(PRESS)
"Matt Jennings’ Van Helsing is a nice touch, as he brings a youthful crispness to a character often depicted as a bitter, old man."
JULIET BENNETT RYLAH No Proscenium
"Matt Jennings’ Van Helsing is a nice touch, as he brings a youthful crispness to a character often depicted as a bitter, old man."
JULIET BENNETT RYLAH No Proscenium
(PRESS)
"Matt Jennings as Jacob brings a fierceness and wonderfully effortless sense of timing to every scene he inhabits."
MARK ROSIER Fullerton Observer
"Matt Jennings as Jacob brings a fierceness and wonderfully effortless sense of timing to every scene he inhabits."
MARK ROSIER Fullerton Observer
(PRESS)
"Jennings is easy to like and his narrative is affecting and very real: a modern voyage that many have taken. It is frank and personal but also more than a bit fun and funny. You are glad to know how he got where he is, glad to make friends with Matt Jennings....Keep your eyes open for The Universe of Matt Jennings. We will, too."
JOHN FARRELL Curtain Call
(PRESS)
"Matt Jennings — a proud geek with a shameless gym rat’s physique — succeeds in this one-hour mission to boldly go back and forth between his enduring love for all things “Star Trek” and his younger self’s struggle to claim a place in the strange new worlds of black identity, gay sexuality, and Christian faith... Performed with an appealing hybrid of sugar rush enthusiasm, quizzical wonderment and sober self-awareness, Jennings alternates between breaking the fourth wall to tell coming-of-age anecdotes and injecting himself, insecurities and all, into classic Trek scenarios (highlighted by dead-on impressions, the best of which is 1960s-era Mr. Sulu, played by then-closeted George Takei)."
SCOTT STIFFLER Chelsea Now
(PRESS)
"This isn’t just some fun little Star Trek homage. It isn’t just another play about discovering and revealing one’s sexual orientation. It isn’t one of those dreadful autobiographical one person plays by an aspiring actor who merely has a few funny stories about wanting to be an actor as a kid. This is an important play about self-discovery, masterfully done. It is a play for everyone who doesn’t quite fit in, which I suspect applies to almost all of us, in one way or another... This is what the Fringe should be. This is what theatre should be. Enjoyable and thought provoking."
ALDON HYNES Orient Lodge
MUCH THANKS TO "GAY CITY NEWS" & "NEXT MAGAZINE" FOR A SHOUT TO TO "THE UNIVERSE OF MATT JENNINGS" !!!!
GAY CITY NEWS - - - "WHERE ELSE ARE YOU GOING TO SEE A SHOW ABOUT A YOUNG, GAY BLACK MALE PROCLAIMING HIS LOVE OF ‘STAR TREK ?’"
HTTP://GAYCITYNEWS.NYC/REALITY-THEATER-CRAZY-QUILT-FRINGENYC-DARKER-BOLDER-EVER/
NEXT MAGAZINE- - - - QUEERING THE FRINGE
HTTP://WWW.NEXTMAGAZINE.COM/CONTENT/QUEERING-FRINGE
[BIOGRAPHY]
Matt Jennings got the "acting bug" in elementary school. He realized there was more to life than making classmates laugh by speaking in english accents and singing jingles from popular 70's and 80's sitcoms so he started pursuing theater arts. Throughout his high school years he took acting workshops at HB Studios every summer in New York. In addition to workshops Matt was cast in almost every high school production including his schools spring musical "The King and I" where he played "The King."
Matt continued to study the craft of acting at Cal State Long Beach making Theater Arts his focus for 4 years. In that time he took courses in movement, advanced scene study, script analysis, directing and many other subjects to help develop his skills. However the most important skill Matt obtained was finding the "love" in his work as an actor.
Matt graduated from Cal State Long Beach with a BA in Theater Arts in 2010, and continues to practice his craft on stage and in front of the camera. His one man show, "The Universe of Matt Jennings" (which he wrote and co-produced) made its west coast premiere at the Long Beach Playhouse in 2012. Three years later the show made its east coast premier in The New York Fringe Festival in 2015. He wrote, directed and starred in a short film ("The Collective") with an independent production company he co-founded ". He is currently part of a touring production called "Port Chicago 50" which tells the story of black soldiers in the Port Chicago disaster of 1944. He was also a west coast finalist in a monologue competition for for ABFF (American Black Film Festival) Star Project for 2017 (sponsored by NBC).
