Any young man coming of age has a lot to go through. Peter Parker certainly has a lot of responsibility, and without doubt, so does Pippin - his role, his life, and how he is going to perform it. It's all about choices and how we make them.
Matthew James Thomas
I suffered a bout of depression that pushed me to reevalute things in my life, and I learned a lot about myself and the world and my spirituality. I sat at a piano, and the ideas fell into my head. I started playing, and I felt comfortable with my music for the first time.
I was always into music, but I wanted to do film when I was kid. I remember seeing big movies and wanting to do them. Then I was lucky enough to act in some of them, and I fell in love with it.
One of the hardest things I've encountered whilst working on 'Pippin' is the consistent irony, as a reflection from the core material of the show, within my own life.
I wouldn't call myself a dancer. I would never even dance in a club - I can't move my feet! I'm terribly shy about moving. I feel comfortable in my body, but dancing is like learning another language.
I know it's cheesy, but if you listen to the universe, it gives you pointers. I strongly believe if you keep your ears open and eyes open, your path will become clear. You just have to make sure you don't ignore it.
I loved 'Matilda.' The kids are so brilliant and uninhibited. They were inspiring. Seeing them onstage, just going wild, reminded me of when I was that age. I was excited for them and completely taken by their innocence and hard work.
Pippin chooses love and finds a greater sense of himself at the end of all the madness. I relate to him in many ways. I have been through stuff, thought I knew best, and often been proven wrong.
I like building and making things. I, perhaps, would like to try my hand at directing one day. Sometimes I fancy myself as an architect - but I think I might need to go back to school for that.
The thing with 'Pippin' is not to over think it too much. If you try and overthink or plan and over-analyze - it's like with any role really, but this one specifically - you can run into sogging wet newspaper. It's just too exciting to do that. It's nice to be bounced around and surprised at almost every line that comes out of your mouth.
You can't be a human and a guy and not connect with Pippin... I often feel like Pippin. I come offstage sometimes like 'Oh my God, I've got to do this next time! I've gotta go there. I'm going to make this choice.'
New York City life is different from all other city life. It's incredibly relentless and fast, and I think when I first got here, it was incredibly exciting. It was also so hot. I didn't know New York got so hot. I'm not a fan of the heat!
I'm not a great guitarist, but I do bits and bobs. I'm mainly a songwriter and a composer. I've done a lot of scoring and some stuff for British pop music that did pretty well, but I've mainly been working on my own stuff with Duncan Sheik.
In auditions, you're not up against anyone else; you're both going in for the role, and it's like, whoever's right for it will get it. It's simple. It's not like, 'Oh I won!' There's never that element. It is very supportive.
When you get into a production, there are a lot of things you have to hit to make the show work - like my cues or a cue for another person or making sure you don't mess up the beat, and you can let all of that get in the way.
