Richard W. Rodriguez
Matthew Minor and I are both awaiting orders from the photographer.
We’re standing on the storied stage at Casa Mañana, where generations have performed, albeit not necessarily in the half-moon. This place became famous as a theater in the round. They would run sets down the aisles. To the uninitiated — like me — it seemed like a logistical nightmare waiting for litigation.
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“Piggy” in “Lord of the Flies,” by William Golding at Barrington Stage Company in The Berkshires and WaterTower Theatre in Addison.
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“Horton the Elephant” in “Seussical,” by Ahrens & Flaherty at Casa Mañana in Fort Worth and in the National Tour that traveled throughout the Northeast.
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“Prince Albert Edward, the Prince of Whales” in “Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Fallen Souffle,” by David McGregor at Stage West in Fort Worth.
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“Ellard Simms” in the Southern farce “The Foreigner,” by Larry Shue at The Cape Playhouse in Cape Cod and The Maltz Jupiter Theatre in South Florida.
But Minor knows this terrain like the back of his hand. Every inch of it.
Another member of our conversation mentions the 1,000 seats in here.
“1,001,” Minor jokingly corrects. “When they converted this to the half-moon, I did the first production — a musical called ‘Summer of ’42.’ I’ve been around these halls for a while. It’s a great theater.”
In fact, Minor estimates that he’s been in upwards of 50 productions here, including his very first. He was in the fourth grade at Country Day. He was a Casa Kid. That was the start of a love affair with the stage that has taken him to “The Theater Capital of the World,” where even off-broadway feels like the big stage.
He has done a few films and television, “but really what I've always loved is stage acting,” he says.
Minor, 37, is a residential Realtor for Compass, where in five short years he has made a rise on top Realtor lists. It was, he says, a natural fit for him when he pivoted — only slightly — as a professional actor.
When he’s not negotiating real estate transactions, you might find him on stage.
If memory serves me well — a big if — he most recently portrayed Prince Albert Edward, “Bertie,” the playboy Prince of Whales in “Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Fallen Souffle” by David McGregor at Stage West.
He calls that credit “the most fun role I’ve ever played,” a flamboyant and hammy spoiled brat of a British prince (are there any other kind?) and future king who believes he’s the target of a murder plot. And who better to get to the bottom of it than Sherlock Holmes?
Those are the only roles he auditions for these days — those that he really wants to do. “I only do it if it's a role that is good that I want to play. I don't audition for every little thing.”
By the way, he volunteered that “Bertie” was a particular favorite. I later felt like I made a mistake when I asked him to list off five favorite roles. It’s tantamount to the question, “Which is your favorite kid?”
“That’s a hard question,” he says. “I’ve found value and growth in most roles I’ve played.”
He played along, nonetheless. Good actors are willing to be directed, after all.
His other roles (these are not necessarily his “favorite”) have included Reiver in “Crossing the Line” and Roy in “The Death of Walt Disney,” both at Amphibian Stage; Ellard Sims in “The Foreigner” at Cape Playhouse in Massachusetts and The Maltz Jupiter Theatre in Florida; Horton in “Seussical the Musical” at both Casa Mañana and the National Tour; Bear in “White People” at the Ensemble Studio Theatre in New York City; Lexy Mill in George Bernard Shaw’s “Candida” at the Pittsburgh Public Theatre; and Bobby in the stage adaptation of “Deliverance.”
His role as Dragline in “Cool Hand Luke” in the award-winning Godlight Theatre Company in New York, he says, was a favorite. He performed in several other roles at the Godlight and is still a company member there, traveling back to work with them when able.
In New York he also did “Lord of the Flies.” He played Piggy. This topic came up in passing as we chatted.
“It was sad,” he says, deadpan. “You get killed every night. I got killed every night.” Then he snaps back to reality, dropping the role of clever subject, and says with a big smile, “No, it’s fun.”
A graduate of The Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York, Minor is a member of the Actors’ Equity Association and the Screen Actors Guild.
Before performing as Horton in “Seussical” last year, Minor’s last role at Casa was as a 15-year-old, an interim of 20 years.
Minor was born and raised in Fort Worth. He went to Country Day up until high school. He graduated from Arlington Heights.
Theater was, of course, a prominent part of his life every step of the way.
He went to Oklahoma University to hone the craft. He stayed there for two years before being called to something bigger: New York City. At 20 years old, he dropped into the Big Apple to chase this dream of the stage on the biggest stage of them all.
“I had wanted to go for so long,” he says. “I was just kind of wanted to get into it. I felt like I was really trained.”
He says he had the support of his parents, who urged him to “go do your thing.”
After all, what are your 20s for, if not the pursuit of a dream? There is no better time to take a leap. How does one even begin to start as an actor in New York City? Knock on doors? Just show up?
“Yes,” he says laughing, indicating that it’s all of that. “I found it in incredibly nerve-wracking to move to NYC before I even turned 21. But I had begun acting professionally before I left elementary school. I remember going to college and feeling like I’d ‘learned it all.’ And I don’t mean that to say I was any good, I was just ready to stop learning how to act and go do it.”
He stayed there for the next 10 years, working all over the country as an actor based in New York.
“I loved living there until I didn't. That city is a grind,” Minor says. “When I went there, I was so young and scrappy that it was fun, but then after a while, it just got to be just too much of a grind. I lived such a simpler half of my life here [laughing]. I was spending two hours a day on the subway — at least.
“But I’m proud that I relied on my raw talent and ability which offered me the chance to experience the city at such a young age.”
He says real estate was always the plan when he returned home. He loves this career. It starts with a passion for interior design, a reverence for great architecture, and an instinct for transformation — seeing not what a space is, but what it could be.
It’s a set, after all.
“Absolutely,” he says when asked if his life and career in theater have helped him as a Realtor. “Being an actor in New York City trains you in many ways. Perseverance, effort, honing a craft, cultivating beauty. Real Estate awakens all of my senses. There is an art to not only staging a home but pricing it. I take pride in curating not only a performance onstage, but the sale of a property. I believe art and commerce do go hand-in-hand and feel blessed to pursue both.”
He had thought about doing real estate in New York, “but I just didn’t have the network that I have here. I had a great start just with my family and friends alone.”
He did some interior design stuff in New York.
Even the theater community is a great network. He sold a house just this summer to a castmate in a show at Stage West.
“Also, I know these streets and neighborhoods like the back of my hand, just being from here.”
When he left 16 years ago, he didn’t necessarily think he was coming back. It’s part of youth, the thought of leaving home and never coming back.
“I love Fort Worth,” Minor says. “I always thought when I was a kid that I would never stay around. But then when I would visit over the years, I'm like, this is a really cool city. And for acting, I've been a union performer since I was 20, so I can only do shows at professional theaters. Fort Worth has the most professional theaters of any city in Texas, not just North Texas. More than Dallas, more than Austin. More than even Houston.
“We have great arts in Fort Worth, don't we?”