By Chip Deffaa***“Everything is happening so quickly!” says Ethan Mathias to me with a good-natured smile. He’s not complaining, he stresses. This rising young cabaret star wouldn’t have things any other way. He’s long hoped for the kind of success in his field that he’s now finding. But in the past year, his life has changed so
dramatically, he sometimes feels like there’s barely time to breathe.
Personally, I’ve been following Ethan’s career for quite some time, and we’ve become friends. He also works with me as a recording artist. So, whereas I would not review one of his shows, I can say it’s been many years since I’ve seen a newcomer emerge in the cabaret world with the mix of talent, dedication, focus and drive that young Ethan has. I always enjoy working with him. I have great belief in him and so I’d like to share his story with you.
It made news when, in the past year—at the tender age of 16—he won both the BroadwayWorld Award and the MAC Award for an outstanding cabaret debut show. In addition (at the suggestion of Sue Matsuki), he entered the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) vocal competition, and received first-place honors in his age group in BOTH the musical-theater and classical music categories. I can’t recall anyone in the cabaret world ever winning so many significant awards and honors at such a young age. To date, Ethan has also appeared in two Off-Broadway productions, two television programs, and one movie.
These days, everyone seems to want him to appear some place, whether as a 
guest in their cabaret show or on a recording project, or in an all-star concert (like the American Popular Song Society’s gala June 15th celebration of Sidney Myer). He’s getting invitations to perform in settings that he never even knew existed, such as the annual Glenn Miller Festival in Iowa. Music director Michael Lavine, who’s worked with Ethan and seemingly everybody in the business at one time or another, says of Ethan: “He’s conscientious and kind, and he’s willing to learn. He reads music like a dream. He’s almost always in the center of the pitch. He’s an excellent musician. If I give him notes, he picks them up quicky.”
Most cabaret-goers first became aware of Ethan when, at age 15, he became the youngest performer in New York doing a cabaret show of his own. He won fans via well-received appearances at Don’t Tell Mama (directed by Lennie Watts, music-directed by Tracy Stark). He was singing modern musical theater songs he liked. And garnering great reviews. But Ethan Mathias’ story began long before that.
“I’ve been singing for as long as I could talk,” Ethan tells me. “Even when I was a very little kid, I’d watch film musicals like The Wizard of Oz and Bye Bye Birdie, and I’d sing the songs from those films.” He notes that he grew up in a family in the small town of Ada, Michigan, where doing musical theater felt like the norm; it was just something that kids in his family did. “I was the youngest of 11 kids; I had seven older sisters, three older brothers. A lot of my siblings did local theater stuff. When we were driving in the car, there was always music playing. We’d listen to Broadway stuff on Sirius XM, which I loved.”
By age five, he was appearing on stage in musicals: in the ensemble of a local production of Evita, for instance. By age nine, Ethan was playing the role of “John” in the musical, Fun Home, at the Circle Theatre in Grand Rapids. And he enjoyed choir-singing, too. “By the time I was nine or ten, I knew that performing was something I wanted to do for a living. None of my siblings felt that way,” Ethan reflects. They LIKED musical theater, he says, but he LOVED it, with a passion whose source he could not explain. His mom, Lisa Mathias, 
adds: “By age nine, he was telling me that he wanted an agent!” I doubt many nine-year-olds in Ada, Michigan even knew what an agent was, much less said that they wanted to have one. But Ethan’s mom eventually found him professional representation via Stewart Talent. And before long, he was performing in an Off-Broadway show in NYC: The Last Boy.
While the rest of the family remained back home, Ethan and his mom moved from Ada to NYC so that he could do the show, deciding to stay because New York is the best place or professional training. How did he feel about relocating to New York City? “I’ve gotten used to it,” he says evenly. “I miss seeing grass. And of course, I miss my family. But for what I’m doing, New York is important to me. I couldn’t do a fraction of the things I’m doing these days if I were still living in Ada, Michigan.”
Then there was COVID-19. Prior to the pandemic, Ethan had attended public school in Ada, sitting in classrooms along with all of his friends. When schools had to shut down and offered online instruction, Ethan found that he actually preferred studying online, so he left the Ada public school system and enrolled in an online education program, studying at his own pace, when it fit his own schedule. He thrived, completing 
both Algebra One and Two, for example, in one year. Ethan raced ahead, finishing high school at age of 16, skipping eighth grade altogether and taking a heavier-than-normal course load in 12th grade. This fall, he will start as a student at the prestigious Mannes School of Music in NYC.
