New Theatre Faculty Matt Elliott

Matt Elliot joined the SAU theatre staff at the beginning of this school year. He is the Assistant Technical Coordinator for the Galvin Fine Arts Center.

Matt attended the University of Central Missouri and graduated with a BFA in technical theatre. He has been working professionally in the theatre for 15 years. Earlier this year he designed the set for our children's show, Toy Camp, and the projections for The Laramie Project.

Matt found this job through a good friend, Jeff Peltz. Peltz was the lighting designer for last year's musical, Chicago. Peltz told Matt that this position was opening and that he should apply. We sure are glad he did!

When I asked him what he likes so far about working here he said, "Everything. Part of the reason I like it so much is that every day it's something different. I'm kind of a traveling gypsy per-say, so I enjoy different things. If it was the same thing every day I'd go crazy."

Kris Eitrheim, also known as Red Beard because of his beard which has now turned white, is the designer/technical director of all SAU theatre productions, so I thought it would be fun to know if Matt had any great memories working with Red Beard so far. Matt laughed and said, "As an outsider coming in and being at ACTF for 5 years," (ACTF is the American College Theatre Festival that Ambrose and hundreds of other colleges attend every January), "I never fully understood who was Red Beard because none of the people ever had a red beard!" Elliott said. "I mean I could understand Kris, you know, 'the wonderful gray beard' but I think finding out who Red Beard finally was, was a great memory."

We are so lucky to have Matt on our staff. His contributions this year have been irreplaceable. He's done everything from designing sets, to hanging lights late at night, to creating projections for choir concerts. He does everything to make sure every single event that passes through the Allaert Stage looks great, sounds wonderful and runs smooth. We are so grateful and couldn't thank him enough for all he has done this year. We also really hope to keep working with him for years to come!