Larry T. Baza Arts & Culture Award – Matt Morrow
Larry T. Baza Arts & Culture Award: (Inaugural) A visual or performing artist or organization who elevates the LGBTQ community in service of education, advocacy, visibility, justice, and joy. This award is in honor of the legacy of Larry T. Baza.
Since joining the organization in 2014, Matt has helped to grow Diversionary Theatre’s operating budget by 100%. Under their leadership the theatre has been nominated for 29 San Diego Critics Circle Awards, winning two Outstanding New Play Awards in 2017 and 2019. Alongside Diversionary’s Board of Trustees, Matt led the Securing Our Future campaign, a $2.5 million renovation project for the theatre’s home in University Heights, slated to reopen early Fall 2021.
Notable productions Matt has directed and/or produced with Diversionary include the 20th Anniversary production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Winner, 2019 Outstanding Lead Performance in a Musical, SDCC Award), Miranda Rose Hall’s The Hour of Great Mercy (Winner, 2019 Best New Play, SDCC Award), the World Premiere of Gordon Leary and Julia Meinwald’s musical The Loneliest Girl in the World, Georgette Kelly’s Ballast (Winner, 2017 Best New Play, SDCC Award), Justin Huertas’ Lizard Boy The Musical (Winner, Outstanding Lead Performance in a Musical).
Prior to joining Diversionary Theatre, Matt was the Associate Artistic Director of City Theatre Company, a LORT theatre in Pittsburgh. With City she developed and directed the World Premiere of Tami Dixon’s South Side Stories (Pittsburgh Post Gazette & Tribune Review’s Top Ten of 2012, and Post Gazette’s Performer of the Year).
Matt was a Creative Catalyst Fellow with The San Diego Foundation and La Jolla Playhouse. She has developed new work with The Sundance Theatre Institute, The Old Globe, The Banff Centre, Center Theatre Group, American Conservatory Theater, Lincoln Center, PlayPenn, and Page 73 Productions. She served as The John Wells Professor of Directing at Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Drama (Graduate & Undergraduate Directing programs), and is currently adjunct Professor of Directing for UCSD’s Graduate Directing program. She holds a BFA in Directing from Carnegie Mellon University.
Matt will be honored at the Spirit of Stonewall Rally on Friday, July 16, 2021. Learn more about the rally, the other awardees, and the event here.
San Diego Pride raises funds primarily through festival ticket and beverage sales, and through sponsorships, and exhibitor fees. These funds support San Diego Pride’s community philanthropy which has distributed more than $2.5 million in advancement of its mission to foster pride, equality, and respect for all lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities locally, nationally, and globally.
