He has a love for music and theater, has performed with the likes of Donny Osmond, in national commercials, musical theater, and is passionate about teaching and sharing his tremendous talents.
Deleted: On this episode of the Supercast, meet Bingham High School music theater teacher David Martin. He is an incredible educator with an impressive resume, who also happens to perform in a Beatles tribute band, having fun for a good cause, with all concert ticket sales going to charity.

Audio Transcription

David Martin:
This idea of Beatles concerts with a large group, choir, performers, dancers, instrumentals, that's kind of where that idea was formed.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about the impact on you personally.

David Martin:
And knowing that even though our small contribution might seem small, it does make a difference. That's what keeps me coming back. Concert after concert after concert after concert.

[Music]

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. He has a love for music and theater, has performed in national commercials, musical theater, and with the likes of Donny Osmond, and is passionate about teaching and sharing his tremendous talents. On this episode of the Supercast, meet Bingham High School music theater teacher David Martin. He is an incredible educator with an impressive resume, who also happens to perform in a Beatles tribute band, having fun for a good cause, with all concert ticket sales going to charity.

[Music]

Anthony Godfrey:
We're here at Bingham High School talking with David Martin right before we go into the rehearsal for tonight's performances. We've got a lot to talk about, but introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about your time here at Bingham. What do you do?

David Martin:
My name is Dave Martin. I am the theater teacher and I teach stage tech. So that's the behind the scenes of all the shows and musical theater. So, all the song and dance and then a couple of film studies classes, which are great. Then I also oversee the student government efforts here at Bingham High School.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell us how long you've been at Bingham.

David Martin:
I got here in 2022. So this is halfway through my fourth year.

Anthony Godfrey:
Where were you before, and what led you here?

David Martin:
Fun fact, I actually got my degree from the University of Utah in choral education in 2010. I taught choir at Kearns High School for six years and then I had a vocal hemorrhage. So for all you medical people, that's where your voice basically just breaks. I resigned, and I was a stay-at-home dad for six years. Halfway through that six years. I went and got a master's in public administration from BYU. Then the position opened up and I was a little bit reluctant because I didn't have my degree in theater. I'd done a lot of theater, but I didn't have my degree. Somebody poked and prodded and said, “You should really apply.” Then I got the position. So it's been awesome ever since.

Anthony Godfrey:
Once you applied, you really dove in student government, stage crew, everything else. What has your involvement in theater been?

David Martin:
So my first big production, I'm about to name drop, was . . .

Anthony Godfrey:
This podcast is all about name dropping. Bring it.

David Martin:
I was in “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolored Dreamcoat” with Donnie Osmond at Kingsbury Hall when I was 14.

Anthony Godfrey:
So was he wearing purple socks at the time?

David Martin:
We did the cast party, and we were required. Everybody wore purple socks.

Anthony Godfrey:
Everyone wore purple socks.

David Martin:
Everyone wore purple socks.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow. That was the real, that was that, you got the full Donnie Osmond experience.

David Martin:
Yeah. Which was just unbelievable. You can't write that. There's no way I could have as a, as a kid, or my parents even said, you know, “We're going to play our cards right. That you're going to be in a touring production of one of the most well-known musicals ever,” and especially a fan favorite here in Utah. So as a kid, 14, I just started. I was in music. I played in the band. I played trumpet and string bass in my middle school band. But to be in Kingsbury Hall with that caliber, and we ran it for three months, it just infected me with the theater bug. Then my next big theater thing was Desert Star Playhouse, like in 2006. I was brought in because somebody else had a vocal injury. So they called me up.

Anthony Godfrey:
I did not go. “Hamridge?”

David Martin:
No, similar though. It's actually . . . so I did a handful of shows there.

Anthony Godfrey:
What was the spoof?

David Martin:
It was “Mission Credibles.” So it was Tom, Tom Cruise's Mission Impossible movies and then like superheroes. So we had like references to The Fly, the Jeff Goldblum, The Fly movie.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow.

