Matthew Owitz NHS Teen Idol
2010 Semi Finalist
2011 Finalist
"One of the most phenomenal programs to help teenagers "- Matt
Excerpts from my recent interview with Matthew Owitz ...
Stage name:
Our NHS Teen Idol 2010 Semi Finalist Matthew Owitz is 15 and resides in Cliffside Park, NJ. Besides NHS Teen Idol he has also performed in 2 Fair Lawn High School Musicals, when he was still in elementary school and was part of the cast of “Will Rogers Follies: A Lifetime in Revue” (2005) and “Cabaret” (2006). His first actual performance was at age 7 when he played a Munchkin in “The Wizard of Oz”. Currently he will be part of St. Anne’s Stages, Musical Theatre Summer Workshop, and “The GLEEk in All of Us!” this August. He will also be auditioning for Cliffside Park’s High School Musical in the fall, and auditioning in the winter for “Stages” annual spring musical.
Matt listens to everything from Pop to Musical Theatre. There are artists from Lady GaGa to Rascal Flatts on his iPod and he is also influenced by Cady Groves, Michael Buble and Erin McCarley. They all inspire him to stay true to what he loves to do, perform. He is a huge fan of Carrie Underwood. Her style and image are just two of many things that gives him chills after playing one of her songs.
He also has big goals, Broadway, Film… He wants it all! Which makes sense that in his spare time he loves to attend Broadway Shows, performs in community theatre and still makes time to hang out with his friends?
“My biggest fan is my Aunt Pat. She has stood by me, audition after audition… and everything else I’ve done in my life. Always supporting me and being there for me when I need her to. Along with her, my whole entire family supports my dream and believes that one day, it will come true.”
This is hysterical! “Everyone in my family always tells me this story, I was 2 years old; we were on vacation visiting my cousins on Cape Cod. I decided it would be fun to jump in the pool and pretend to be dead. Everyone heard a splash and one of my aunt’s Kat jumped in the pool to save me. Everyone knew I was trouble from that day on.”
His thoughts about our Event, “The best experience I had this year was the workshop/seminar. I learned so much from Blake Althen, Dr. Eugene Foley and Sebastian Richards. All the notes I took will help me be more successful in my career.” He also likes, “What each and every person gets out of the experience. The constructive criticism each individual receives helps each and every one of us understand what we need to improve on. "
Finally Matt wants to be remembered for never being someone he’s not. “I need to always staying true to myself, and my fans.” – Matt
Matt had me cracking up for days! He is not only very talented but very fun as well! Hopefully one day we will see “MATTHEW LAURENCE”, his stage name, in Broadway Lights!!! -Alicia
By: Alicia Colletti, Associate Producer, NHS Teen Idol Event
July 2010
Matt's home video of his performance...Great Job !!!
NHS Teen Idol 2011 Update: Matthew Owitz
Matthew has been very busy since being in the Semi-Finals at NHS Teen Idol 2010. In August 2010, He performed in his musical theater summer camp’s production of “Gleek: And Proud of It!” In fall 2010, as a freshman at Cliffside Park High School he landed the role of Hamlet in the play, Romeo & Juliet and Hamlet Too! Then Matthew went on to be accepted into his high school’s advanced chorus group, The CPHS Ensemble! In Spring 2011, still a freshman landed the lead role of Nathan Detroit in his high school musical, Guys and Dolls! Matthew is the “BROADWAY KID” as everyone calls him that in school. He has a big support group at his school, and other schools in the area as well as multi-state subscriptions from his YouTube videos. Matthew just hit 12,000 views on his YouTube channel, and hit 106 subscribers as of today! (7/29/2011) His most popular video, being his cover of Rebecca Black’s song Friday – which scored Matthew 1,600 views in a matter of days, thanks to the help of Ms. Rebecca Black herself tweeting his video to her fan base of more than 465,000 followers! He has a big following on Twitter as well, with a little over 270 followers and people who tweet out my videos to other friends for support! Recently he tweeted to GMA’s One Week to Hit it Big Pop Star, Lexi St. George, his cover video of her song, which she tweeted back a very nice message and then tweeted the link to over 2,000 followers which boosted the video views up to his 2nd most viewed video on YouTube. His friends support him, and always attend shows he’s in, as well as Talent shows and other events Matthew performs at. He has been recording cover as well, which he is hoping to release a Covers EP on iTunes in the fall. Matthew’s most recent accomplishment is being a NHS Teen Idol Finalist in July 2011. He performed the hit Michael Buble song, “Hollywood” which got a lot of positive feedback from the judges as well as audience members. This year at NHS Teen Idol he got more experience, and really felt at home! He can’t thank Alicia enough for the opportunity he has had with National High School Teen Idol thus far.
THANK YOU Matt! - Alicia Colletti, Associate Producer, NHS Teen Idol
July 2011