We were lucky to catch up with Matt Zambrano recently and have shared our conversation below.
Matt, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
2020 was shaping up to be my year. In the beginning of February, I had traveled to L.A. to pitch a movie script that the studio decided to go forward with. My theater company had just begun rehearsals at a major Off-Broadway Theater, and in the summer I was headed to Edinburgh to perform a solo show I had created at the prestigious Edinburgh Fringe Festival. All in all, things were looking grand in the horizon. Of course we all know what happened next…
It was a strange feeling being told that what I did was “non-essential”. I never got into theater to make money, but suddenly I really had to ask myself if this thing I did was worth pursuing. My goal was never to be rich, or famous. Simply to do work that I believed in, with people I respect and admire, and to make a living wage doing it. Up to that point, I had been successful in that pursuit. But now I found myself wondering just how much more of myself I was willing to give to this endeavor.
Shortly after the death of George Floyd, a group of concerned BIPOC theater makers and practitioners came together to pen a collective call to action entitled “We See You White American Theater” (WSYWAT). In essence, it called out years of systematic discrimination within the American Theater at large; unfair practices, gate-keeping, performative allyship, exploitation, racism…it was quite the condemnation. But at it’s heart, it’s message was clear: we need to do better. As a Latino actor who presents as somewhat ethnically ambiguous, I had seen and heard many of these things in rehearsal rooms or backstage myself, but never wanted to rock the boat and felt lucky just to have the work. Ours is a business of reputation, and though vast geographically, the American Theater community is actually quite small.
At the same time that WSYWAT was making waves throughout the Theatrical community, I was helping to develop and facilitate online workshops centered around Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Access in my role as Teaching Artist for Disney Theatrical Group (Disney on Broadway). Many of the conversations that occurred in these spaces shared similar themes; the fear of saying the wrong thing, the fear of being “cancelled” for one’s beliefs, the need for belonging and the great desire to just do the work. Listening to my colleagues from all over the country it became clear that if we indeed wanted to make the American Theater a better place, it was going to take hard, vulnerable work. And courage.
I realized that if I was going to continue doing this thing that I loved, I wanted to help make the spaces that I liked to be in. When people feel comfortable, safe and taken care of, they are free to be their authentic selves. As an actor, I could help create those rooms by how I show up and treat others. But I realized I could make much more of a difference as a director. I had directed a lot in New York, mostly sketch and Theater For Young Audiences. But now it was time to take what I learned from WSYWAT, and from my years as a Teaching Artist, and put it into practice at a higher level.
In a macro sense, this became my most meaningful project; to become a leader in the theatrical community by advocating for positive and effective change, while championing those whose voices are seldom represented and using whatever privilege I have to speak truth to power when is given the opportunity.
So far I have made good on that promise, having directed four professional main-stage shows and one regional tour, with several more directing gigs lined up in the coming months. I’ve learned that you can never really create a “safe space”, but what you can do is cultivate a ‘brave space’ where people feel ok making mistakes, receiving correction, and bringing their authentic selves. When that happens, it is like magic. Joy and Empathy flourish, and it feels less like work.
If you want the people of the village to build a boat, do not send them to the forest to gather wood. Do not assign roles and tasks. Rather, teach them to yearn for the sea…
Matt, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I am a Latino actor, writer, director, producer, comedian, voice-over artist, spoken-word artist, physical theater practitioner, teaching artist, intimacy coordinator, Dungeon Master for RPG’s (like D&D), Zoom Santa and mime. That is a lot to fit into one business card, so instead I simply say I am a Theater Artist and Facilitator of experiences. My love for performing came at a young age when I was fortunate enough to find improv. In high school I joined an improv team made up of kids from several different schools, and really discovered my inner clown. Improv has been a lifelong teacher, and to this day everytime I do it I learn something about myself, or the world around me.
In 2004 I graduated with a BFA in Theater performance from C.U. Boulder, and had planned to move to Chicago to pursue a career in stand-up comedy. But seeing as I had no money, I decided to stay in my hometown of Denver for a year while I saved up. During that year, I found myself doing what my friends on the coasts wanted to be doing; I was getting paid to write and perform in a show for all ages at an awesome theater, I had a job at the Museum of Nature and Science where I got to dress up like an astronaut and walk around the surface of mars in an interactive exhibit, and I was touring the Southwest competing in Slam Poetry competitions as a member of the Denver Slam Team. Net thing I knew, five years had gone by and I was still in Denver. I realized that if I didn’t leave at that point, I never would. So I decided to audition for the prestigious National Theater Conservatory, a three-year MFA Acting program based in Denver that because of it’s free tuition status, made it a highly sought after program. I auditioned and got in, and spent the next three years becoming a smarter and better actor. After that, I moved to New York City where I would find out just what I kind of artist I was meant to be.
I have always had a love for teaching, and so working as a Teaching Artist allowed me to make some income while I pursued acting and directing. I worked with several incredible organizations, and learned from some of the top Teaching Artists in the field. My practice therefore, is rooted in education and entertainment, and ideally lives somewhere right in the middle.
Currently I am directing a show for a local community college, rehearsing a Theater for Young Audiences play at the largest Regional Theater in the Rockies, producing and performing in an improvised 1940’s radio show, and writing and performing in a podcast called “The Story Pirates”, which was just voted by Edison research as the #1 podcast for kids under 12.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
I believe that creating and fostering empathy is one of the most noble pursuits and artist can undertake. Especially at a time like this where everything feels so divisive, so polarized…if I can help someone see the world through another person’s eyes, or make them think. differently about themselves, the world, or their place in it, then I consider that a success.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
It begins with providing funds and resources for new and emerging artists (and in particular artists from marginalized communities) to make new work without the fear of going into bankruptcy or failure. Theater is in itself an “Experience Good”- you cannot qualify it’s worth until you are actually experiencing it. This makes it difficult, especially in these economic times, to take risks. For theaters to risk space and budget on works that are unproven, for audiences to risk spending their money on a show they may not enjoy, and for artists to risk time and talent and resources on a project that may not have an commercial success.
This is why it is crucial that we cultivate both the next generation of theater goers, and the next generation of theater producers and sponsors. We need to make sure that actors, designers, directors, crew and all others involved are making a living wage, and that we are engaging our local communities in doing work that directly speaks to their experiences, difficulties and dreams.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.MattZambrano.com
- Instagram: @Kiddenver
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/matt.zambrano
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/Revmattz