David Martin:
Really fun parody, really, really great. Then I did a Christmas show and then an Indiana Bones spoof the next year. Then kind of took a hiatus. Then my first show at Hale Center Theater was “Pirates of Penzance” in 2010hen I've done 23 at that theater over the last 10 years. That opened up doors to . . . .

Anthony Godfrey:
Twenty-three different productions.

David Martin:
Twenty-three different productions.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow.

David Martin:
So that opened up doors to Music Direct and other theaters. So I've done a music direction for arts councils, Revision Arts, Draper Arts, and then Centerpoint, which is up in Centerville, Ogden Musical Theater, which is up in Ogden. I've been just kind of all over the map with doing shows and it's just been so much fun. It's a lot of work. It's a lot of time. But coming to teach here, I draw so much on my time as a performer. I didn't do the education route, which is okay. I have since learned all of the things, you know, for the instructional side of teaching theater in particular. But I really do draw on my experience. I did “Tuck Everlasting” at Hale, and we did it as our musical theater show last year. It was so cool to be on the other side of it.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah.

David Martin:
I did “Joseph” twice at Hale, and I've done it once here. So it's just really cool to just say like this show touched me so greatly and I want to present this and have the kids be a part of it. We're doing “Drowsy Chaperone” in the spring of this year in April and it's a number. It's my second show at Hale, actually in 2010 and it was life-changing. So I can be where the students are in their experience and say, "I was just like you when this show was opened, you know, to my eyes."

Anthony Godfrey:
Right. I would imagine it is really fun to see a show from both sides of it, where you were the performer and now you're making it happen for these students.

David Martin:
It's almost more emotional for me, I think, as a director now than it was as a performer. Because as a performer, you're very centered around yourself. You only have your job, your songs, your dances that you're responsible for. But to oversee all of the production elements, set design, building, costumes, everything when it finally comes together. I just have so many moments when I'm in the back of the theater, just like sobbing. I really just get so emotional when I'm like, "These are the moments. These are the moments that I wanted to see. And the kids caught the vision and they did it.” It's just awesome.

Anthony Godfrey:
We are here because you are performing with your band.

David Martin:
Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
For the Dance-A-Rama, what's it called? Because it's all of the groups, all the dance groups are performing, and you and your Beatles band are playing for them.

David Martin:
Yeah. I love Dance-A-Rama though. I think we should market that, copyright it, and then sell it to the dance teachers here.

Anthony Godfrey:
Fantastic. Let's do it.

David Martin:
All right.

Anthony Godfrey:
Trademark. Trademark. Tell us about tonight's performance and what this looks like tonight.

David Martin:
So we've talked about Beatles concerts when I got here, because I just always talk about the Beatles. I can't not. And I've got a great relationship with Gina and Lori, the dance teachers here. They're unbelievable. They help us out with the musical, and we just have a really awesome Performing Arts department. But she just said, "What are your thoughts on a live performance?" And I said, "Done. No question." She's like, "Seriously?" And I was like, "Yes." I'm like, "There's no question. There's no, we need to work anything out. It's just going to happen." We can work it out. And we will work it out. So she said, "Okay," and so then she just gives us the set list. What's been the funnest part about it is there's a lot of songs that we don't typically do. We're opening the first dance, I think it's Dance Co. is “I Am The Walrus.” I've never done “I Am the Walrus.” They're not full songs, which is kind of sad because they're doing just cuts. Minute, maybe minute and a half of one song and maybe full song on some other ones.

Anthony Godfrey:
I'm the egg man. I'm the egg man. Goo goo g'joob. All right. Next song.

David Martin:
But it's so fun. We've never done that. So just to do that and then we don't typically do “Ob-LaDi” and I love “Ob-LaDi.” It's a fun, fun, fun, fun song to play. And then we lost a guitarist, couldn...