Matthew Murray (born June 10, 1976) is an American theatre critic and technology writer, best known for his reviews of New York theater on TalkinBroadway.com and his articles for the

Ziff-Davis Ziff Davis, Inc. is an American digital media and internet company. First founded in 1927 by William Bernard Ziff Sr. and Bernard George Davis, the company primarily owns technology-oriented media websites, online shopping-related services, an ...

family of computer magazines. He is a nominator for the Theater World Awards and at one time also for the

Drama Desk Awards The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. Fo ...

Early life and education

Murray grew up in

Bellingham, Washington Bellingham ( ) is the most populous city in, and county seat of Whatcom County in the U.S. state of Washington. It lies south of the U.S.–Canada border in between two major cities of the Pacific Northwest: Vancouver, British Columbia (loc ...

, where he became interested in computers and technology. He studied Theatre Arts at

Washington State University Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant uni ...

before transferring to

Western Washington University Western Washington University (WWU or Western) is a public university in Bellingham, Washington. The northernmost university in the contiguous United States, WWU was founded in 1893 as the state-funded New Whatcom Normal School, succeeding a pri ...

, where he earned a BA in Dramatic Writing.

Career

Murray moved to New York City in 2000, when he began writing for TalkinBroadway.com. His first review was a pan of

Theresa Rebeck Theresa Rebeck (born February 19, 1958) is an American playwright, television writer, and novelist. Her work has appeared on the Broadway and Off-Broadway stage, in film, and on television. Among her awards are the Mystery Writers of America's ...

's Spike Heels. In 2002, Murray also joined BroadwayStars.com as an editor and columnist. The same year, Murray joined the Drama Desk, sitting on the nominating committee for the

in the 2005–2006 season. In 2008, the integrity of the nomination process was called into question. Murray spoke out questioning the Drama Desk leadership, and was removed from the Drama Desk's email group. He created his own group called Drama Desk Uncensored. He was eventually readmitted to the group's listserve. Murray was an associate editor of TheaterMania.com from 2002 to 2005, during which time he contributed to 'The Theatermania Guide to Musical Theater Recordings'. In 2004 and 2005, he hosted with

Peter Filichia Peter Filichia (born 1946) is the former New York-based theater critic for ''The Star-Ledger'' newspaper in Newark, New Jersey and New Jersey's television station News 12, as well as for ''The Asbury Park Press'' . In addition, Filichia has two ...

the live theatre discussion show ''Bitch or Brag About Broadway'' at New York's 45th Street Theatre. In 2005 Murray became a senior editor of Stage Directions Magazine, the same year he joined the nominating committee for the

Theatre World Award The Theatre World Award is an American honor presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, either on Broadway or Off-Broadway. It was first awarded for the 1945–1946 theatre se ...

. In 2006, Murray began added technology to his writing portfolio, taking a position as senior editor at Computer Shopper in 2006. When 'Computer Shopper' ceased publication in 2009, Murray joined Ziff-Davis, where he has written about a variety of technology topics for several of the publisher's magazines and web publications.''Edited Clean Version: Technology and the Culture of Control''
By Raiford Guins

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, Matthew 1976 births Living people