Brooklynite Star Matt Doyle on His New ‘Poster Boy’ Status & Going to Spring Awakening College

Who’s that guy sprinting all over the city in khakis and a cape? It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s Matt Doyle! The Spring Awakening and Book of Mormon favorite is headlining Peter Lerman and Michael Mayer’s new pop-rock musical Brooklynite at the Vineyard Theatre, and after starring in numerous workshops and readings, Doyle couldn’t be more excited to soar off-Broadway beginning January 30. Broadway.com chatted with the self-proclaimed comic book nerd in rehearsal to get the scoop on the new superhero show.

Hey, poster boy! What’s it like to see yourself flying all over NYC?
It’s nuts! I hopped off the subway the other day with my sister and the poster was right in front of us and she flipped out. I’ve never been the poster boy, by any means. It’s cool because this show has been a long time coming. Peter [Lerman] wrote the first demo for this musical about four years ago, so just to see it finally happening, it's overwhelming.

Tell me about your character. Who is Trey?
He’s a hardware store clerk in Park Slope in Brooklyn. His parents died in a robbery, and his goal is to become a superhero. 10 years prior, an asteroid hit Brooklyn, and an element called Brooklynite turned six people into superheroes. So Trey, being a mad genius scientist, is dead set on recreating that element, Brooklynite.

Were you ever like Trey, stuck in a day job you didn’t like?
I was a production assistant for music videos and commercials at a production company, and I was so awful. I don’t have stage fright but I’m terrified of making phone calls to strangers, and that was mainly my job. I was on set when I got the job offer for Spring Awakening, and left. I just left! I was so bad, they were all like, “OK great, leave!”

What’s it like to reunite with director Michael Mayer and a couple of your Spring Awakening buddies?
Michael hired me eight years ago to do Spring Awakening, when I was 19, and I’ve changed so much as a performer since then. I have so much respect for him and he’s one of my favorite people to work with. And getting to work with Gerard Canonico and Remy Zaken again, it’s just amazing and emotional because we were kids together. For a lot of us during that time, Spring Awakening was our college experience.

And what about the new guys in the cast?
Nicolette Robinson is about to explode. She’s playing Astrolass, and there’s that sparkle and star quality about her as soon as she’s onstage. Everyone in that room has so many ideas—Ann Harada, Nick Cordero, they are so inventive and throwing things out there and it’s always funny. It’s a very silly, high-energy show, it’s a lot of fun and it’s highly stylized. We have a group of actors that are fearless and are ready to jump in and be clowns, which is remarkable.

OK, time for a lighting round of superhero questions. Ready?
Hell yes!

Who's your favorite superhero?
I’m a big comic book nerd, and Rocket Raccoon from Guardians of the Galaxy is one of my favorite characters ever written. He’s an experiment gone wrong where he’s a raccoon with a human personality. He’s awesome, he’s my favorite guy.

If you could have one superpower, what would it be?
I love the idea of having healing power because so many things can come with that, it’s such a practical and cool superhero power to have. You can be fearless with that power.

What music makes you feel like a superhero?
I’m listening to Queen a lot right now—“I Want to Break Free” is my anthem, and I love “Under Pressure.”

Have you always been obsessed with comics?
When I was 11, I started writing a comic with a friend called "Superdude and Googolplex," and I have volumes of them. My mom dug them up the other day. I’m a nerd, through and through. I love Star Wars, I love video games, I love comic books and I’m not ashamed of it! So this show is my greatest dream come true!

See Matt Doyle in Brooklynite at the Vineyard Theatre beginning January 30.