Velvet Stage was created for artists in transition.
For the moments between identities, projects, careers, and versions of ourselves.
For the season where something new is growing, even if it has not fully revealed itself yet.
So What Does Velvet Stage Mean Anyway?
We believe artists deserve spaces where they do not have to arrive fully polished or fully defined in order to belong. Especially for multi-hyphenates, there is often pressure to choose one title, one lane, one version of success. But many artists are meant to exist across disciplines. The actor who writes. The producer who directs. The creative building a career that does not fit neatly into one box.
Velvet Stage embraces the freedom of not having to choose just one version of yourself.
The word velvet also carries a deeper lineage within queer creative history, from the coded community of the Velvet Mafia, to the artistic rebellion of The Velvet Underground, to the emotional truths explored in The Velvet Rage. Velvet has long symbolized vulnerability, artistry, reinvention, and the hidden inner lives queer people have carried through generations.
The name Velvet Stage comes from the natural development of antlers in deer. Before antlers harden, they are covered in velvet, a living layer that supports growth, sensitivity, and transformation. The antlers are not yet fully formed, but they are becoming.
That idea sits at the heart of Velvet Stage.
Velvet Stage honors that legacy by creating a process-oriented space where queer artists and narratives can exist fully, expansively, and without apology.
Through workshops, storytelling, coaching, and artistic collaboration, Velvet Stage supports creative multi-hyphenates as they deepen their voice, reconnect to their instincts, and build meaningful artistic lives in community with fellow boundary pushers.
Because growth rarely happens when we are pretending to have it all figured out.
It happens in the velvet stage.
Who we are
Nick Flatto Executive Artistic Director
Nick (he/him) is an LGBTQ+ multi-hyphenate who is passionate about new works to educate, inspire, and strengthen communities. After a decade as a performer, Nick found he could have a more direct impact by building spaces as an educator, writer, director, and producer. He is a Tony-nominated Co-Producer on Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) and Operation Mincemeat. He is the Director and Lead-Producer of Stranger Sings: The Parody Musical, which was awarded the BroadwayWorld Award for Best Musical, is streaming on BroadwayHD, and is licensing worldwide. Nick is the Program Director for Life Jacket Theatre Company and Page 73’s Writers Retreat and Storytelling Project, working with local LGBTQ+ residents in shaping their stories to tell. As a graduate of Tectonic Theatre Company and Muhlenberg College, he enjoys devising theatre through Moment Work. With his original musical, Glass House, Nick is collaborating with composer/lyricist Mateo Chavez Lewis to carve out more representation of queer joy in the stories we experience. Glass House was lovingly developed with the support of Drama Club Camp, [Untitled] Musical Project, and Life Jacket Theatre Company. He is proud to be on the board of Out of the Box Theatrics, with a mission to elevate marginalized voices in theatre.
Matt Anderson Executive Director
Matt Anderson (he/him) is a leader with a rare blend of analytical insight, artistic passion, and deep social commitment. With a background in engineering from Northwestern University, Matt’s love of numbers and systems has always shaped his professional approach, balancing creative vision with a keen focus on the economic viability of productions. Matt’s career in theater began in the world of puppetry design off-Broadway, where he built intricate and compelling characters that brought magic and storytelling to life. In addition to his work in the arts, Matt is a practicing physician in the emergency room, where his sharp analytical skills and compassion guide him in high-pressure environments. Through his work, Matt continues to demonstrate that theater can be both an art form and a business, and that the stories of marginalized communities, especially the LGBTQ+ community, are not only deserving of being told — they deserve to be heard, supported, and celebrated.
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