multidisciplinary Juvenile Arts Program at the Audubon Youth Development Center for several years and created and facilitated the Journeymen Programs for 18-21 year-olds at Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex and Luther Luckett Correctional Complex, a partnership with the Kentucky Department of Education and Arts for All Kentucky.
Previously, he served as an Artistic Associate with Kentucky Shakespeare from 2001-2010, was an actor and Director of Children’s Theatre at Derby Dinner Playhouse, and directed and performed at Chicago theaters and across the Midwest. Film and TV credits include roles in The Perfect Gift, 1 Message, Pieces of Easter, and Forrest Gump.
Matt was in the inaugural class of Alden Fellows at the Community Foundation of Louisville and is the recipient of the Kentucky Governor’s School for the Arts Marlene M. Helm Alumni Award, Fund for the Arts Allan Cowen Innovation Award, Broadway World and Arts-Louisville Awards for Best Director, and the Kentucky Council on Crime and Delinquency Volunteer of the Year Award for Outstanding Service and Commitment to the Kentucky Criminal Justice System.
He earned a BFA in Regional Theatre/Acting from the Webster University Conservatory of Theatre Arts in St. Louis.
KENTUCKY SHAKESPEARE.
Mission: Grounded in the works of Shakespeare, we enrich communities through accessible, inclusive, professional theatre experiences that educate, inspire, and entertain diverse audiences.
Vision: To use Shakespeare’s truths and the power of the arts to transform lives. Shakespeare belongs to everyone.
Kentucky Shakespeare serves communities through the Kentucky Shakespeare Festival in Central Park, education programs for schools, public performances, and community outreach programs. Entering its 63rd season, the Kentucky Shakespeare Festival in Central Park is the longest-running free, non-ticketed Shakespeare festival in the United States. As the most comprehensive in-school arts education provider in the Commonwealth, Kentucky Shakespeare serves schools throughout the region with interactive educational programming directly tied to academic standards, helping impact student achievement. Our many community programs explore conflict resolution, empathy building, and communication, in a range of settings from preschools to senior centers.
PERFORMANCES: Kentucky Shakespeare Festival in Central Park, Shakespeare in the Parks tour, Shakespeare in the Libraries tour, Indoor productions during the year
EDUCATION PERFORMANCE AND WORKSHOP TOUR 22-23: Two-Actor Twelfth Night, Shakespeare Alive!, Hamlet Spring Tour, Voice of Social Change: Ira Aldridge, Living History: We the People, Living History: Kentucky History, Bard Buddies, Fairy Tales from Around the World, Hip-Hop Shakespeare, Conflict Resolution and Anti-Bullying, Acting Fundamentals, Stage Combat, Staging Shakespeare, Renaissance Dance, Discovering Shakespeare, Mathematics of Shakespearean Design, and Voices of Young Women
CAMPS AND CLASSES: Camp Shakespeare, Shakespeare Off the Page, Stage Combat, Improv
COMMUNITY PROGRAMS: Shakespeare with Veterans, Juvenile Justice Arts Program, Shakespeare with Immigrants and Refugees, Survivorship Shakespeare, Community Residencies
Kentucky Shakespeare has been recognized by the Folger Library and the Kentucky Humanities Council for exemplary programming is a multi-year recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Shakespeare in American Communities program and is a past recipient of the Kentucky Governor’s Award in the Arts. Kentucky Shakespeare has been awarded multiple LEO Weekly Reader’s Choice Awards, Broadway World Louisville Regional Awards, the 2015 Center for Nonprofit Excellence’s Art of Vision Pyramid Award, the 2017 Louisville Awards in the Arts Bobby Petrino Family Foundation Arts Impact Award, and the 2019 Arts for All Kentucky Community Partner Award for arts inclusion work with people with disabilities.
What matters most to you? Why?
Making the arts accessible and inclusive. That’s what drew me to Kentucky Shakespeare, including my work with Shakespeare Behind Bars. The arts (and Shakespeare) belong to everyone.
Working as an actor on the Kentucky Shakespeare stage in Central Park, I was deeply moved to experience the diverse audiences of all ages and the important role this free festival made in their lives. The family traditions… the lifeline it provides to people all summer long… I believe everyone is entitled to professional arts experience – regardless of their socioeconomic status, race, geographical location, etc. At Kentucky Shakespeare, we work to remove all these barriers.
And as we have built Kentucky Shakespeare – the programs beyond the summer season – education and outreach tours from urban areas to rural Appalachia through hundreds of hours of programming each year, our Shakespeare with Veterans program, juvenile justice program with incarcerated youth, immigrant and refugees program, Survivorship Shakespeare with those impacted with cancer, indoor productions during the year, and many community residencies – continue to grow and further our mission of enriching communities through accessible, inclusive, professional theatre experiences that educate, inspire and entertain diverse audiences.
Pricing:
- Kentucky Shakespeare Festival in Central Park – 11 weeks over the summer – FREE
- Two indoor ticketed productions during the year – next up PRIDE AND PREJUDICE at the Kentucky Center January 4-8, 2023 – $27/ticket
- Free Shakespeare in the Parks annual tour – serving 35+ parks in the region
- Community outreach programs = no cost to participants
- School Education Outreach Tour – cost varies – $250-$1000 for workshops and performances
Contact Info:
- Website: kyshakespeare.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/kyshakespeare
- Facebook: facebook.com/kentuckyshakespeare
- Twitter: twitter.com/kyshakespeare
- Youtube: youtube.com/kentuckyshakespeare
