Matt Dorado creates immersive theatre, nightlife, and entertainment. 

A native Angeleno, Matt grew up surrounded by the sights and sounds of the entertainment industry. Raised on a steady diet of theme parks, Alfred Hitchcock movies, Halloween candy, and the two-disc John Williams’ Greatest Hits (1969-1999) album, Matt quickly developed an insatiable desire to tell stories. 

It wasn’t until he attended Universal Studios’ Halloween Horror Nights in high school that he realized he wanted to… drumroll, please… make haunted houses! He pursued this dream throughout his Santa Barbara college years and beyond, when he opened up the first public haunt in the small beachside town. 

Shortly after, Matt returned to L.A. and created DRUNKEN DEVIL, a company he envisioned would create haunted houses paired with themed bars; its first attraction was a critical and commercial failure. After taking time to explore other interests, including diving headfirst into the gay underground nightlife scene, Matt pivoted DRUNKEN DEVIL from a haunt to a theatrical party series. It blossomed into “a legend on the LA haunt scene” (No Proscenium), known for large-scale spectacles that combined immersive theatre and nightlife elements with character-driven, narrative storytelling. 

He also created TO LIVE AND DI(N)E IN L.A., an interactive, true-crime inspired dining experience. Guests broke bread with the ghosts of infamous Los Angeles killers and their victims, whisked away on a journey through the city’s sordid history via a four-course meal, cocktail pairings, and theatrical performances. The experience sold out each seating over its two-year run, and was hailed by TimeOut Los Angeles as “the most morbid – but entertaining – meal you can find in Los Angeles.” 

Most recently, he created MONSTER PARTY, an immersive play set against the backdrop of McCarthyism and the Lavender Scare that ran as a two-night proof-of-concept in 2024. Thanks to fiscal sponsorship from NY-based nonprofit THE FIELD, he is currently fundraising to remount the show in 2026 as a fully-realized production. 

Matt continues to tell stories through his unique brand of immersive experiences: interactive, theatrical playgrounds designed for both revelry and reflection. He lives in East Hollywood with his cat, Aleister Meowley, and still listens to John Williams every day.