Master Players
"If your name's on here you deserve it!
If it isn't... consider yourself lucky to be reading it."
Being a master player and earning a spot on the Matchbox Players' plaque means that you are no longer a Matchbox member, you are a legend. The Master Player award is an annual award that recognizes the best of the best: the actors and performers who have gone beyond the call of duty to reach Behrend stardom. Whether through hard work off-stage, or brilliant performances on-stage, each Master Player fought crippling competition to come out as a Matchbox champion. These people deserve to be honored.
The Big Guns
When John Bigus talks, you listen. John Bigus has been considered one of the greatest performers of all time. From walking in moon shoes while on stage to professionally blurting out that he loves his mother amid a performance, Bigus has dominated the non-sequitors-as-humor approach and provided the rest of us with a rich insight into his personal life. To put it in perspective, John is like the Rocky Balboa of improv: extraordinarily talented, but most of the time you can't tell what he's saying. Bigus has earned his place in history and the respect of the Players.
Datt Mavidson
Between Keanu Reeves impersonations, Mitch Hedburg quotes, and the overuse of the word "gay," Matt Davidson has muscled his way into Master Player history. Matt's main claim to fame is probably attributed to his ability to remind people that he is a much better performer than they are. As the lead in several Behrend productions including, Joe in
Heaven Can Wait, Hamlet in
Hamlet, and "the lead man" from
Working, Matt has become the poster child for what too much fame can do to a person. We gladly feed this ego by awarding him the status of one of our Master Players.
Host, Aaron... Host.
Aaron Amendola has been one of the longest consecutive hosts of improv in Matchbox history and is one of the most versatile actors to have graced the Behrend stage. From switching roles between a truck driver and an old man in
Working to demonstrating his fear of heights in
Perspectives, Aaron's face has probably been seen by more people than any would care to admit. Fortunately, only his name appears on the Master Player's plaque.
The very first!
Formerly the Treasurer of the Matchbox Players, Kathryn has been a valuable addition to the club's success both off and on stage. From her underdog approach to helping out the club monetarily, Kathryn switched gears when she became one of the funniest attractions of John Stranahan's adaptation of
Hamlet. Kathryn has continuously been supportive of the Matchbox Players events, and was essential to returning improvs to their former glory.