By Raphael Sugarman
Jeffrey Matisoff came here with the expressed purpose of not becoming a star, and, in fact, never acting again. “Even though I was working constantly as an actor in high school and college I wasn't enjoying it,” said Matisoff, who lives in Astoria. “I didn't have the love for it that many actors have.”Though he has tremendous respect for actors and the gumption and tenacity it takes to make it on stage or in films, Matisoff sensed early in his training that he would be more comfortable behind the scenes. So, when he graduated from Northern Kentucky University and moved to New York City only five days after the attack on the World Trade Center, Matisoff knew he'd have to pursue a different avenue of show business.He got a job with Dave Clemmons Casting, one of the city's prominent casting agencies, between Sept. 2001 and March 2003. “It was definitely nice to be off the stage and removed from that world [performance] by a step. He was then hired as assistant to the producer for a production of the musical “Prince and the Pauper” at the refurbished Lamb's Theatre in Times Square.As the “Prince and the Pauper” wound down, Matisoff was offered a job with Eilran Murphy Group, the Lamb Theatre's advertising agency, where he remains today. At only 26 years old, he is an account executive for the company that represents such well known arts institutions as the Roundabout Theatre, Channel 13, the American Museum of Natural History and the New York City Opera. Matisoff, himself, spearheaded the advertising for the hugely popular Off-Broadway offering “Slava's Snowshow,” which has been running around the world for more than a decade and at the Union Square Theatre since August 2004. The show is part visual theater, part clowning and mime, part blizzard. “It's such a great show, it's one of those shows everybody walks out enjoying,” said Matisoff. “The rush of this job is hearing the buzz and helping someone communicate that buzz.”For “Slava's Snowshow,” Matisoff oversaw the rebuilding of the marquee awning at the theater, and helped create the television advertising and direct mailing campaigns. Recently, Matisoff was on the N train back to Queens when he met up with a couple who had loved “Slava's Snowshow.” “They went on and on about how great it was,” he recalled. “They said I should definitely go and see it.””I said, 'yeah, I'll try and do that.'””Slava's Snowshow” is at the Union Square Theatre is at 100 E. 17th St. Call 212-505-0700 or 212-307-4100.
