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Most Interesting People 2010 - Matthew James Murphy

by Beth Stallings, Carly Toyzan, Jim Vickers, Colleen Smitek, Erick Trickey, Kim Schneider, Christina Ipavec, Brittany Moffat, Emily Garvey, Katie Dragga, Lauren Hennen, by Jennifer Bowen | Dec. 16, 2009 | 5:00 AM

Matthew James Murphy
Songwriter | 34

Why he’s interesting … The South Euclid resident’s song “Hold Your Dream” was featured in the recent remake of the 1980 film Fame. Before becoming a songwriter, Murphy performed as part of the ensemble of the Broadway and touring productions of Rent and worked on Late Night with Conan O’Brien.

His brush with Fame … “Fame is unique because they were opening it up to no-names. I had some music on [MTV’s] Laguna Beach and other little hits here and there but nothing really big.”

His day job … Murphy teaches piano and guitar lessons to kids at their homes. “There was no way I was going to get a 9-to-5 job in an office.”

First acting job … At age 5, he was the Mayor of Munchkinland in Heights Youth Theater’s production of The Wizard of Oz.

Paying gig … He was on WKYC-TV3’s long-running kids’ show Hickory Hideout. “I was making pretty good money for a 9-year-old in 1984.”

But … “It made life a living hell in junior high. It was like ‘you’re the guy who talks to puppets, man.’ ”

The jump to Rent … He got the job during an open call at PlayhouseSquare. “I said, ‘Give me a couple weeks to get everything together.’ They told me, ‘No, we have a plane ticket for you for tomorrow.’ ”




Of Interest
News
January 2010

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