WHO AM I?
I’m Matthew Carlson. Or just Matt. Or just Carlson.
I’m an actor, a playwright, a composer, an artist.
I grew up in rural Michigan.
I now live in New York City, in the northern reaches of Manhattan.
Artists I admire: Chuck Close and Robert Rauschenberg. Sarah Ruhl, Chuck Mee, and August Wilson. Sufjan Stevens, Wilco, and Radiohead. Hemingway.
I like to cook. Recent exploit: Pesto Orecchiette with Chicken.
I like to run. I held the record for the 1600 at my middle school for about 10 years. Maybe I’ll run a marathon. Maybe not.
I’ve worked extensively as a theater actor, both regionally and in New York. I am often out of town and far from home, and something of a rambling man.
I’ve written plays: These Northern Stars, Inside the Hand, and home, sweet.
I’ve composed music for plays by Mac Wellman, Jordan Harrison, and well… me.
I travel with my French press (and grinder). Good coffee is very, very important.
I have an expensive education, with loans I’ll be paying back for the next oh 25 years. BS: Northwestern, MFA: NYU Grad Acting.
I also record and edit audiobooks of college textbooks and do freelance transcription, which helps pay those aforementioned bills.
I wrote a song cycle called We Outran the Sun, which evolved into multimedia piece for the theater. This blog began as documentation of that process. Now it follows me as I continue running, wearing a pair of vagabond shoes.
