This page contains spoilers for Space Baby.
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Matt Dahan (born March 12, 1986) is an American composer, songwriter and music director. He is best known for co-creating the musical Starry and his work with American musical theatre company Team Starkid.
Early Life and Education[]
Matt's music career started with an abandoned upright piano and a Talkboy tape recorder in the suburns of Boston.
He went on to study at the Berklee College of Music where he graduated with a Bachelors degree in songwriting. He also studied film scoring at the University of Southern California.
Work[]
Matt made his professional theatre debut in 2015 with his musical written alongside writing partner Kelly D'Angelo: The Count of Monte Cristo at the Lounge Theatre, Los Angeles. Matt created the music and orchestrations for the show, as well as acting as the music director for the show. He then went on to provide music and act as music director for the off-Broadway musical The Babies in 2016. He also provided music and orchestrations for "The Adventures of Peter Rabbit" at Theatre West, Los Angeles, which ran from October 5, 2019, until it was closed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
After being in development since 2017, in 2018 Matt and writing partner Kelly D'Angelo debuted their original pop-rock musical Starry. The show told the story of two brothers, Vincent and Theo van Gogh, and told a transcendental tale about the power of expression. The show ran at Rockwell Table and Stage, Los Angeles, featuring fellow Team StarKid members: Mariah Rose Faith Casillas, and Jeff Blim. The show went on to have two sold-out concerts at Feinstein's 54 Below in 2019, featuring many members of the original cast as well as adding new cast members, including Team StarKid members Jaime Lyn Beatty, Lauren Lopez, and Dylan Saunders. The show's concept album was released on January 31, 2020, and has amassed over 1 million streams. On March 24, 2022, Starry announced that it would be having a workshop in London. It has since had another London workshop with plans for a future London premiere.
Matt has served as composer for several films. In 2013, Matt served as the composer for the film How Sweet It Is. The film was well received, being listed as a semi-finalist for the 86th Academy Awards in numerous categories. Other projects Matt has acted as composer for include Lonely Boy (2013), The Bus Driver (2018), Break: The Musical (2016), The Muse (2016), Hipmen: LA (2017). He also wrote the original song Beyond the Shore for the 2021 film CODA, for which he was a semi-finalist at the 86th Academy Awards. Matt also wrote up the sheet music for SpindleHorse's web series Helluva Boss.
Matt released his first album, Love Sick, in 2008 and has since released four more: Shadowboxing (2010), Sighseeing Through Whiskey (2014), Angels for Angeles (2018), and Dahanthology, Vol. 1 (2020).
Matt has also worked with StarKid's sister company, Tin Can Brothers, on a number of occasions. He created the sheet music for the licensed version of Spies Are Forever. Matt served as music director for the Tin Can Brothers' Spies Are Forever Los Angeles reunion concert Spy Another Day.
In 2021, Matt premiered his radio-musical series Pulp Musicals. The series starred Mariah Rose Faith Casillas, Curt Mega, and James Tolbert. The series also features many other StarKid's including Kim Whalen, Jeff Blim, Jaime Lyn Beatty, and Dylan Saunders, among others. Pulp Musicals currently has five episodes with a total of seven episodes planned.
StarKid Productions[]
After meeting members of StarKid through working on his musical Starry, Matt was invited to be music director for StarKid's Los Angeles debut musical, The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals, in 2018. He also featured in the show's band as Keyboard 1. Matt has since served as music director and in the band for a further three StarKid musicals: Black Friday, Nerdy Prudes Must Die, and Cinderella's Castle. He also returned to serve as music director for The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals: Reprised!.
Alongside serving as music director, Matt Dahan also records and produces each musical's cast recording.
Matt has also worked on a number of StarKid projects. He served as music director for both seasons of Nightmare Time, as well as providing underscoring. He also provided the score and served as music producer for the short film Workin' Boys. Matt provided music for the Space Baby segment "Missed Connections".
Matt has also appeared as several characters throughout his time in StarKid. He featured in both the Nightmare Time 2 story, "Honey Queen," and the short film "Workin' Boys," as Linda's Pianist, and in "Cinderella's Castle" as Mathias Longfellow.
StarKid Roles[]
| Year | Production | Creative Role | Acting Role | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals | Music Director | N/A | |
| Orchestration | ||||
| Keyboard 1 | ||||
| 2019 | Black Friday | Music Director | ||
| Orchestration | ||||
| Keyboard 1 | ||||
| 2020 | Nightmare Time | Music Director | ||
| Underscoring | ||||
| 2021 | Nightmare Time 2 | Music Director | Linda's Pianist | |
| Underscoring | ||||
| 2022 | Hey, Melissa! | Accompanist | N/A | |
| 2023 | Nerdy Prudes Must Die | Music Director | ||
| Orchestration | ||||
| Keyboard 1 | ||||
| 2023 | Workin' Boys | Music Production | Linda's Pianist | |
| Score | ||||
| 2024 | Cinderella's Castle | Music Director | Mathias Longfellow | |
| Orchestrations | ||||
| Song Mixing | ||||
| Cast Album Production | ||||
| Keyboard | ||||
| 2025 | Space Baby | Missed Connections | Creator | N/A |
| Music | ||||
| Pixie's Playhouse | Music | |||
| The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals: Reprised! | Music Director | N/A | ||
| Keyboard 1 | ||||
| Kickstarter Video Music | ||||
Awards[]
| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Cinema Diverse, US | Best Web Series | Break: The Musical | Nominated | |
| Indie Series Awards | Best Soundtrack | Break: The Musical | Winner | ||
| Best Web Series (Comedy) | Break: The Musical | Nominated | |||
| Best Original Score | Break: The Musical | ||||
| Best Original Song | Break: The Musical | Just at the Start | |||
| Best Original Song | Break: The Musical | ||||
| International Academy of Web Television Awards | Best Original Music | Break: The Musical | Nominated | ||
| New Media Film Festival | Best Web Series | Break: The Musical | Nominated | ||
| 2013 | 86th Academy Awards | Best Original Score | How Sweet It Is | Semifinalist | |
| Best Original Song | How Sweet It Is | The Bite of Our Lives performed by Erich Bergen | Semifinalist | ||
| Best Original Song | How Sweet It Is | Try (How Sweet It Is) | Semifinalist | ||
| 2019 | BroadwayWorld Los Angeles Awards | Best Musical Director- Local | The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals | Winner | |
| 2021 | Hollywood Music in Media Awards (HMMA) | Best Original Song- Independent Film | CODA | Beyond the Shore performed by Emilia Jones | Winner |
| 2022 | Satellite Awards | Best Original Song | CODA | Beyond the Shore performed by Emilia Jones | Nominated |
Personal Life[]
Matt currently resides in Los Angeles. He greatly enjoys the sci-fi genre especially Star Trek.
Gallery
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