What the Press has to say about Matt and his work

Homos, Or Everyone In America, Diversionary Theatre, 2017

“Another coup for Diversionary Theatre artistic director Matt M. Morrow. Morrow’s precise, crackerjack direction underlines the superlative, intertwined performances of Jacob Caltrider and Alex Guzman.”
-Times of San Diego

“Both lead actors commit to their roles with a rich sense of authenticity and a sense of real connection, under the polished direction of Diversionary artistic chief Matt M. Morrow.”
-San Diego Union Tribune

“Matt M. Morrow’s swiftly-paced, incisive direction makes a virtue of the almost bare stage, immaculately designed by Kristen Flores… And Morrow has the actors pop up in nearly every corner and aisle of the small Diversionary venue, keeping the audience closely bonded to this Romeo and Romeo duo. Kudos to Morrow for bringing this electric new play to San Diego. I have not been as impressed with a Diversionary production since Chay Yew’s astounding Porcelain.”
-San Diego Story


Ballast, Diversionary Theatre, 2017

2017 San Diego Critics Circle Award Nominations:
Outstanding Dramatic Production
Outstanding New Play
Outstanding Ensemble

“Under Morrow’s leadership, Diversionary is on an upward trajectory where productions just get better and better. The transgender subject matter in BALLAST is just one example of how timely and cutting-edge theater can be.”
–San Diego Uptown News

“As Diversionary’s Executive Artistic Director, Mr. Morrow has played on his connections in New York and elsewhere to bring interesting ideas and bold stories to his patrons. Ballast is yet another example of his string of successes.”
-San Diego Story

“Diversionary presents the world premiere of this eloquent new play, brilliantly directed by Diversionary’s executive artistic director Matt M. Morrow.”
–San Diego Gay & Lesbian News

“Run, walk or fly to see BALLAST at Diversionary Theatre, it is a poignant and thought provoking piece that proves that only by being yourself can your future take flight.”
–BroadwayWorld

Critic’s Pick: Wisdom and wit lift Diversionary’s Ballast. A smartly conceived world-premiere production… There’s not a false note in the finely tuned work. Above all else, Ballast confronts a complicated (and, sadly, still controversial) topic and explores it in arrestingly human terms. T
–San Diego Union Tribune


The Mystery of Love & Sex, Diversionary Theatre, 2016

“Morrow’s staging of The Mystery of Love and Sex combines explosive acting, a deep plot and plenty of laughs. Add those elements together, and you get a big winner at Diversionary.By the time the curtain call arrives, audiences might not want to leave the University Heights theatrical space. “
-The San Diego Story

“The Mystery of Love and Sex stands out as a refreshing burst of theatrical life not often witnessed, in San Diego or anywhere, and the team at Diversionary rises to the occasion to create an exceptionally entertaining and uplifting evening at the theater. An exceptional cast, snappy writing, and polished production elements bring to life the complicated nature of interpersonal relationships between family and friends in Bathsheba Doran’s The Mystery of Love and Sex.”
-The San Diego Reader

“Doran’s funny and slyly original play, now getting a smartly realized San Diego premiere at Diversionary, earns its surprises by the way they’re rooted in the very human struggles of its characters. You will love spending time with these people. “Mystery” stretches to take human complexity into its open-hearted embrace.”
-The San Diego Union-Tribune


Amazons & Their Men, Diversionary Theatre, 2015

Critic’s Pick: Matt M. Morrow, the Diversionary artistic chief stages the 80-minute, intermissionless piece with plenty of satisfying detail… And he coaxes some breakout performances from the cast. A fascinating and layered West Coast premiere.”
-The San Diego Union Tribune

“[Jordan Harrison] has a knack for clever dialogue and juxtaposing comedy with serious concerns. Kudos to Matt Morrow, Diversionary’s new artistic director, for choosing this play and doing it so well.”
-San Diego Gay and Lesbian News

“Amazons marks the directorial debut of Diversionary’s Executive Artistic Director Matt M. Morrow. That he chose a theatrically demanding piece speaks well of his intentions…Amazons is definitely worth seeing.”
-The San Diego Reader

