Matthew Dickens(1961-2013)
- Actor
- Producer
- Choreography
Matthew Dickens is a Writer, Producer and Director.
He began training at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, D.C as a Theatre major but was always cast in musicals. He took a handful of dance classes, studied a musical instrument and took vocal music classes. His innate ability to multi-task with his talent was apparent. After graduation he joined a theater company as a young actor at Karamu House in Cleveland, Ohio but his passion quickly drew him to New York where he started auditioning for Broadway shows. Learning fast how to hone his skills as a triple threat, he trained heavily in New York with voice lessons, acting classes and several dance classes daily. In a short amount of time he landed a guest dancer spot on Fame with Debbie Allen filmed at MGM Studios in Culver City. Spending time on this historical movie lot, he fell in love with dance, movies and the camera. He spent time with Allen wearing many hats on the Academy Awards, Disney's Polly, Quantum Leap and A Different World.
He continued auditioning in LA and landed a role in his first Broadway show, the international tour of Dreamgirls which returned to New York as the Broadway Revival company. Musicals kept him busy. He earned a series of back to back bookings in Stephen King's Carrie, Miss Saigon, Smokey Joe's Cafe and the original company Sunset Boulevard starring Glenn Close. He was later cast in the Dutch version of Miss Saigon and traveled to Amsterdam. While in Europe he was able to follow his passion to direct creating original productions with the Dutch Air Force Orchestra. His talent was quickly discovered in Holland and he was hired to Direct and Choreograph the opening ceremony of Gay Games Amsterdam, Euro 2000 and segments of The National Wedding Event of Prince Willem & Maxima for national television.
Throughout these years, his passion for movies grew stronger and he eventually moved back to Hollywood where he reunited with Debbie Allen as Associate Director and Choreographer for productions of Sammy, the Musical and A Very Mancini Christmas. He was cast as an Actor/Dancer in Brad Martin's Sledge starring stunt and fight choreographer David Leitch. This brought him back to the world of camera and dance. From there he began to seek out his passion for movies again. Music Supervisor Randall Poster brought him on board as choreographer on The Aviator directed by Martin Scorcese. He worked as a principal dancer in Their Eyes Were Watching God starring Halle Berry and was hired for seven months as skeleton crew and principal dancer in Rent with choreographer Keith Young and directed by Chris Columbus. The following year he was cast as a principal in Dreamgirls directed by Bill Condon.
War Zone 3D is a passion project for Matthew that pulls on his vast years of professional experience across the board in the entertainment industry. The foundation of his career has fully prepared him for the task of taking on his first feature as writer, producer and director.
He began training at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, D.C as a Theatre major but was always cast in musicals. He took a handful of dance classes, studied a musical instrument and took vocal music classes. His innate ability to multi-task with his talent was apparent. After graduation he joined a theater company as a young actor at Karamu House in Cleveland, Ohio but his passion quickly drew him to New York where he started auditioning for Broadway shows. Learning fast how to hone his skills as a triple threat, he trained heavily in New York with voice lessons, acting classes and several dance classes daily. In a short amount of time he landed a guest dancer spot on Fame with Debbie Allen filmed at MGM Studios in Culver City. Spending time on this historical movie lot, he fell in love with dance, movies and the camera. He spent time with Allen wearing many hats on the Academy Awards, Disney's Polly, Quantum Leap and A Different World.
He continued auditioning in LA and landed a role in his first Broadway show, the international tour of Dreamgirls which returned to New York as the Broadway Revival company. Musicals kept him busy. He earned a series of back to back bookings in Stephen King's Carrie, Miss Saigon, Smokey Joe's Cafe and the original company Sunset Boulevard starring Glenn Close. He was later cast in the Dutch version of Miss Saigon and traveled to Amsterdam. While in Europe he was able to follow his passion to direct creating original productions with the Dutch Air Force Orchestra. His talent was quickly discovered in Holland and he was hired to Direct and Choreograph the opening ceremony of Gay Games Amsterdam, Euro 2000 and segments of The National Wedding Event of Prince Willem & Maxima for national television.
Throughout these years, his passion for movies grew stronger and he eventually moved back to Hollywood where he reunited with Debbie Allen as Associate Director and Choreographer for productions of Sammy, the Musical and A Very Mancini Christmas. He was cast as an Actor/Dancer in Brad Martin's Sledge starring stunt and fight choreographer David Leitch. This brought him back to the world of camera and dance. From there he began to seek out his passion for movies again. Music Supervisor Randall Poster brought him on board as choreographer on The Aviator directed by Martin Scorcese. He worked as a principal dancer in Their Eyes Were Watching God starring Halle Berry and was hired for seven months as skeleton crew and principal dancer in Rent with choreographer Keith Young and directed by Chris Columbus. The following year he was cast as a principal in Dreamgirls directed by Bill Condon.
War Zone 3D is a passion project for Matthew that pulls on his vast years of professional experience across the board in the entertainment industry. The foundation of his career has fully prepared him for the task of taking on his first feature as writer, producer and director.
