Staff Photo by Jake Daniels/Chattanooga Times Free Press
Josh Martin, a sixth-grader at St. Peter’s School, and other cast members rehearse their rendition of “Annie” after school. Martin, who is also a Boy Scout and volunteers at a community kitchen, is playing the part of Oliver Warbucks.It’s a long climb from a cow pasture to the marble hallways of a billionaire’s mansion, but after eight years, that’s where Josh Martin has found himself.
The 11-year-old began his acting career at St. Peter’s Episcopal School at age 3 when he took on the role of the cow exchanged for magical beans in “Jack and the Beanstalk.”
Last year, he portrayed the Beast/Prince in the school’s production of “Beauty and the Beast.” Next month, he will take on his second major role as the golden-hearted billionaire Oliver “Daddy” Warbucks in a production of “Annie.”
Josh said he enjoys the time he spends onstage, whether he’s serving as bovine barter or benign benefactor.
“I like being in front of all those people,” he said, adding that he hasn’t felt nervous onstage since he played a party boy in the first act of a Chattanooga Ballet production of “The Nutcracker” at age 5.