“Director Matt M. Morrow gets the depth of what Mr. Harrison is after, and his sharp production feels as layered as it needs be. He also encourages the cast to play the jokes, of which there are many.”
-San Diego Story


SCarrie! The Musical, Bricolage Production Company, Pittsburgh, PA 2014

“Director Matt M. Morrow balances elements of spoof and homage in this 90-minute drama that is funny and surprisingly touching. Though played as a send-up of the character, you actually begin to feel uncomfortable about laughing at him/her. Or maybe that’s the point.”
-Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

“Matt M. Morrow directs a nigh-perfect cast with a nicely complementing band… SCarrie delivers it all.”
-City Paper


The Mystery of Irma Vep, Penobscot Theatre Company, Bangor, ME 2014

“The current production, directed by Matt M. Morrow for PTC at the Bangor Opera House, moves at a riotous clip and is uproariously funny. Morrow knows that the key to making it work is keeping the pace ratcheted up and in overdrive. At the end of the play, the actors and the audience are panting.”
-Bangor Daily News

“The Mystery of Irma Vep” is the sort of show that needs to be driven hard and fast. Any relinquishing of pace could be catastrophic. There are a lot of plates that must be kept spinning, but director Matt Morrow proves capable of maintaining that balance. This is a play that requires its director to have both an excellent sense of timing and a keen understanding of the absurd; it appears that Morrow is capable on both fronts.”
-Maine Edge


South Side Stories, City Theatre Company, Pittsburgh, PA 2012/13 & 2014

TOP TEN OF 2012, Pittsburgh Post Gazette & Pittsburgh Tribune Review

“Once word gets out, I seriously doubt there’ll be many left to go around, so right now put aside this review and get as many tickets as you can for South Side Stories. The new work written and performed by Tami Dixon makes its dazzling premiere at City Theatre. With assistance from director Matt M. Morrow, she’s woven them into a one-woman show that’s just a big, fat, evening of bliss. I can’t remember the last time I was so captivated, so enthralled in the theater. …directed to crystalline point by Morrow.”
-City Paper

“Dixon channels the inhabitants in a narrative in which they speak for themselves… I have no idea how many people she represents. Counting them serves no purpose; there’s no need to justify praising virtuosity. David Pohl has created an impressive, imaginative array of projections on the wall behind her, sometimes, wonderfully, as if his images and Dixon’s movements have been choreographed to reflect each other. Matt M. Morrow directed; certainly his input has made everything come together superbly.”
–WRCT

“Ms. Dixon has created a powerful one-woman show at City Theatre transforming herself into two dozen characters and bringing their true stories to pulsating life. The tales coalesce into a tour de force with clever connecting threads of words, music and colorful, whimsical projections by illustrator David Pohl. Characters fly by in a phrase or stick around for a while, depending on where they fit into the tapestry woven by Ms. Dixon, who worked with director Matt M. Morrow to push at the boundaries of where a story begins and how it ends up being told and retold.”
-Pittsburgh Post Gazette


Charles Ives Take Me Home, City Theatre Company, Pittsburgh, PA 2013

“This wonderful, yet heartbreaking story spins as assuredly as a player pivoting with a ball. There are no fumbles, no false notes.”
-Pittsburgh Tribune Review

“Matt Morrow has directed a solid production with a fine cast.”
-Pittsburgh Tatler

“Director Matt M. Morrow pulls the whole thing together in a tidy 80 minutes.”
-Talkin’ Broadway

“Like a perfect storm in which all the elements combine to produce a great effect, the playwright, cast and director combine in the City Theatre production of “Charles Ives Take Me Home” to concoct one of my most memorable theatrical events in recent history. Credit Matt M. Morrow for his slam dunk direction…”
-Pittsburgh OwlScribe


Tigers Be Still, City Theatre Company, Pittsburgh, PA 2012

“Director Matt M. Morrow has struck a balance between the jokey and the serious sides of “Tigers Be Still” so that Ms. Rosenstock’s simple message comes through clearly and without preaching. Her characters do find a way to confront that tiger but in ways we weren’t expecting.”
–Pittsburgh Post Gazette

