ABOUT MATTHEW KEATON

Matthew Keaton, 23, came to UTC from Memphis. He graduated in 2016 with a degree in communications.” Active in numerous campus activities, theater surprisingly wasn’t one of them.

“I had been doing community theater in Memphis since I was very little. When I got to college, I said I wanted to have a social life. I didn’t want to say ‘I can’t, I have rehearsal’ any more. I made a conscious decision not to go into theater. I only did theater during summer breaks in Memphis.”

Instead, he sang in Chamber Singers, Chattanooga Singers and directed the Littleton Mason Gospel Choir. He was active in the Black Student Alliance, Intervarsity Christian Fellowship and Olivet Baptist Church college ministry. He co-hosted the annual Step Show and was on the homecoming committee.

After graduation, he worked the front desk of a Memphis hotel. During that time, he applied for a residency at The Open Jar Institute in New York City, a Broadway actor training program. He was one of 13 actors from around the world chosen for the residency. He moved to New York for the eight-week training.

His last week at The Open Jar, Keaton went to “Motown” auditions. Just before leaving NYC for Memphis last Thanksgiving, he got the call that he’d been cast. Rehearsals started in November; his stage debut was in January.

UTC alum Matthew Keaton