Doing his academic work online also gave Ethan the freedom to pursue theatrical opportunities as they came along, whether in New York or elsewhere, such as in Utah, where he appeared in The School of Rock. And singing songs in musicals—and eventually in cabaret—really suited his personality. “I liked that I could reach people,” he told me. “I enjoy being able to connect with an audience. Sometimes songs can speak to people better than spoken words can. And I like the idea that maybe I can make someone’s day a bit better.” He adds: “I found that I felt calm on stage—in control. Everything feels more linear to me.” He notes that while singing the musical theater songs he loves, “I love being able to tell stories through some songs, or just sing my head off on other sorts of songs. They’re both fantastic art forms.”
Ethan also sought out the best teachers he could find, studying both singing and dancing. For two years he studied ballet with the Joffrey Ballet; now he studies with Janine Molinari of Dance Molinari. He feels that studying dance is valuable for any aspiring performer. Studying ballet helped teach him discipline, he says. Since age ten, his primary voice teacher has been Chris York. For the past two years, he’s also studied music and voice with teachers including Giuseppe Spoletini and James Noble in the Manhattan School of Music pre-college program. Ethan also studied the art of cabaret, learning from masters in the field at the Eugene O’Neill Center’s Cabaret & Performance Conference in Waterford, Connecticut; at “MAC to School” seminars in NYC; and at the noted Songbook Academy in Carmel, Indiana. Ethan has some major talents singing his praises these days. His champions include Broadway composer Adam Guettel, who’s helped mentor him, and such noted cabaret/concert stars as Jeff Harnar and Michael Feinstein, who calls Ethan “a quite remarkable young man.”
Ethan, understandably, had no idea where his journey might take him. He went to cabaret shows and concerts in New York because he enjoyed them, and he sought to meet the performers he liked. One artist would introduce him to another or tell him about opportunities for aspiring young performers. Alice Ripley, for example, introduced him to John McDaniel, who suggested the O’Neill Center’s Cabaret Conference. Ethan has struck me, from the day I met him, as one with an instinct for saying “yes” to good opportunities. He’s learning from the best.
In the recording studio, he’s a total pro—working well, without “attitude,” with good cheer. Ethan Mathias is now making his recording debut, singing several very rare Cohan songs on a new album that I’ve produced, George M. Cohan’s Broadway (available as either a physical CD or in digital form). He’s in the company of well-known, highly accomplished Broadway/cabaret pros such as Lee Roy Reams, Jon Peterson, Seth Sikes, Nicolas King and Josephine Sanges. 
Not only is Ethan is quite dedicated to his craft, he was even busy recording for me on his recent birthday. Additionally, other respected artists are inviting Ethan to sing duets with them for their own upcoming albums, i.e. Michael Townsend Wright and Keith Anderson. Townsend Wright says about Ethan, “It was a joy to work with a young man who’s already a seasoned pro–even at such a youthful age. I also liked that we could chat without my having to do any editing because of our generational difference. And Ethan’s a very nice person.”
I’ve enjoyed witnessing Ethan’s growth as an artist and watching more and more people discover him. I like his enthusiasm and his openness to life. All in all, the signs are mighty clear: Ethan Mathias is on his way.
On July 9th, Ethan appears in a new solo cabaret show, Wait Till You See What’s Next, at the Green Room 42 (570 Tenth Avenue at 42nd Street, NYC), directed by Eric Michael Gillett, who says “I think Ethan has something pretty special up his sleeve.” And it’s music-directed by pianist Michael Lavine.
Photo key (top to bottom): • photo by Stephen Mosher • with Sue Matsuki, photo courtesy of Ethan Mathias • with Michael Lavine, photo by Lisa Mathias • with Chris York, photo by Lisa Mathias • with Jeff Harnar, courtesy of Ethan Mathias • with Michael Feinstein, photo by Lisa Mathias • with Alice Ripley and Jon McDaniel, photo courtesy of Ethan Mathias • recording studio photo by Chip Deffaa
