About Matt

A Theatre Career summary

Matt Byrne has been a performer, writer, director, publicist, producer, designer, entrepreneur and theatre critic for the past 25 years. He has written three musicals - Stardust, Prime Time and Stop The Press, in collaboration with Andrew Pole.

He has also written three theatre restaurant shows for the Hotel Enfield - Rock’N’Roll Reunion, Good Vibrations and On The Prowl. Matt’s favorite musical roles include Action in West Side Story, Groucho Marx in Lady Be Good and The Cocoanuts, Orin the Dentist in Little Shop of Horrors, and Pseudolous in A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum.

His dramatic credits include Billy Bibbit in One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, John Honeyman in A Walk In The Woods, Grainger Cooley in Don’s Party, Constable Ross in The Removalists and Rick Steadman in The Nerd.

His directing credits include Woody Allen’s God, Guys And Dolls, Same Time Next Year, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Shedley, Who’s On First, No Names No Pack Drill, Travelling North and Something’s Afoot.

For MBM he has directed And The Big Men Fly, Grease, Don’s Party, Little Shop of Horrors, Godspell, the award-winning Evita, High Society, The One Day Of The Year, Hair, The Cocoanuts, Return To The Forbidden Planet, Bouncers, Shakers, Company, the SA premiere of A Few Good Men, Barnum, the Australian premiere of Lucky Stiff, Harvey starring Peter Goers, the Australian premiere of Victor/Victoria, magical production of Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods in July 2002.

Matt took both Bouncers and Shakers to the Adelaide Fringe and the Melbourne International Comedy Festivals. His publicity credits include the 1994 Adelaide Festival, State Theatre, Walt Disney’s World On Ice, Simon Gallaher’s The Mikado and HMS Pinafore and A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, the Guangdong Chinese Acrobats, Come Out ‘95, the Barossa International Music Festival, Womad ‘96 at Pimba, the Bartercard Glenelg Jazz Festival, the Superstars of Wrestling I, and Todd McKenney In Cabaret, and last year promoted Petula Clark, the KISS Farewell Concert and Elvis To The Max, and he directed Odyssey Of The Spirit, starring Kamahl, for the Centenary of Federation at Her Majesty’s Theatre.

In 2002 has promoted Pirates of Penzance for Simon Gallaher and was publicist for The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe at the Festival Theatre in March. He is publicising the return of Glynn Nocholas’ Certified Male, Tahir Bilgic’s Lord Of the Kebabs and The Pearson Harvey Show.

Matt’s smash hit four-man football comedy Barrackers continues to perform at footy clubs across Australia. He will also present the SA premiere of the exciting TV musical My Favourite Year this October/November and will be writing his 2004 Fringe show, very shortly!