Welcome...

to the homepage of
Charlie Matkin

I am a singing actor and lecturer. Clink on this link if you would like to hear some voice samples.

I have sung my last as a chorister with New Orleans Opera.Due to eye problems and weak knees, I am no longer able to navigate darkened and raked stages. It has also become increasingly difficult to read music and memorize the foreign languages. My final preformance was Turandot, in October. I was able to manage it because it was done as a concert version. I was able to sit the entire time and hold the music. I had been honored in April, 2011 (along with several ladies) for having been with the opera (off and on) for 50 years.

I sang in Tosca in 2009 and was also in the Verdi Requiem in January,2010 and I was in The Flying Dutchman in the spring. I took a fall the first day of December, 2009 when my left knee buckled. As of late January, I was using a walker and have gotten an official "handicapped" tag for my car.

In the past couple of years, I have lost most of the sight in my left eye, and sometimes wear an eye patch.

(In the photo above, I am in costume for a recent opera, and wearing a wig.)

To go to specific areas of my history, click on the underlined subjects below:

(If you have problems with any of my links, please bear with me.
I am currently rebuilding several pages.)

Updated November 20, 2011

The second Placido Domingo Gala, opening the restored Performing Arts Center was A Night to Remember!

We finished the opera Carmen in late March and went right into rehearsals for La Traviatta which played in mid-April.. In Carmen, I was first a begger and later a gypsy.

It was a pleasure to be back on stage with my old friend Peter Gabb and new friend Sara Jane McMahon.

(He played the Innkeeper and she was Michaela).

I had been in Carmen before, possibly more than once, when Norman Treigle sang the role of Escamillo. Although I had never done La Traviata before, I now have had the opportunity of being onstage with another Treigle, his daughter Phylis. We had both sung for Italian Night at the Hilton Hotel many years ago. In La Traviata, she sang the part of the maid.

Julie Condy was in a dinner theater production of The Sound of Music with me many years ago and we have continued our friendship over the years. She is now the AGMA rep for the opera chorus.

I have added excerpts from our Radio Theatre shows and will expand on this soon. In 1993 we formed a non-profit group and did re-creations of Old Time Radio shows. We performed mainly at schools, churches and Long Vue Gardens. The shows were recorded before live audiences for later broadcast. except for two that were done in studio. If you would care to hear some of them, begin by clicking on Intro. Then proceed to Baby Snooks. and The Bickersons and Fibber McGee & Molly. For suspense, try the half-hour radio show, . The Hitch Hiker . I am also attempting to air a one-hour program on the harp, (music, history & specific harpists). I have had difficulty finding funding, but now have a commitment from a radio station if or when I get the funds. I am in the process of writing grant requests. To hear a sample of the program (about 6 minutes of excepts) click here:

(It may take a while to download after you click on it, If you don't have an audio program, go to realaudio.com for a free download)

I recorded an album of show tunes with the Ronnie Kole Trio.

I don't know why I was in a tux when this picture was taken with Ronnie.
This is one of the cuts from the album: Granada

Harps Beaucoup

Opera post Katrina

Music activities post Katrina

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Good times/Bad times

I arrived in New Orleans in 1961, planning to stay a short time and then head for the west coast to pursue a career as a professional singer. Instead, I got a job at a radio station and became a chorister with the New Orleans Opera Association. I have sung in several operas over the years but not on a regular basis until after hurricane Katrina in 2005. Since then I have been in the Domingo Gala, La Boheme, Faust, Rigoletto and was in Manon Lescaut, earlierin December. Rehearsals for La Traviata (April performance) began November 15th and we are now rehearsing for the Domingo Gala this Saturday, January 17th..

I once sang on "Tonight With Mel" on WDSU-TV: Gigi
Charlie Weaver (Cliff Arquette) was a guest on the show.
When I finished singing, he compared me to Earl Wrightson, one of my idols.
A couple of years later, I was Wrightson's understudy in a Summer Stock production of "Camelot".

I hope to add some more songs to this page in the near future. In addition to the album of show tunes I recorded
with the Ronnie Kole Trio, I have songs that I sang or "lip-synced" on TV, plus some that were recorded in "live" performances or at home.

My wife Jean and I owned and operated the

Several years ago, I joined Toastmasters and I've have given lectures on Old Time Radio to retirement
homes, church and Senior Citizens groups, an AARP chapter and the D-Day/World War 2 Museum. Hopefully, there will be life as a professional speaker now that I have retired from the hotel business). In the near future, I will be adding to this web page the speeches I have made so far.

My Early Years

My Parents

My Family

Family History

Schools

When I first came to New Orleans I lived and sang in the French Quarter:

French Quarter Nights

I was in

BROADCASTING

I have traveled the U.S. & Canada with various performing groups and have sung leading roles in Summer Stock as well as in local productions. I have appeared on many radio and television programs as well as in radio and television commercials.

ON THE ROAD

There is a lot to the idea of things being better the second time around, as I found when I came back to

New Orleans again.

Family ties have become increasingly important as the years go by. I became interested in genealogy several years back and have been able to contribute some information to the Matkins Information Center in Montana. It was a surprise to learn that there are several hundred Matkin(s) families in the U.S. & Canada. On a trip to England a few years ago, we met with several Matkin families. More recently, I learned that the name is popular in the Ukraine and possibly originated in Russia. The word for mother in russian is "Mat".

You can reach me at my primary EMAIL

My Deceased Son


Jean is a former model and television weather program hostess and commercial spokesperson. She is also a talented harpist.



Several years ago, a group of professional actors and/or broadcasters got together to re-create old time radio scripts as a fund-raiser for WRBH-FM, Radio for the Blind in New Orleans. This led to the creation of a non-profit organization, New Orleans Radio Theatre, Inc., of which I was a co-founder and am now President and Executive Producer. We have recently been involved in a project to create a Radio & TV Museum in New Orleans. However, that appears to be an idea whose time has NOT come. We have closed down the project. Very sad not to have gotten any funding or enough interest to continue.
We have a new web page, however. Go to the link for the virtual museum after clicking http://www.neworleansradiotheatre.org/

My SECONDARY email address: matkin@mail.com

Paul Yacich