David-Matthew Barnes

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David-Matthew Barnes
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David-Matthew Barnes

David-Matthew Barnes (born on September 3, 1970 in Torrance, California) is an American actor, writer and director who has become prominently known for his popular and often provocative stage plays. Many critics have compared his theatrical work to that of Tennessee Williams. While Barnes has just started to experience commercial success, his work has already garnered a devoted following of readers, comprised mostly of women and teenagers. His work has also received considerable interest from the gay community and young Latinos.

Barnes is known for being a prolific writer as his work has been featured in nearly a hundred literary journals, magazines, anthologies and thematic collections including The Best Stage Scenes of 1999, The Best Stage Scenes of 2000 and The Best Women's Stage Monologues of 2002. His first collection of poetry, Sins of the Flesh, was published in 2002 by Word Riot Press. He has written over fifty stage plays that are available from Brooklyn Publishers, Playscripts, Inc. and Diva D Publishing. His work has been produced on stages in Australia, Brazil, Canada, England, New Zealand, South Africa, Taiwan and in twenty-four American states. His signature plays include Are You All Right In There?, Better Places To Go, Bracelets and Boyfriends, Johnny Ramirez Really Wants To Kiss Me, Pensacola, Sloe Gin Fizz and Threnody, a critical favorite that many of his fans consider to be his masterpiece.

Barnes has directed theatrical productions of Eric Lane's Dancing On Checkers' Grave, John Patrick Shanley's Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, Cherie Vogelstein's Date With A Stranger, Michel Tremblay's Les Belles-Soeurs, Robert Harling's Steel Magnolias and Patricia Joudry's Teach Me How To Cry.

Barnes wrote and directed the independent coming-of-age film Frozen Stars (adapted from his stage play of the same title) that starred a then-unknown Lana Parrilla as a young woman named Lisa Vasquez. In the film, Lisa realizes that she is pregnant and is faced with a critical choice after being accepted into Harvard University. After the film was screened at the Directors Guild of America in Los Angeles, Frozen Stars was distributed on DVD by Liberty International Entertainment in November 2003.

Barnes has credited Judy Blume, Lois Duncan, Norma Fox Mazer and Gillian Armstrong's film Starstruck for having an impact on his writing while growing up. His other literary influences include Dorothy Allison, Jane Austen, Toni Cade Bambara, Rita Mae Brown, Sandra Cisneros, Fannie Flagg, Carolyn Forché, Beth Henley, Langston Hughes, Lynda Hull, Jamaica Kincaid, Dorianne Laux, Marsha Norman, Joyce Carol Oates, Dorothy Parker, Edith Wharton and Tennessee Williams. Recently, Barnes has started conducting scholarly research on French literature of the 17th century demonstrating a particular affinity for the works of Jean de La Fontaine, Marie-Madeleine Pioche de la Vergne, comtesse de la Fayette and Molière. Theatrically, Barnes' work has been influenced by Commedia dell'arte.

Barnes is the eldest grandson of prominent Los Angeles businessman Clifford Nickle, who died in 2002. Barnes' mother, Nancy Nickle, owns the California-based record label Catz Go Round Records. Barnes' younger brother, acclaimed musician Jamin Barnes, owns the San Diego restaurant Kafè Yen. Barnes is of French Canadian, German and Native American ancestry. He is related to Edwin M. Stanton, the Secretary of War during the American Civil War and Reconstruction era, and actress Ann Paige who appeared in the films China Doll and The Young Lions in 1958. Barnes' grandmother, Dorothy Helen Nickle, had a profound impact on his life by encouraging his creativity at a young age. After she died on Thanksgiving in 1997, Barnes named his theatre company The Dorothy Nickle Performing Arts Company in her honor.

Although Barnes grew up in Northern California he considers Chicago to be his hometown and has referred to it as "my favorite city in the U.S." Barnes often talks about his fondness for the country of Belgium and has said "I harbor a secret dream to live in Brussels one day. The city is magical and the people are poetry." Barnes is actually very well-traveled. He and a childhood friend backpacked through Europe in 1990 and spent time in seven countries. Barnes lived in a bamboo hut on the Greek island of Ios for nearly five months where he worked as a dishwasher during the day and a dancer at night.

As a teenager, Barnes attended the ecclectic Berkeley High School and the Visual and Performing Arts Center at Sacramento High School. He published his first short story, an anti-nuclear war piece titled The Children Are Crying, that appeared in the anthology Across The Generations when he was just fourteen. The following year, he was cast as a series regular on the Bay Area television show Dance Floor, which he appeared on for a year and where he discovered a true love for Latin freestyle music. He received awards for Outstanding Student Director and Outstanding Achievement in Theatre at American River College, where he was also the captain of the cheerleading team, the president of the dramatic arts club and appeared in many stage productions including The Comedy of Errors, Twelfth Night, Charles Gordone's No Place To Be Somebody and the West Coast premiere of Samuel Schwartz's heartbreaking gay love story Vito on the Beach. He then studied briefly at The Theatre School of DePaul University (including a master class with Faye Dunaway) and in the fiction writing department of Columbia College Chicago.

In 2006, Barnes graduated magna cum laude with a degree in communications and English from Oglethorpe University, where he attended their evening degree program. There, he was the founding editor of The Night Cap newsletter and worked under the mentorship of Nancy Keita and Annie Hunt Burriss. At present, Barnes is completing a Master of Fine Arts in the low-residency creative writing program at Queens University of Charlotte, where he is currently studying under the creative guidance of Elissa Schappell. Barnes is a member of the Alpha Chi National College Honor Society, the Dramatists Guild and the Theatre Communications Group.

