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Special Honors... Highly Recommended, Times-Picayune: An Apology for the Course and Outcome of Certain Events Nominee, Best Supporting Actor, 48Hr Film Festival: Vikasita Critics Choice, Chicago Reader: Pattern Recognition, Smokers, Verbatim Verboten Highly Recommended, Chicago Reader: Hinckley on Foster: The Hearing, Krapp's Last Tape Highly Recommended; Times-Picayune, WYES, Ambush: The Bachelor in New Orleans Big Easy Award & Marquee Award nominees, Lead Actor Drama: A Christmas Carol for George Wallace Ambie Awards nominee, Lead Actor Play: Finding the Enemy Highly Recommended; Ambush: The Third Degrees of J.O. Breeze Highly Recommended; Times-Picayune, St Bernard Voice: Happy Days Highly Recommended; NOLA Defender, WYES' Steppin Out: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Storer Boone nominee, Lead Actor Drama: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Big Easy Award & Marquee Award winners, Lead Actor Drama: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Best of the Year 2013, Lead Actor Drama, Times-Picayune: Long Day's Journey into Night
Selected Critical Praise... Ever bold, actor and director Michael Martin ventures to the brink with (take a deep breath) "An Apology for the Course and Outcome of Certain Events Delivered by Doctor John Faustus on This His Final Evening." A retelling of the Faust legend, its lengthy title belies playwright Mickle Maher's blend of comedy and tragedy, along with the intense urgency Martin brings to the title role.... Delivering a masterful performance, Martin portrays Faustus as a tormented narcissist seeking to set the record straight for an unknown future. The play's "apology" is not a plea for forgiveness or redemption but a self-justifying act of egoism. [Theodore Mahne, Times-Picayune, 2Jul18]
Michael Martin's deliberately meandering, train-wreck captivating solo piece Martin on Hinckley on Foster: The Home Visit, where he imagines a dialogue with would-be presidential assassin John Hinckley, offers moments both simplistic and deeply insightful reflections on pop culture America. [Tony Adler, Chicago Reader, 2/1/07]
Watching Martin and Pauley together, two of the city's finest actors, is a master class in character development. Their portrayals may seem effortless but every gesture, nuance, and vocal inflection is meticulously chosen. --- Among many standout performances this year, Michael Martin's portrayal of the whiskey-soaked old actor James Tyrone in Long Day's Journey into Night stands out. Avoiding a clichéd drunken villain, Martin meticulously reveals Tyrone's layers. Though his performance appears effortless, every movement and inflection is deliberate. Witnessing such craftsmanship is a true pleasure. [Theodore Mahne, Times-Picayune, 2013]
What Hal Holbrook might resemble playing Mark Twain while sipping Sazeracs. Dressed in dandyish attire and declaiming ornate language from another era, he becomes an aristocratic barfly, a late-career John Barrymore whose self-mocking, wildly brave comic acts transcend circumstance. His performance has grown more refined, funnier, and confident. ...A bravura performance demanding the courage of a burglar. Delivering a 90-minute monologue is challenging; performing it in a bar while engaging unpredictable patrons requires unique skills—think matador versus bull. ...A performance of extremes, blending quiet politeness with Shakespearean roars; Martin confronts this challenge with humor and rapid mood shifts, adapting to a dynamic human environment. This tension lends the piece and his acting a distinct stature. He walks a high wire, always at risk, yet maintains balance. [David Cuthbert, Times-Picayune, 2008]
Martin delivers a lively performance in this demanding hour-long comedic piece, convincingly embodying le charme malefique. [Dalt Wonk, Gambit Weekly, 2/19/08]
He portrays Vanya as a weary, kind, eccentric, and outrageous romantic. His quirky characterization, sustained throughout the long play, works beautifully. Martin owns the role every moment he is on stage, commanding attention with every erratic move. His clear voice effectively conveys grievance and frustration. His physicality borders on slapstick, evoking sympathy without seriousness—true to Chekhov's intent. An outstanding performance! [Christina Vella, St Bernard Voice, 2008]
With his unkempt gray hair, ill-fitting black trousers and vest, and incongruously polished white shoes, he embodies a heartbreaking buffoon. Shuffling stiffly to a cluttered desk, he lowers himself into a chair with arthritic care, hands neatly placed, and exhales a tiny sigh, deflating like a balloon. Krapp fumbles with tapes, eats a banana (slipping on the peel), exits to sip from a backstage bottle (audience hears only a soft pop), and listens to his younger self rambling seemingly about nothing—later revealed as a tale of a lost chance at true love. Martin plays this as a humorous, grumbling clown routine. Each small success—finding the right tape or loading it—brings fleeting joy amid the crushing weight of a wasted life, sinking Krapp deeper. As Martin listens, his expressions shift from contempt to slyness, sorrow to defeat, childlike emptiness, creating a pitiful yet absurd figure who sees his life's chronicle tragically flat. [Justin Hayford, Chicago Reader, 2006]
Martin's one-man show is a tour de force of desperate, Dostoyevskian fury—a minor masterpiece in the tradition of the over-literate madman, blending truth beneath ravings, swinging between convincing and absurd. What truly elevates it is his wry, self-deprecating portrayal of the angry yet resigned Hinckley, whose facade of recovery is slowly shattered by unseen tormentors. Memorizing this drifting, looping, hour-plus monologue alone is impressive; Martin was nearly flawless, navigating Hinckley's emotional tides with unassuming brilliance. As Martin plans to move to New Orleans, this may be the last chance to witness this extraordinary work for some time. [Brian Nemtusak, Reader, 2002]
Martin proves once more he is among the finest character actors as Mr. Cohen, whose "horse doesn't circle the whole track." He is both funny and sincere... [David Cuthbert, Times-Picayune, 2/2/07]
Martin portrayed the crippled troll creature with controlled agility and a keen understanding of this unusual role—an athletically demanding part as he bounced from desk to chair to floor with kinetic energy. In scenes seated at the desk under red light, wearing a tattered clown collar and ghastly makeup, he commanded the stage with remarkable presence. His ability to keep his legs folded while hopping around showcases impressive stagecraft. [Patrick Shannon, Ambush, 7/17-30/07]
One electrifying performance can transform an entire show, dispelling any audience doubts. Martin's stunning turn captivates with meticulous buildup, elevates his co-star's acting, and stands as the male performance of the year. Martin's George is a revelation: shuffling, mumbling, filled with resigned defeat. He crafts a slow-burning character—a man seeking a quiet drink before bed. It is the clearest, most unpretentious objective seen this year... His sighs mark despairing beats reflecting continuous inner fortification against his wife's relentless assaults. Whenever Martha strikes, George straightens, shrugs off pain, and forces a pained smile before reengaging. He does this while delivering lines, balancing emotional darkness with lingering hope. He drives the play with steady purpose and never plays moments for laughs. His sole audience is his wife and guests, ensuring the audience erupts with laughter and applause at every subtle move and blow. The three-hour play passes swiftly in his triumph. Anyone passionate about acting in New Orleans must see this. [James Fitzmorris, NOLA Defender, 2011]
One of our most influential performers—a talent with an original edge and a fierce drive to succeed. [Al Shea, WYES Steppin Out, 2008]
What a remarkable, courageous, eccentric, and quirky actor Martin is; what a valiant performance he gave both nights. He resembles a magician, explaining when a trick fails and when it succeeds. [David Cuthbert, Times-Picayune, 1/16/09]
