Local performing arts alum takes center stage in college play

METRO DETROIT— When Josiah Martelle was about 8 years old, he sat in the audience of the Warren Community Center watching the cast of Warren Civic Theatre perform “Seussical.”

“I was awestruck,” he said. “I wanted to do that.”

After attending a theater camp, Martelle began performing shows regularly with Warren Civic Theatre from 2014-2019. Since acting on stage was what came naturally, Martelle auditioned for the Warren Consolidated Schools Performing Arts School at Sterling Heights High School. He was accepted into the program, where he remained until he graduated from high school in 2021. The murder mystery musical “Curtains,” the classic “Alice in Wonderland” and “Mamma Mia” featuring the music of ABBA were among the shows in which he performed his heart out.

The Warren resident is now a junior studying theater and business at University of Detroit Mercy. This month he will be center stage as one of the lead characters in the Tennessee Williams play “The Glass Menagerie” at the Marlene Boll Theatre, located inside Detroit’s Boll Family YMCA at 1401 Broadway Street in Detroit.

Performance times and days are 7:30 p.m. Feb. 8; 3 p.m. Feb. 9; 7:30 p.m. Feb. 14-15; and 3 p.m. Feb. 16. At press time, the Feb. 7 show was sold out.

Set in St. Louis during the 1930s, “The Glass Menagerie” follows the hardships of Amanda Wingfield and her children Tom Wingfield and Laura Wingfield as Amanda tries to get Tom to find a suitor for Laura. Martelle was cast as Tom.

“Tom is a young man. We are roughly around the same age,” Martelle said. “His dad is absent, and he has to step up in his household. He has to be the breadwinner.”

Tom struggles with his obligations to his family while also feeling the need “to go find his purpose in St. Louis,” Martelle said. “He’s restless and on edge.”

Joe Bailey, artistic director of the Ringwald Theatre in Ferndale and a noted Detroit-based theater artist, is directing the show while University of Detroit Mercy 1994 graduate Karen Kron Dickson is taking on the role of Amanda.

“As a graduate of the University, it is an honor to be able to return as a working professional and share the ‘boards’ with these talented students,” Karen Kron Dickson said in a prepared statement. “Coming back home brings me full circle and I have found the process to be very gratifying. Amanda is a deeply complicated woman caught in between two worlds, that of her rich and vibrant past and the cold reality of her present. We watch her fantasy world unravel as she is challenged by having to face the struggles of both her children.”

Martelle is a junior at University of Detroit Mercy double majoring in theater and business. He plans to continue performing. There’s just something about hearing the applause from an appreciative audience.

“It’s nice to have a finished product you are proud of and you put your work into,” Martelle said. “I just enjoy the process of getting to know the characters of the story. I like to consider how I would react to the situation.”

The thespian also loves the personal connections he makes with the other cast members. Another plus is to have his mom, dad and other family members come to his shows.

Martelle is part of an award-winning theater group. Detroit Mercy Theatre Company’s spring 2024 production of “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare” (abridged) was selected to perform as a full production at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Region 3 Conference held Jan. 7-11 in Madison, Wisconsin.

The honor was extended to four productions from the region, which included Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and western Ohio. Respondents from peer institutions evaluated productions throughout 2024, and a panel selected the show to share with hundreds of students, faculty, and staff at the conference in early January.

According to a press release from DMTC, this was the fourth time since 1970 the theater group was invited to perform a full production at the festival, placing the program among the top collegiate theater programs in the Midwest.

The talented players received other honors. DMTC’s winter 2024 production of “Photograph 51” was recognized as an “outstanding production” in the school’s region. Performers were invited to act out a scene during the “Celebration of Associate Productions” at the Region 3 Conference.

DMTC’s fall 2023 production of “A Year with Frog and Toad” earned six Wilde Awards, given to professional productions across Michigan. The production shared “best musical” honors with six other productions; Sarah Rusk, managing director of DMCT, was among 11 honorees for best director of a musical; Luke Adamkiewicz and Alexander Knightwright, both 2024 graduates, shared best actor in a musical honor with 10 others; Department of Performing Arts professor Mary Elizabeth Valesano was one of nine people to receive a best costumes honor and Daniel Grieg was one of eight honored for his musical direction. More than 100 productions were reviewed for honors.

For tickets to “The Glass Menagerie” visit DetroitMercyArts.com or call the ticket office at (313) 993-3270.