Battle of the Matthew Mur's

A few weeks ago I was scanning through my email account when I saw a message from Robert Viagas of Playbill.com.  Amidst the various letters from Nigerian princes asking for money, and lottery notifications, I figured a message from the reputable Playbill was a fluke offering a discount code to a play no one was seeing.  Fortunately I took the time to read it, as it contained an exciting proposition:  Robert wanted me to come into the Playbill Radio studio to record a Podcast predicting who would receive Tony nominations when they were announced in the middle of May.  I scanned the email a few more times to make sure that I wasn’t dreaming what I’d just read, and sent a response that attempted to sound as collected as possible in my heightened state of excitement.  Then I waited.  And waited.  And never got a response. 

Every morning I woke up and opened Yahoo with my fingers crossed for a reply highlighting the details of the taping.  After a week passed, I sent a few emails to Robert (downplaying any hint of desperation) asking if the recording was still on.  Then I waited.  And waited. 

Then one afternoon (during my first of several distracted web searches) I decided to clean out my inbox.  I scrolled through the messages and looked to the left of the window where there was a folder titled “Spam.”  The number 127 rested next to the word, which until then I’d managed to have a happy existence with: my email accounts would notify me of wanted correspondence, while discarding the Viagra ads to the abyss of Spamland.  Occasionally an ad or two would slip into my inbox, but I’d never had the reverse happen.  Unfortunately this time, Yahoo! earned its exclamation point not out of excitement, but out of anger. 

Sitting comfortably in the untouched spam folder was a bundle of messages from Robert.   First there was information about the taping.  Then several others padded the middle, leading up a final message, which informed me that he and the other guest had waited fifteen minutes for me, but had gone ahead with the taping.   

I felt the pit of my stomach turn over.  Without sounding too ridiculous, the past year has been full of disappointments, and I was looking forward to being included in something that I have a passion for.   When I stumbled into my spam folder and realized that the taping had occurred only the day before, it made the blow even more powerful. 

I shot off a profusely apologetic email, underlining my interest in being included in any future tapings.  And with a simple click of a button labled “Not Spam,” I ensured Robert’s messages would reach me the next time around; if there was a next time. 

Fortunately, last Wednesday I got my chance to sit in the Playbill Radio booth and record my first ever Podcast.  The several days leading up to the taping found me cramming in performances of as many of the remaining musicals on my list as possible.  When the night before rolled around, I’d seen everything (except for “Grease,” which, let’s be honest, has no chance of winning) and had revisited my reviews to remind myself of what I had liked and disliked about all of the shows in the running.  Yet as I walked to midtown for the taping, all of those thoughts seemed to dissolve. 

The moment I entered the offices (a collection of grey cubicles where the only display of color comes from various posters and Playbill’s that adorn the walls and tables) I realized how nervous I was to speak.  When it comes to dancing, I have all the confidence in the world to present myself and rely on what I’ve rehearsed.  I even have more confidence writing than I do speaking.  There is a huge difference between sitting at a computer formulating your opinion with the comfort of the delete button only a pinkie-reach away, and having an articulate conversation that will be preserved for all the web to hear.

As I sat by the front desk, a boy poked his head around the corner of a cubicle and came creeping toward me.  “Are you Matt Murphy?” he asked.  “I read your blog!”  It was just the right boost of confidence I needed before Robert came to lead me to the booth after a quick introduction to Matthew Murray, a professional critic who joined us.

Odd as that coincidence of having a Matthew Murphy and a Matthew Murray as guests was, I quickly found that we had more in common than our names -- our opinions of the theatrical season synched up in most every category.  Of course, we didn’t do too much talking before the taping began (we wanted to keep the conversation fresh), but it was a comfort to know that I wouldn’t have to get in an argument with someone about why I disliked Patti LuPone so much.

(Robert  from my vantage point.)

After running through a bit of advice about the art of recording a Podcast (don’t eat the microphone, try not to pop “P’s,” and scream like a chimpanzee at every moment possible have fun) Robert turned on his best radio voice and pressed record.  For the next 50-minutes he led us through a conversation about who will win, who should win, and what surprises we can expect come Tony night. 

When we had finally exhausted the categories (with only a few retakes along the way) Robert thanked us for joining him and sent us on our way.  The elevator ride down the lobby found me questioning every word that I had uttered throughout the previous hour.  Had I insulted anyone?  Forgotten to mention any key points?  Probably.  But I’ll have to wait until June 11th to find out.

(The Matthew Mur's.)

 

Comments

[jolene]

AAAHHHH!!! How exciting!! You'd better post the link of the podcast up, I want to hear your thoughts about Tony's predictions. And you're right, Grease better not win anything. Let's hope that another Raul Esparza/DHP upset doesn't occur this year...

[Esther]

Hey Matt,
Congratulations! I subscribe to the Playbill podcast, so I'll be eagerly awaiting what you have to say.

And I know what you mean about the spam filter. I've missed a few real messages the same way.

[Natalie D.]

What a crazy experience! I am so glad everything ended up working out for you. Damn Yahoo! Sounds like a great and exciting experience!

[Cathy]

I'm happy to hear that opportunities like this are reaching you! it's fantastic!
I'll se if I can hear it!

[Barbara]

What a cool opportunity for you! A cherry on the top of all your theatre-going.

[Larry]

If his name is Viagas, it's a good possibility your spam filter looked only to the first four characters and thought these messages were about Viagra.