“Director Matt M. Morrow and his marvelous cast have found the key to unlock the magic… Credit director Matt M. Morrow for getting his cast to make the comedy work flawlessly while at the same time keeping the characters centered in reality.”
–WRCT

“There’s a balance here, both in the script and in the presentation (Matt M. Morrow earns praise with his direction) that allows us to feel the psychological burdens of the characters, laugh at their slightly heightened quirkiness, believe in them, and root for them.”
–Talkin’ Broadway


Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom, Bricolage Theatre, Pittsburgh PA

Pittsburgh Tribune Review’s TOP TEN of 2010

“Aided by Matt M. Morrow’s precise direction and Stephanie Mayer-Staley’s imaginative set design, Bricolage’s dynamic cast of four accent the immediacy, horror and intelligence of Jennifer Haley’s script.”
-Pittsburgh Tribune Review

“Neighborhood 3 is an amusement-park ride — you’re strapped in at the beginning and propelled through a series of twists, turns and dips. On Stephanie Mayer-Staley’s highly intriguing set, Morrow pulls out just about every theatrical trick he can think of to keep this production on track and off-kilter. Haley has supplied no end of very dark humor, and Morrow knows exactly when to play the joke while never loosening the tension; the build to play’s climax is actually quite breathtaking.”
-City Paper, Ted Hoover

“Bricolage’s production of Jennifer Haley’s inventive script is as striking a show as I’ve seen this year. One key to its success is a risky choice by director Matt M. Morrow… Most of the dialogue, and most of the action, are rendered in highly stylized terms. This show works so well not in spite of the stylization, but because of it.”
-City Paper, Bill O’Driscoll

“Director Matt M. Morrow puts the cast through its paces. Every choice is a conversation starter. The seats are comfortable but expect to spend most of the night on their edges as you’re drawn into the Neighborhood 3 experience.”
-Pittsburgh Post Gazette

“Directed by Matt M. Morrow, Neighborhood 3 has to be one of the finest productions in Pittsburgh this year. The pacing is swift and deliberate.”
-Pittsburgh Out Magazine


2.5 Minute Ride, Altered Stages, NYC

“In Matt M. Morrow’s affecting revival of Lisa Kron’s 1999 hit one-woman show, at Altered Stages, Kron’s remarkable writing withstands both time and recasting.”
–The New Yorker

“An exhilarating ride! …Morrow’s affecting revival proves 2.5 Minute Ride is compelling theatre with or without Ms. Kron. Under Mr. Morrow’s crisp direction she brings the material vividly to life.”
-The New York Sun

“Director Matt M. Morrow ambitiously seeks to reveal Kron as a full-fledged playwright in a production of 2.5 Minute Ride. … That the play—and Morrow certainly proves that it is a play—is both genuinely poignant and simultaneously funny is a testament to Kron’s writing. Morrow does well to bring out these subtle differences among the characters, …the play proceeds tightly, never dragging – a difficult feat for a one-person show.”
–NYTheatre.com

“What Morrow has done is pick up the play and treat it as such — a play — not an exercise in dramaturgical memoir that would somehow seem counterproductive without Kron delivering the narrative.”
–Backstage


Tuesdays With Morrie, Epiphany Theatre Company, Saratoga NY

“Most sensitively directed by Matt M. Morrow… Tuesdays is a must see production.”
-The Post Star, Glens Falls NY

“It’s almost impossible to resist Tuesdays With Morrie… that sort of mawkish nobility can induce a diabetic coma if not handled with balance. It is under the direction of Matt M. Morrow. The director and his actors create a compelling evening.”
-The Times Union, Albany NY

“Masterful… This is a must-see!”
–Saratoga Today


SCarrie!! The Musical, Bricolage Theatre, Pittsburgh, PA

“Bricolage rocks! … a rollicking, raunchy parody …the livliest and funniest Monday night! … a rockin’ original ’70s score!”
–Pittsburgh Post Gazette


The Falsetto Trilogy: Falsettos & In Trousers, The Duplex, NYC

TimeOut New York’s “Critic’s Pick of the Week”

New York Daily News “Hottest event of June”