Marty Alen Angstreich

Marty Alen Angstreich is a fifty-year veteran of this business called show. As a young boy growing-up in his hometown of Brooklyn, New York, Marty always had a love for music that began back in 3rd grade in public school when he started playing recorder, to fourth grade with violin, and finally culminating in fifth when he convinced his parents to get him a piano, which set him on the path of his life's journey. However, he attributes his life-long love of theater to his 4th/6th grade teacher, the late great Mrs. Ruth Scheff, who saw something inside him and gave him the lead role of El Spider in the sixth grade musical, "La Forza Del Miss Muffet," and the rest as they say is history!

Marty's love of music developed quickly and rapidly, and he joined his Junior High School Jazz Band on piano and there, at the age of twelve and under the tutelage of the school's principal, an ex-musician, learned about music arranging and assembled his first band: The Music Trio. Electric piano, sax, and drums, they set out to make their name doing small local gigs. The band didn't last very long, and Marty, at 14-years-old, found himself connecting with a wedding band called Karisma Orchestras and soon found himself playing gigs with other musicians in their 30's - 50's. With an ability to sight read almost any sheet music and to pick-up songs by ear, Marty was able to immediately integrate into this new world of weddings, bar/bat mitzvahs, proms, clubs, etc.

Not long after, while at John Dewey High School, Marty's orchestra teacher introduced him to his group, Rainbow's End, a popular cover band looking for a new keyboardist.  The band was booked nearly every weekend (and then-some) for almost fifty-two weeks a year for the five-years that Marty gigged with the band. After leaving Rainbow's End, Marty continued with his own band, City Rhythm, on and off for many years doing private gigs but on a more casual basis as by this time Marty was married to his wife, Mindy, and a father for the first time.

It was just after Alyson was born that Marty had his first real break in professional theater. Marty had been an accompanist, musical arranger and soloist for about thirteen years with a Broadway/Pop chorus in Brooklyn called The Jeff Samaha Singers. One of the group's previous accompanist  recommended him as a Musical Director to a former Broadway actress, Melody Meitrott (Libonati) for her upcoming  one-woman show in a small theater in New Canaan, CT. That introduction turned into a thirty-six year friendship, resulting in Marty and Melody working together for over twenty years of performances including thirteen years where Marty MD'd the musicals at the KLHT Upper School in Stamford, CT. Most recently, Marty and Melody reunited for Mel's birthday concert at STONC, which was nothing but pure enjoyment for all in attendance. In between, Marty was also Musical Director for several concerts for Bill Bogs of TV's Midday Live fame.

One of the highlights of Marty's career was working - and becoming great friends - with Ron Sharpe and Barbra Russell. Marty worked with Ron and Barb as their Musical Director and accompanist for over twelve years on all their Broadway concerts as "Married to Broadway" along with their children as they evolved into the now TikTok and social media sensations, The Sharpe Family Singers. 

Marty Alen Angstreich has music directed productions for many theater companies and schools in the tri-state area including Playhouse 22 (East Brunswick, NJ), The Not Ready for Broadway Players (North Brunswick, NJ), NJRT (South Brunswick, NJ), North Brunswick Township High School, St. Joseph High School (Metuchen), KLHT (Stamford, CT), The First Presbyterian Church of New Canaan (New Canaan, CT), Middlesex County Vocational and Technical School (East Brunswick, NJ). 

His past productions includes Footloose the Musical, Fiddler on the Roof; Bye, Bye, Birdie; Little Shop of Horrors; West Side Story; The Wizard of Oz; South Pacific; The Wiz; The Sound of Music; The Music Man; Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat (multiple productions); Peter Pan; Grease!; Guys and Dolls; High School Musical; You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown; Oklahoma!; Carousel; The Last Five Years (multiple productions); Mulberry Street (off-Broadway bound); The Envelope Please (multiple productions); Broadway Babies and Friends; Babes in Toyland; Godspell (multiple productions).

Over thirty years ago, Marty had the amazing opportunity to work on a musical theater workshop for a show called Mulberry Street that was preparing to make a run to go off-Broadway. Marty came on-board early in this project as Music Director and assisted in casting the show, writing all vocal arrangements, and MDing all rehearsals and backers auditions. Unfortunately, the show's creator, Jerry Strivelli, passed away very suddenly during the project and all production ceased.  

Nearly ten years after that project ended, and after continually music directing so many other people's works, Marty decided that maybe he had something to say and set out to write his own musical. That's when the first version of Pop's Diner was born, a very different version of the script that exists today. After literally sitting on a shelf for about fifteen years, Marty dusted it off during the COVID-19 shutdown when all his live performances went on hiatus and decided that the script needed a complete overhaul. So, with nothing left but a title page and a couple of the original characters, Pop's Diner version 2 was born (then a 265 page tome) and thanks to all those amazing actors who stepped up to help do virtual table reads, three years, multiple revisions, and continuous improvements later, Marty is finally in workshop mode, getting his 1970's jukebox musical ready for the stage with a brand new cast of incredibly talented and

When not in Pop's Diner mode, Marty is an IT Project Manager by day and a private voice and piano teacher by night. He loves to play golf (although he has yet to break 100!) and being on the beach on Long Beach Island is his happy place! He is also husband to Mindy for over forty years, dad to Alyson, Evan and Jaclyn, father-in-law to Michael and Jillian, and Poppy to Sadie and Marlie (the true centers of his universe).