Episode
Ep. 313: Fire Island's Queer Theater Renaissance: Matt Freeman on Change Arts & the Fire Island Theatre Festival
- Published
- Sep 15, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 2702
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- https://www.everythingandanythingpodcast.com/
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Summary
Zach sits down with Matt Freeman — theater educator, arts administrator, and founder of Change Arts — for a wide-ranging conversation about growing up in a Long Island performing arts program, coming out the same year his father did (on Fire Island, no less), and building a life and home in Cherry Grove. Matt traces Fire Island's queer roots back to 1930s Broadway "theater people" and the 1938 hurricane that reshaped the community, then digs into his work with Change Arts, an organization rethinking how art education reaches students. The conversation turns to his new Fire Island Theatre Festival (Fitfest), a multi-day celebration of local playwrights, composers, and National Queer Theater running September 23–27, plus a candid update on adopting his 15-year-old daughter. Attend Fitfest: https://www.changearts.org/fit-fest Follow Change Arts on IG: https://www.instagram.com/changeartsorg/ https://www.changearts.org/ https://findyourart.org/