If your college path, or your child’s college path, has had twists and turns, take heart in the story of Samantha Martinson.
Growing up in the small Illinois communities of Dixon and Belvidere, a youthful love of theater led her to enroll at Marquette University as a theater major. But her actual theater experience was limited. So when Martinson had to audition for a college show, her response was “I don’t even know what that means,” she said in a recent interview.
Feeling scared and over her head, Martinson switched her major to education. But she stayed involved with the Marquette University Players Society, a student-run theater group separate from the academic Theatre Arts program.
Enter Marquette theater professor Phylis Ravel, who, after seeing Martinson work with the MU Players, summoned Martinson to her office. You need to take classes in the theater department, Martinson remembers Ravel urging her. When Martinson protested she had only two years of school left, Ravel expedited things. Martinson’s first acting teacher turned out to be acclaimed local actor Deborah Staples.
En route to directing Next Act Theatre’s new production, “Dinner With the Duchess” (April 22-May 17), Martinson has combined both braids of her educational past.
Early experiences directing Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” for Milwaukee Youth Theatre and “The Tempest” for Bard & Bourbon convinced Martinson she was on the right path. “I never feel more myself than when I’m directing,” she said. But a director’s career is one that builds slowly, one experience at a time.
She put her education background to work as director of community engagement for Milwaukee Ballet, then as manager of innovation and engagement for the Zoological Society of Milwaukee. At the zoo she oversaw a program “that helped bridge the gap between conservation education and fostering empathy for wildlife. That included developing ways to measure such empathy among young adults. “It was really cool,” she said.
Today Martinson brings her administrative skills to World Premiere Wisconsin 2026 as festival producer. She is the day-to-day showrunner of this collaborative effort to stimulate and amplify production of new plays across Wisconsin from school shows to the largest professional companies.
A Madison experience led to new jobs
Both her World Premiere Wisconsin post and directing “Dinner With the Duchess” can be traced back to the same experience: Madison’s Forward Theater’s 2023 production of Lauren Gunderson’s “Artemisia,” which was part of World Premiere Wisconsin 2023.
Martinson served as assistant director on “Artemisia” to Jen Uphoff Gray, with Gordon in the cast. Then Martinson worked at American Players Theater, redeveloping the understudy program. Gordon enlisted her as assistant director for APT’s “Ring Round the Moon” in 2024. Often assistant directors are brought in right before rehearsal, when many creative decisions have already been made, Martinson said. But Gordon involved her from the beginning of the creative process, using her a sounding board, said the grateful Martinson.
Now Martinson is directing Gordon as the title character in Canadian playwright Nick Green’s “Dinner with the Duchess,” about a formidable violin virtuoso’s interview meal with a younger journalist. It’s a play about artistic legacy, and also about the challenges women have faced in a male-dominated field.
And the characters eat during the performance: “three different pasta dishes every night,” Martinson said.
Note: This story was updated to correct an error.
If you go
Next Act Theatre performs “Dinner With the Duchess” April 22-May 17 at 255 S. Water St. Visit nextact.org or call (414) 278-0765.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: A teacher’s intervention brought director back to world of theater
Reporting by Jim Higgins, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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