'Fannie Lou' Musical

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“It was a natural thing, mimicking who I listened to. ... I’ll sit there, I’ll listen to it [the person’s voice], and I’ll break it down.”

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Matt Visconti has many voices. He can give you uncanny impressions of celebrities, cartoon characters, friends and acquaintances.

But the voice he used in front of an audience on the evening of Oct. 9, 2014 was strictly his own.

Matt served as the narrator for “Scenes and Songs from Fannie Lou: At Carnegie Hall,” a concert presentation of music and dialogue from the new, original musical inspired by the life of voting rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer. Matt’s job was to maintain audience engagement between the scenes and songs as he verbally linked them together. The role is arguably among the most important of the production.

“I was looking through the audition notice, and I saw that this was a role where I didn’t have to sing,” recalled Matt about what led him to audition for the part. “I was terrified to sing. Then I saw the narrator role. I said, that, I can do.”

Matt sells himself short on his singing ability -- but more on that later.

As for being able to perform the part of the narrator, he was absolutely right.

“For the role of the narrator, we wanted somebody who was able to draw in and involve the audience, and at the same time be assured and authoritative,” said composer/lyricist Felicia Hunter. “Matt’s own speaking voice is just that. He’s perfect for the role.”

Matt has been working as a voiceover actor for about 10 years. It’s been the fulfillment of a longtime yearning.

“I’ve been doing character voices and mimicking people -- celebrities and friends -- since I was a little kid,” Matt said. “It was a natural thing, mimicking who I listened to.”

It remained just a fun thing to do through Matt’s teen years and early adulthood. The need to find work after high school pushed him into the corporate world.

“I was mostly in IT -- I’m very technical minded,” said Matt, who worked in corporate America for 20 years. That led to financial stability and the promise of future security complete with a 401(k) and other perks. But it didn’t lead to total happiness.

“I finally got sick of working in the corporate world,” said Matt. His wife Francheska Torres -- herself an actress -- encouraged him to do what he really wanted. Matt and Franceska are newlyweds, having just gotten married in June after 11 years together.

“She’s been 100 percent supportive the entire way,” Matt said.

The first step towards pursuing his dream was learning more about it. That led Matt to enroll in the Connecticut School of Broadcasting. He graduated in 2006. The time spent there not only helped enhance his performance. It also introduced Matt to the technical side of voiceover work which, with his IT background, he was drawn to immediately.

“I totally fell in love with audio editing,” Matt said. “Things like layering sound effects or doing tracks, I like going into that technically.”

Matt also takes a technical approach to his performance. When a job requires him to impersonate someone, for example, “I’ll sit there, I’ll listen to it [the person’s voice], and I’ll break it down.”

He demonstrates:

“I came in one day for Bill Clinton at United Stations Radio,” Matt said as, while speaking, he adopted the easy, slightly hoarse drawl of the former president. As he continued talking, Matt verbally morphed into another instantly recognizable voice. “I kept getting lower and longer. Soon I was doing Matthew McConaughey. Then I realized, Matthew McConaughey is just Bill Clinton slowed down!” he laughed.

Matt likes voices that are fun for him to do.

“If it makes me giggle like an idiot, I love it,” he joked.

In addition to snagging gigs with the United Stations Radio Network after graduating from CSB, Matt’s voiceover work has included projects for KPMG, Verizon Wireless, AT&T, NBC, "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and Nick Jr., to name a few.

Among Matt’s favorite voices are holdovers from his childhood mimicking -- cartoon characters such as Yogi Bear and Shaggy from “Scooby Doo” -- as well as distinctive, mature voices such as Sir Alec Guinness.

“One of my absolute favorites definitely is Sir Alec Guinness,” said Matt. And, “I love Tom Jones. His tone, his baritone, is fantastic.”

Tom Jones? Yep. Matt grew up listening to a variety of singers, including Jones and classic popular groups such as those from the 40's and 50's.

“My parents were big doo wop fans,” noted Matt, “so when everybody else was listening to Madonna, I was listening to the Mills Brothers.”

Unbeknownst to Matt, he might also have been internalizing the vocal executions that good singers utilize. Because, despite his protestations, Matt definitely can sing.

"We had very good candidates for the narrator, so I asked Matt to sing something during auditions just in case someone else was chosen for the narrator part,” said Felicia. “He was a good sport and sang a few bars of a song, although reluctantly. He said he didn’t sing much. But he can sing! He has a very nice voice. Plus, he’s a nice guy, so it was a pleasure to welcome him to the cast. I told him If there were two of him, both would have been cast -- one as the narrator, and one as a singing member of the ensemble!”

With that kind of encouragement, as well the support Matt has received from wife Francheska and from friends, Matt has begun to explore his singing voice. One friend in particular, James Williams, has been a big help with that emerging aspect of Matt’s career. Matt and Williams, who was a member of the erstwhile R&B group D-Train, live in the same New Jersey community. They developed a friendship and now are collaborating on music projects.

“He and I have been working on all original music,” said Matt, adding, “We’ve been talking about doing some covers.”

The two began casually writing back and forth, and their work gradually developed, Matt said.

“It’s coming along. We have about six original tracks now,” he said.

Matt said he wants to see his career continue to grow. Another vocal realm he’d like to pursue is voiceovers for video games.

“I’ve been a video game junkie since I was a kid. I’d like to be a video game character, become part of a series,” he said.

“In five years a I want to do it all,” Matt said about his career goals. He has definitely left behind the 9-to-5 corporate work world, an environment that might have been financially secure but left him “miserable,” he said.

“You would kill yourself with work and it wouldn’t mean anything,” Matt said. Now, he added, “I’ve never been poorer in my life. But I can also say I’ve never been happier.”