Guest Artist: Matt Bogart

Matt Bogart grew up on a farm north of Dayton, Ohio and is the oldest of four boys. Growing up in Ohio, Matt enjoyed competitive sports including baseball, soccer, football, long distance running, track and field and basketball. In high school he was recognized by the state as an outstanding soccer player, running back and field goal kicker as well as participating in many Ohio state track event finals and finishing second in the 300 meter hurdles. Matt began singing as a freshman in high school while involved with the glee club, show choir and singing baritone in the men's quartet. He was on double duty playing leads in the school plays and musicals while captaining the football team. He continued burning the candle at both ends into his first year of college at Baldwin-Wallace College in Cleveland, Ohio. His major was musical theatre in the conservatory while also playing on the Baldwin-Wallace division III football team as a wide receiver. College football politics soured his desire to continue an athletic career and he decided to transfer to the University of Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) to continue his training in musical theatre. He followed a list of great alumni such as Pam Meyers, Faith Prince, Jason Graae, Jim Walton and performed in such shows as Carousel, Two Gentlemen of Verona and West Side Story. At graduation in 1994, his senior class had the opportunity to perform a showcase in New York City for agents, casting directors and other industry personnel. Since this showcase, Matt humbly admits his good fortune as a working actor in the theatre.

Matt has recently joined the company of his fourth Broadway show since 1996. On June 21st, 2000 Matt became an additional member of the award winning Broadway company of Aida as standby for the role of Radames, the leading man opposite 2000 Tony Award winner Heather Headley, who performs the title role. Prior to this he enjoyed a run of the cult favorite musical, Side Show in the role of Terry Connor at Signature Theatre in Washington, D.C. under the direction of Joe Calarco (R&J;).

On January 16, 2000 Matt finalized the run of Broadway's longest running review, Smokey Joe's Cafe, performing famous Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller songs such as "Jailhouse Rock," "Ruby Baby," "Teach Me How to Shimmy," "There Goes My Baby," "Love Potion #9" and "Stand By Me." "I was honored to be performing the show with seven of the nine original cast members for whom the show was constructed. Smokey Joe's was a very different type of show from the dramatic baritone roles I have played in past years. I had to dance, freestyle. That was scary for me let alone the audience." Another perk to finishing the run of Smokey Joe's Cafe is to go down in history on video as the White Guy due to the Broadway Television Network's taping of the final five performances. Pay-Per-View is scheduled to offer a broadcast of the taping in September, 2000 and thereafter will be on sale in stores on home video

A common thread between Smokey Joe's Cafe and Matt's previous Broadway show, The Civil War, is director Jerry Zaks. The Civil War offered Matt the opportunity to originate his first Broadway role named Sam Taylor. Thrilled to be part of the Frank Wildhorn dynasty and Mr. Wildhorn's third show to play Broadway simultaneously, Matt was handed the song, "Tell My Father." Throughout The Civil War's workshop process, "Tell My Father" went through six different incarnations of lyrics, concept and blocking.

Miss Saigon was Matt's first Broadway show where he portrayed the role of Chris, an American GI in the Vietnam war who falls in love with a Vietnamese bargirl. Matt previously originated this role on the Second National Touring Company after graduating from Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music and shortly thereafter was transferred to the Broadway Company in 1996. He is still being used as the poster boy for the show's advertising from the billboards in Times Square to the buses and taxi cabs throughout several cities worldwide.

Matt's projects include the recording of a solo musical theatre album which became available last fall, containing edgy, young leading man songs from shows he has performed, old musical theatre repertoire and rarely performed songs set to exciting and intriguing musical treatments. He intends to book concerts to perform this material at the onset of the album release. Matt is also writing his own pop/rock music, poetry and prose as well as working on a spoken word project based on his experience performing the role of Chris in Miss Saigon. Hopefully these will be available to us sooner than later.

And, yes, Matt was one of the Broadway performers highlighted on the Jockey Underwear Billboard in Times Square bearing all...most everything.

For more information, visit mattbogart.com