Shakespeare in the Park Welcomes a Peloton Instructor

Matty Maggiacomo joined Christian Slater and J. Harrison Ghee for a special night at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park.

Shakespeare in the Park added a familiar face from the Peloton platform to its lineup this week. Peloton instructor Matty Maggiacomo took part in a Monday night event at the Public Theater’s Delacorte Theater, sharing the bill with actors Christian Slater and J. Harrison Ghee as part of a special performance staged in Central Park.

The event, titled “Quick Bright Things Come to Confusion, or What We Do For Love,” paired a performed excerpt from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with a talkback exploring why people do, in the production’s words, so many devoted and disloyal things in love and friendship. Matty served as narrator for the piece, joining a cast that also included Frankie J. Alvarez, Grantham Coleman, Micaela Diamond, and Rebecca Naomi Jones.

A Night Built Around Shakespeare in the Park Tradition

The evening marked the relaunch of The Public Theater’s Public Forum series, which takes over the Delacorte’s Monday nights throughout the summer, the one evening each week when the venue goes dark for its main Shakespeare in the Park run. Matty shared a photo from the night on Instagram, describing the experience as “very fun” and noting the chance to read alongside “brilliant performers” under the open sky in Central Park.

Matty thanked Public Theater Artistic Director Oskar Eustis directly in the post for the invitation, along with casting contact Alaa Eustis, and credited the Public Theater with the kind of access to live performance that defines its mission in New York City.

Peloton Instructor Support Showed Up in the Crowd

Matty did not have the night to himself. Fellow Peloton instructors Hannah Corbin and Jon Hosking, along with Tunde Oyeneyin, were on hand in support, according to posts shared around the event. Hannah Corbin’s own recap highlighted the range of backgrounds in the cast, describing a group that brought together performers from across the world for one performance.

The presence of multiple Peloton instructors at a single off-platform cultural event is not new. Hannah Corbin has built her own ongoing relationship with the New York theater scene, most recently wrapping a run in the production FATE at the New York Theatre Festival in May. That overlap between Peloton’s instructor team and New York’s performing arts world keeps showing up in moments like this one.

Why Shakespeare in the Park Made Sense for Matty

For longtime followers of Matty’s Peloton career, the Shakespeare in the Park appearance tracks closely with everything he has built outside the studio. Matty studied dramatic literature, theater history, and cinema at NYU, and he has spent years turning that background into some of the most consistent Broadway-themed programming on the platform. He also hosts “Drama Club with Matty,” a podcast built entirely around conversations with Broadway performers.

That theater background has crossed into his Peloton classes directly. Matty regularly teaches Broadway-themed classes across cycling, Tread, and strength, and he often uses his Walk & Talk format to cover Broadway news, from new musical announcements to cast changes and opening nights. Broadway actor Frankie Grande joined him for a Walk & Talk class at Peloton Studios New York in May, and Matty has used his platform to bring guests, references, and full musical numbers into the workout itself. The Public Theater appearance fits the same pattern: a Peloton instructor whose passion for theater extends well past the studio walls.

Matty continues to teach across the Peloton platform, including strength, cycling, and Pilates classes, while building out his own theater and entertainment projects on the side. Shakespeare in the Park is the latest stage to feature him, and given his history with Broadway, it is unlikely to be the last.