mah: photo gallery photos from theatre appearances

9 to 5
Based on Dolly Parton's song and 1980 musical, Matthew plays lecherous and sexist boss, Franklin Heart, Jr. The musical (as the movie) deals with his three tormented secretaries exacting their revenge upon the sleeze.

i do! i do!
Matthew teamed up with his talented and beautiful wife Christina for this two person play, which revolves around forty years in the marriage of an unnamed couple. The setting takes place solely in their bedroom and the primary set is their big four poster marriage bed. The first scene takes place on their wedding night (1895), and ends forty years later (1945) as they are forced to leave their decades long home. In the mean time, there are happy times, arguments, and heartbreaks. It is the story of a marriage.

(shakespeare's) antony and cleopatra
Matthew appeared in the lead role of -- no, not cleo -- Mark Antony in Southwest Theatre Company's (Mesa, Arizona) production of Shakespeare's history; throughout April of 2011. Mark Antony abandons duties as a loyal Roman commander upon being beguiled by the Egpytian Queen. The play revolves around their love and battles against Octavian (later to become the first Emperor Augustus) and the might of Rome. Kerry Lengel, The Arizona Republic ("Ex-soap star Ashford in 'Antony and Cleopatra' at MAC The former 'Days of Our Lives' actor bubbles over role") wrote:

Southwest Shakespeare's marketing strategy for Antony and Cleopatra looks like a case of "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em." Instead of heralding the literary merit of the play, they're calling it "Shakespeare's greatest soap opera" to play up the pedigree of star Matthew Ashford, former star of "Days of Our Lives." And why not? Shakespeare was a genius, sure, but his plots tend toward the over-the-top. And aren't plays supposed to be fun? "Coming back to Shakespeare, I find that Antony and Cleopatra is one of the most modern, sophisticated plays because the characters are so human and flawed and sexual and adult," Ashford says. "There's just a heat and a passion that they carry that is all too human."These are people of excess. Antony and Cleopatra have no filter. They just let 'er rip in front of people. And that's exciting because so many characters I've played were really holding back. These characters just let it fly. They give way to full emotions. They say what they think, they do what they want, in front of anybody." Ashford, who starred as Jack Devereaux on Days (1987-93 and 2001-06), studied classical theater at the North Carolina School of the Arts under Jared Sakren, now Southwest Shakespeare's artistic director. His television credits include General Hospital, One Life to Live and the supernatural-themed Charmed. With screen roles becoming sparser, Ashford has returned more and more to the theater, including a recent stint in the national tour of "Mamma Mia!" "When I'm working on television, you've got camera guys and lighting guys and grips and the occasional director," he says. "You perform for who you have, but it's the audience that really feeds you. Being onstage, there's an immediate connection. The performance is a two-way street, the energy is going back and forth. Mamma Mia! is very much like that, the audience just grooved on it. And that was just a big soap opera onstage." Guess you can take the actor out of the soap, but you can't take the soap out of the actor.

mamma mia!
Throughout the spring and summer of 2010, Matthew joined the North American touring company in the role of Bill Austin. He gained critical praise for his portrayl of Austin, Richard Ouzounian (April 29, 2010) wrote in thestar.com (Toronto, Canada), "...Matthew Ashford is propably the most original and charming of all the Bill Austins I've encountered, substituting sly style for boorish bravado."

guys and dolls
Matthew appeared in the romantic lead of Sky Masterson, in Sacramento Music Circus' production; July 2009. The musical is based on Damon Runyeon's characters. Nathan Detroit and his gang attempt to set up an illegal Craps game. High rolling gambler, Sky Masterson, who will bet on anything, comes to town for the game. However, the game is in jeopardy the police, and a local Christian mission set out to save souls. Sky is bet that he can take the virtuous Sarah Brown, daughter of the head of the mission, to Cuba and to get her to partake in its nightlife. In the end, Sarah wins Sky's heart, and he becomes part of the mission; and all the other semi-mobsters and gamblers are saved as well. Kathy Morrison of the Sacramento Bee (July 23, 2009), wrote, Sky, "who is often stiffy, here is given a wry likeability by Matthew Ashford. The Havana bar scene and subsequent `If I Were a Bell' number are hilariously staged. Watch as Sky keeps trying to catch a very drunk Sarah before she pitches over a cliff."

annie get your gun
Matthew appeared in the lead male role, Frank Butler, in the Pittsburgh CLO production, Pittsburgh, PA; July 22nd to August 3rd, 2008. In an intertnet review Ann Miner had this to say about Matthew's performance, "I'm not familiar with Ashford's television work, but he shows he is a true and accomplished musical theatre man and seems to really enjoy it...." The Irving Berlin musical is a fictionalize account of Annie Oakley's life and her time with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. Frank Butler is the show's star, and he becomes both rival and a romantic interest.