Alum spotlight: Josh Marin (BFA ’12)

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collage of photos

Josh Marin, BFA in Performance, 2012

joshcmarin@gmail.com

Being a preacher’s son almost kept Josh from going to VCU, “My dad wanted me to go to a Christian school for freshman year,” but that would disrupt his continuity with his group of fellow students, so his father let him make his own decision, “For me, there wasn’t even a second thought.”

Josh in Grease at VCU

While at VCU, he was an understudy for Josh Boone in Ain’t Misbehavin’. “It was an extremely humbling process because of the amount of work, but I did get two runs, plus I got to watch Josh work. Then as a senior, Josh played Kenickie in Grease.

Josh in Grease at VCU
Josh in The Color Purple

Meanwhile, he got his first professional show while a sophomore as Benny in Rent at Firehouse Theatre and went on to be in Spring Awakening at Barksdale and Seussical for Theatre IV. He actually played a matinee of the show after attending his graduation in the morning.

Spring Awakening at Barksdale
Seussical at Theatre IV

Josh’s first foray to NYC in 2014 ended in his returning to Richmond for Violet and In The Heights in 2017 for Virginia Repertory. His return to New York included a new apartment in Harlem with his best friend. “The moment I moved to Harlem, everything changed. I was around a lot of artists.” He was also cast in a production of In the Heights that played at the John W. Engeman Theatre in Long Island “in the place where the show is about.”

Josh in In the Heights
Josh and the In The Heights cast in Westminster

Josh was offered two tours at the same time: The Color Purple and The Book of Mormon. He worked with his agent to make the decision and ultimately went for Mormon because it “had legs on the contract. Having that longevity and security and I had friends who were in it.”

Josh explains, “Book of Mormon took me to COVID.” When they were canceled, Josh took a trip to Australia, where he was booked as a swing for four characters in that country’s tour of Come from Away. After that ended, it was back to the states, where he “jumped into self-tapes.”

Josh with friends Sharriese Hamilton and Kolby Kindle who he did Come from Away with in Australia

Ultimately, that paid off when he was cast in his first Off-Broadway show, A Turtle on a Fence Post, which recently opened at Theatre 555 (the costume designer is Vanessa Leuck (MFA ’03)  Josh not only holds a principal role, but is also dance captain.

man holding binder and looking at camera
Turtle on a Fence Post
Turtle on a Fence Post

Header image (clockwise from left): Josh behind the scenes of Come From Away; Josh in Wild Party; Josh in front of a Come From Away marquee; Josh in Seussical at Theatre IV



Compiled by Liz Hopper (professor emeritus) and Jerry Williams (BFA ’71) for the December 2021 Theatre Alumni newsletter