Interview: Nicholas Matos on Booking SMASH and Living the Broadway Dream

Nicholas Matos is currently making his Broadway debut as Scott in Smash! Matos' previous Off-Broadway credits include: The Christmas Spectacular Starring The Radio City Rockettes (Patrick), Regarding the Disappearance of Amy at Playwrights Horizons (Simon), Shelter Me at the Midnight Theater (Zae). Matos has also performed in several staged readings of new works including Wonder (Produced by Jill Furman) and The Female Pope with The New Group. 

BroadwayWorld spoke with Matos about how he found out he booked the show, his approach to playing the character of Scott, his favorite onstage moment, and more!

Read the full interview here, and check out photography by BroadwayWorld's own Jennifer Broski!

You’re making your Broadway debut while still earning your BA in Theater at Fordham—what’s that balance been like?

Oh gosh, so right now I’m actually taking a leave of absence for the semester and focusing only on Smash. Which I’m very glad I did, because the months leading up to my audition for Smash, and when I found out I booked it, that first semester was so busy. I was doing multiple plays at school, and taking a full schedule of classes while also auditioning and working outside of school. So, I would start my days at 6 am heading to school, and come home past midnight because of auditions and rehearsals and things like that. So, it was a lot of work! But, of course I did it because I love it , and I had goals, like being on Broadway! That kept me going. But it really is a lot of work. The way I kept the balance was just to make sure that I had the necessities down, like make sure I eat, and have a little bit of free time! But I just love doing the work, so that’s what motivated me.

What was it like when you found out that you booked Smash?

Well, I was  in school, on my way to class, and I actually had another audition that day, and I hadn’t told my professor yet, and I knew that she wouldn’t be happy about it because I would have to miss class [laughs]. I was about to walk in the door, trying to figure out what I had to say, and literally with my hand on the doorknob I checked my phone and saw a message from my manager saying, ‘Do not go to that audition, answer your phone right now.’ I was like, ‘What was this about?’ Because I had auditioned for Smash only the day before, so I really wasn’t expecting to hear back so quickly.

And then I found out that I got it, and I was standing in the courtyard of my school, I probably looked like a crazy person, I was jumping up and down, I didn’t know what to do with myself! I called my mom! It was overwhelming. I felt like I could see the future of what was going to come, even though I didn’t really know what to expect, I knew it was going to be big. And that was so shocking, and it was surprising. But I also was so proud that I actually accomplished that. I remember feeling good about my audition, so it was very validating. I was so excited and happy.

What do you remember most from opening night?

How fun it was, honestly! I felt like we had done the show so many times, and I was used to the rhythm of it all. I’d seen all different kinds of audiences, and I knew that our opening night audience was going to be completely on our side, and into the show, and it was going to be a great audience. So, I honestly wasn’t very nervous that anything was going to go wrong, I was just so ready to have fun with it.

My first entrance is I burst through the door in the scene, and I only have a couple of lines, so I can kind of watch it all happen. Sometimes I peek out into the audience, and I remember seeing everyone, like, ‘Oh my God, I cannot believe this is real!’ It was so much fun, and I could see the smiles on peoples’ face, it was so gratifying. That’s what I remember most, doing the first scene, that’s when the reality hit me that this is real, I’m really on Broadway.

What is your favorite part about the character you play, Scott, and how did you approach playing him?

My favorite thing about Scott is his trajectory, how I start off not knowing anything about anything about Broadway, and by the end I’m jumping on the table, singing about how much I love Broadway. I think it really parallels my personal trajectory doing this show. Of course I’ve been a fan of Broadway, and I’ve dreamed of being on Broadway for so long, but being with this creative team, packed with Broadway legends, who have been in this industry for so, so many years, and I come in, and I’m this new kid who doesn’t really know anything, but throughout the process I feel like I know so much. I feel like I’ve been able to inject that into how I play Scott, and how I interact with the other characters in the play. I love that my big moment happens all the way at the end of the show.

Do you have a favorite onstage moment?

It changes all the time! I think my favorite moment right now is, there is this scene at the end of Act One, where everything hits the fan, and everyone is panicking, and Karen has accidentally eaten a laxative, so she’s being carried off to the bathroom, and everyone is screaming, and it’s so much to do that scene because it’s just a bare stage and us actors running around like headless chickens. Brooks Ashmanskas leads us through that scene, and is so good in it, he’s so funny, and the audience loves it every time. That’s the one scene where it doesn’t feel like work at all, it’s total fun and total play.

What do you want to tell audiences who are coming to the show?  

I would say, we’re not doing the TV show. You’re going to see something fun, it’s going to be a spectacle, and we want to make you laugh, and we want you to be entertained. It’s a good time! I would want people to come in just expecting a good time, and to watch a good musical comedy!

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