Designer-Director Matt Logan Continues to Make Magic

Standing backstage at the 53rd annual CMA Awards last November, Matt Logan held his breath, hoping the intricate rigging on Reba McEntire’s trio of outfits would hold up during her performance of the iconic hit “Fancy.” As expected, the audience cheered during the initial on-camera costume change, with Reba dropping a silky lavender robe to reveal a dazzling red dress. But it was the second switch — in which the dress gave way to a stunning red pantsuit — that made headlines.

“I’m standing with Reba’s team, watching the monitor, and Dolly Parton steps up to watch with us,” he recalls. “The audience absolutely went wild during the second reveal. And I’m thinking, This is crazy. How did I get here?”

Of course, for anyone familiar with Logan’s work and strong artistic aesthetic, the success of that evening — which included praise from the likes of InStyle, Rolling Stone and Variety — came as little surprise.

Logan, who grew up in the Nashville area, says he was constantly sketching and drawing as a kid. He got involved in theater in high school, gravitating to the sense of community and shared accomplishment it provided. After graduating from Pepperdine University’s theater program, Logan worked in Los Angeles for a couple of years before moving to New York City in 2003 with a group of actor friends that included future Broadway star Eden Espinosa.

He worked on Broadway in both costuming and casting on big shows like Oklahoma and Gypsy. He also earned a reputation for his eye-catching pen-and-ink drawings of Broadway stars and performances, and was even singled out by The New York Times as “an heir” to the late, great theater illustrator Al Hirschfeld.

Logan returned to Nashville in 2009, co-founding Studio Tenn and serving as its artistic director for nine years, directing and designing more than 40 productions. Since stepping down from that post in late 2018, he’s stayed busy with “a little bit of everything” — including establishing his own production company. But no matter the discipline, Logan considers himself a storyteller first.

“There are so many layers to it, but I love to play around with sensory elements that help create a portal into the world of the story,” he says. “What’s the color palette? What types of music or art help evoke the mood of the story? That whole process is so inspiring to me. But it’s challenging when you look at something like It’s a Wonderful Life or The Wizard of Oz. With shows like that, it’s important to honor the audience’s expectations while still finding ways to keep it fresh. So you might start with a signature color or silhouette, but then change up the fabric or pattern. It’s almost like a really great cover song — you don’t want to be too on-the-nose, because what’s the point of just repeating what’s already been done? But there needs to be a familiarity to it that sort of defines the world and anchors the story.”

Though Logan admits he’s never completely satisfied with his own work, he has learned to celebrate experiences and lean into unexpected opportunities. Prior to the outbreak of COVID-19, his calendar was packed with a slew of plum projects — from costume designs for Virgin Voyages, The Drury Lane Theatre in Chicago and Reba McEntire’s new tour, to a promising new collaboration with The Rabbit Room and Belmont University. He’s also working with his alma mater, Christ Presbyterian Academy, to design the school’s new arts building — something he calls “an insane honor, and an incredibly joyful experience.”

Of course, most of those projects are on hold for now. But Logan remains optimistic.

“Like everyone else, I’m trying to be positive. From mid-October leading up to the CMAs right up through the second week of March, it was pretty much nonstop. So I really needed to take a break just to process all that had happened. But now I’m getting back into the mentality of what I can do to be productive. I’ve been cleaning and organizing, converting my guest room into a costume shop. I’ve also been working on some new technology and doing some costume renderings on iPad Pro, which has been fun.

“There’s so much uncertainty right now, but it’s important to try to stay in good spirits and look for opportunities for growth,” he continues. “When we come out on the other side of this, I think the landscape of theater in Nashville is going to look different. There’s going to be a real need for true leadership and collaboration. But we don’t need to fear the new frontier. The most positive thing we can do is embrace those new challenges, and keep moving forward.”