Personality Test: Peter Matthew Smith
Fresh from performing in the national tour of “Memphis the Musical,” Peter Matthew Smith has been appearing in back-to-back shows with Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera.
A former Sewickley resident and a graduate of Quaker Valley High School, Smith played Mr. Perkins in Pittsburgh CLO's recent production of “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.”
He's now performing through June 30 as Jean-Claude, the stage manager of the Paris Opera House, in the company's “Yeston and Kopit's Phantom” at the Benedum Center.
CLO audiences have seen him previously in “A Musical Christmas Carol” and “The Student Prince” in 2010 and “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” in 2009. He also played numerous roles in Pittsburgh Musical Theater shows, including “Rent” in 2010, which he also directed, and “Godspell” in 2009.
Since leaving Pittsburgh, he has been seen on Broadway in “Rent,” “Mamma Mia!,” “Hairspray,” “Fiddler on the Roof” and “Cry-Baby.” He is also a member of the singing group “The Broadway Boys.”
Smith and his wife, Amy Lutz, live in Windsor in York County. She is the main anchor for Fox43 in Harrisburg.
The star who would play me in the movie version of my life:
A young Nicholas Cage because everyone always tells me I look like him.
The piece of memorabilia from my childhood I wish I still had:
My Star Wars figures in the original packaging. They would have been worth a whole lot of dough.
The superpower I wish I had in real life:
Teleportation. I could live anywhere on the planet and still go to work in whichever city I was working.
I can't live without my iPod, cell phone, DVR or laptop?
Laptop. I need to be able to play video games. I know; I am a nerd.
Celebrity crush:
My wife (Amy Lutz). She is a news anchor and she is the hottest woman alive.
My favorite reality show:
I still like “Survivor.” I just enjoy the social strategizing.
My favorite Pittsburgh athlete:
Ben Roethlisberger; I just love watching that guy play.
Three people I'd love to have dinner with:
Harrison Ford, Joss Whedon and Nathan Fillion. Have I mentioned I am a nerd?
Saturday mornings, you'll find me:
Asleep. I am usually not awake in the mornings.
One word my mother would use to describe me:
Stubborn
I'm deathly afraid of:
Heights
The last book I read:
“Catching Fire”
My most memorable fashion mistake:
Putting on my clothes every day
The most famous person I ever became friends with:
Zachary Quinto. He and I were really close in our high-school years.
The movie that always makes me cry:
“Field of Dreams.” Come on, he plays catch with his dead dad's ghost at the end!? (Spoiler!)
My favorite cable channel:
ESPN. I can't live without ESPN.
My first job:
I was a paperboy when I was 10 years old. Getting up at 5:30 a.m. to fold and deliver all of the papers on my BMX bike got to be a little too much after a while. But guess what made me want to do that job? A video game.
Best new gadget I've tried recently:
iPad: It's the best purchase I ever made after a house and a car.
The song that always gets me out on the dance floor:
“Baby Got Back.” My friends and I used to lip synch to that song growing up and perform it for whomever wanted to watch us embarrass ourselves.
TV marathon I could watch all day:
There are a few: “West Wing,” “Battlestar Galactica” (2003), “Arrested Development” and “Game of Thrones” because they are all tied for the best TV series ever, in my opinion.
The person I'm most often mistaken for:
Nicholas Cage. I get it all the time.
If I could live my life as someone else, it would be:
George Lucas, for obvious nerdy reasons. Also, the money would be a nice perk, as well.
Movie I could watch every time it appears on cable:
“Shawshank Redemption.” Probably the best movie of all time.
My childhood nickname:
Pete. I know; they went all out on that one.
My favorite website:
Kotaku; it's a video-game news website.
If I wasn't an actor-dancer, I'd be:
A video-game developer. Yep, nerd through and through.
My most treasured fashion accessory:
Nothing; I have zero fashion sense. I am quite content with staying that way.
My favorite sandwich, plus fixings:
Probably a Reuben. Or a corned-beef Primanti Bros. sandwich.
People would be surprised to know that I:
Have never drunk alcohol. And even more surprising, I have no real reason as to why. Growing up, I noticed people doing some stupid, underage things because of alcohol, so that's what initially turned me off to it. But the older I got, the more I realized that I enjoy myself plenty without a social lubricant. Imagine the amount of money I have saved.