As a teacher, Barnes has instructed acting, writing and dance classes to students of all ages since 1992.

Since 2003, Barnes has lived in McDonough, Georgia where he owns a home with his partner of seven years, award-winning producer Nick Moreno. They are strong advocates for animal rights and are the parents of five cats and a Cairn Terrier named Lucy McGillicuddy. In February 2002, Moreno and Barnes became legal guardians of Moreno's younger brother and sister, Ricardo Zuniga and Jessica Moreno. The four of them quickly became a family of their own and have been ever since. Ricardo lives with Moreno and Barnes and is currently finishing his last year of high school. Jessica now lives in Los Angeles but visits often. The family was featured in a recent issue of The Advocate.

Barnes is currently working on his second novel, an exploration of a bittersweet relationship between a mother and daughter titled A Woman's Place. His other projects include three new stage plays: a powerful examination of female teen rebellion titled The Marijuana Mermaids, the Southern-flavored female comedy The Bray of the Belles and Whirl, a character-driven drama that explores the ill-fated relationship between two young men.

Of his writing career Barnes has stated, "Truthfully, my dream job is to write for a soap opera. My life has often paralleled them, so I figure why not put my experiences to dramatic use." He is an avid fan of the television show The Young and The Restless and has been since 1980. Of his social circle of well-known actor, musician and writer friends, Barnes is usually tight-lipped. He maintains a very private life. Although, it has been widely rumored that Barnes has dated two male celebrities. "I'm lucky that I'm a writer," he has said. "Otherwise tabloids would have had a field day with me and my life."

Contents

[edit] Bibliography and Filmography

[edit] Films

• Frozen Stars (2003)

[edit] Novels

• Ambrosia (2003) • Coming Up For Air (2007)

[edit] Short Story Collections

• The Colors of Heartbreak (2007)

[edit] Drama Collections

• Monologues That Kick Ass (2005) • Suite Sixteen: A Collection of One-Act Plays (2006)

[edit] Poetry Collections

• Forgive Me, I'm Young (2004) • Sins of the Flesh (2003) • They Don't Speak My Language Here (2007)

[edit] One-Act Plays

• And The Winner Is... (1999) • Are You All Right In There? (1995) • Baby In The Basement (2003) • Bracelets and Boyfriends (2006) • Clean (2001) • The Dead Teacher (2006) • False Hopes (1999) • Felicia Is A Fraud (2007) • Hour Glass (2004) • I Ate Lunch Alone Today (2001) • Johnny Ramirez Really Wants To Kiss Me (2006) • A Month of Sundays (2004) • No Boys Allowed (2006) • Number 76 (1999) • Praying To The Porcelain Gods At Paradise Cove (2006) • Punch Bowl (2005) • A Rum Cake For Rita (2004) • Stay (1995) • Stronger Than This (2000) • Taking Off (2006) • This Is My Last Date With The Boogey Man (2006) • Threnody (1996) • Try (2005) • Unrequited (2002) • Wendy's Hurricane (1996)

[edit] Full Length Plays

• Barrio (2007) • Better Places To Go (2002) • The Bray of The Belles (2007) • Chimera (1998) • A Darling Among The Maidens (1998) • From Here I Can See Heaven (2007) • Frozen Stars (1998) • Grave Stones (2007) • Highway Flowers (2007) • The Marijuana Mermaids (2007) • Pensacola (1996) • Rock Star (1996) • Sanctuary (1996) • Shangri-La! (1995) • Sky Lines (2004) • Sloe Gin Fizz (2000) • Somebody’s Baby (1996) • Temporary Heroes (1996) • Whirl (2007)

[edit] Screenplays

• Bitter and Sweet (2001) • Chimera (1999) • Death Do Us Part (2006) • Drama Queen (2006) • Fifty Yards and Holding (2006) • Frozen Stars (1999) • Glimmer (2006) • Good For Your Age (2007) • The Marijuana Mermaids (2001) • Prey (2006) • Rock It Girl (2000) • Scare Me, Kill Me (2006) • Sorrow Is My Sister (2000) • Threnody (2000)

[edit] Short Film Scripts

• Are You All Right In There? (2000) • Baby in the Basement (2002) • The Dead Teacher (2006)

[edit] Collections Featuring Monologue and Scene Excerpts

• 60 Seconds To Shine: Monologues for Men (2006) • 60 Seconds To Shine: Monologues for Women (2006) • Audition Arsenal: 101 Monologues for Women in Their 20s (2005) • Audition Arsenal: 101 Monologues for Men in Their 20s (2005) • Audition Arsenal: 101 Monologues for Women in Their 30s (2005) • The Best Stage Scenes of 1999 • The Best Women's Stage Monologues of 1999 • The Best Men's Stage Monologues of 1999 • The Best Stage Scenes of 2000 • The Best Women's Stage Monologues of 2000 • The Best Men's Stage Monologues of 2000 • The Best Women's Stage Monologues of 2002 • The Comfusion Review • The Ultimate Audition Book: 221 One-Minute Monologues for Men (2006) • The Ultimate Audition Book: 221 One-Minute Monologues for Women (2006) • Young Women's Monologues from Contemporary Plays (2007)

[edit] Collections Featuring Short Stories and Essays

• Men of Mystery: Erotic Tales of Intrigue and Suspense (2007) • Time Intertwined (2006) • The Persistence of Dreams (2005) • Rite of Passage: Tales of Backpacking 'Round Europe (2003) • Small-Town Gay (2005)(Lambda Literary Award Nominee)

[edit] External links

[edit] See Also

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