Matt sees acting as an opportunity to enlighten, dry tears and turn frowns upside down. He believes in the power of acting to encourage people to contemplate the strange and beautiful.
"Jennings is easy to like and his narrative is affecting and very real: a modern voyage that many have taken. It is frank and personal but also more than a bit fun and funny. You are glad to know how he got where he is, glad to make friends with Matt Jennings....Keep your eyes open for The Universe of Matt Jennings. We will, too."
JOHN FARRELL Curtain Call
(PRESS)
"Matt Jennings — a proud geek with a shameless gym rat’s physique — succeeds in this one-hour mission to boldly go back and forth between his enduring love for all things “Star Trek” and his younger self’s struggle to claim a place in the strange new worlds of black identity, gay sexuality, and Christian faith... Performed with an appealing hybrid of sugar rush enthusiasm, quizzical wonderment and sober self-awareness, Jennings alternates between breaking the fourth wall to tell coming-of-age anecdotes and injecting himself, insecurities and all, into classic Trek scenarios (highlighted by dead-on impressions, the best of which is 1960s-era Mr. Sulu, played by then-closeted George Takei)."
SCOTT STIFFLER Chelsea Now
(PRESS)
"This isn’t just some fun little Star Trek homage. It isn’t just another play about discovering and revealing one’s sexual orientation. It isn’t one of those dreadful autobiographical one person plays by an aspiring actor who merely has a few funny stories about wanting to be an actor as a kid. This is an important play about self-discovery, masterfully done. It is a play for everyone who doesn’t quite fit in, which I suspect applies to almost all of us, in one way or another... This is what the Fringe should be. This is what theatre should be. Enjoyable and thought provoking."
ALDON HYNES Orient Lodge
MUCH THANKS TO "GAY CITY NEWS" & "NEXT MAGAZINE" FOR A SHOUT TO TO "THE UNIVERSE OF MATT JENNINGS" !!!!
GAY CITY NEWS - - - "WHERE ELSE ARE YOU GOING TO SEE A SHOW ABOUT A YOUNG, GAY BLACK MALE PROCLAIMING HIS LOVE OF ‘STAR TREK ?’"
HTTP://GAYCITYNEWS.NYC/REALITY-THEATER-CRAZY-QUILT-FRINGENYC-DARKER-BOLDER-EVER/
NEXT MAGAZINE- - - - QUEERING THE FRINGE
HTTP://WWW.NEXTMAGAZINE.COM/CONTENT/QUEERING-FRINGE
[BIOGRAPHY]
Matt Jennings got the "acting bug" in elementary school. He realized there was more to life than making classmates laugh by speaking in english accents and singing jingles from popular 70's and 80's sitcoms so he started pursuing theater arts. Throughout his high school years he took acting workshops at HB Studios every summer in New York. In addition to workshops Matt was cast in almost every high school production including his schools spring musical "The King and I" where he played "The King."
Matt continued to study the craft of acting at Cal State Long Beach making Theater Arts his focus for 4 years. In that time he took courses in movement, advanced scene study, script analysis, directing and many other subjects to help develop his skills. However the most important skill Matt obtained was finding the "love" in his work as an actor.
Matt graduated from Cal State Long Beach with a BA in Theater Arts in 2010, and continues to practice his craft on stage and in front of the camera. His one man show, "The Universe of Matt Jennings" (which he wrote and co-produced) made its west coast premiere at the Long Beach Playhouse in 2012. Three years later the show made its east coast premier in The New York Fringe Festival in 2015. He wrote, directed and starred in a short film ("The Collective") with an independent production company he co-founded ". He is currently part of a touring production called "Port Chicago 50" which tells the story of black soldiers in the Port Chicago disaster of 1944. He was also a west coast finalist in a monologue competition for for ABFF (American Black Film Festival) Star Project for 2017 (sponsored by NBC).
Matt sees acting as an opportunity to enlighten, dry tears and turn frowns upside down. He believes in the power of acting to encourage people to contemplate the strange and beautiful.