Marc D Johnson Jr.

Marc David Johnson, Jr. is an actor and writer who was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the age of 9, Johnson, Jr. signed up to be a student at a local Theatre company called "The Fresh Visions Youth Theatre." While during his time there--under the tutelage of one Bruce Robinson--Johnson, Jr. performed in a number of shows written and directed by Bruce Robinson, such as "Marching to Freedomland" (as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.) and "Scary Play, Ooh" (as Dr. Doofee). The Fresh Visions Youth Theatre truly served as a home away from home for Johnson, Jr., and it was there were he learned the foundations of Acting, and developed a deep love and appreciation for the craft. The skills that Johnson, Jr. learned while at Fresh Visions are what helped Johnson, Jr. to land his first professional role in 2008. Johnson, Jr. played the role of 'Travis Younger' in The Stagecrafters Theater production of Lorraine Hansberry's "A Raisin in the Sun." Then, in 2009, Johnson, Jr. decided to embark on a new challenge: musical theatre. So, for four consecutive Summers, Johnson, Jr. performed at the Annenberg Performing Arts Center as a member of the Young Performers Theater Camp (YPTC). While there, Johnson, Jr. played lead roles in shows such as Roald Dahl's "Willy Wonka Jr." (as Charlie Bucket) and Jay Thompson, Dean Fuller, and Marshall Barer's "Once Upon a Mattress" (as Prince Dauntless). In 2013, Johnson, Jr. left Fresh Visions to focus on building his High School performance resume. Johnson, Jr's first High School role came during his Junior year when he played as 'Jack Palmer' in Tom Griffin's "The Boys Next Door." Shortly after that, Johnson, Jr. went on to perform in Tim Rice's "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" as 'The Hairy Ishmaelite.' During his Senior year, Johnson, Jr. played as 'Papa Leroux' in the David Ives adapted play, "Is He Dead?" From there, Johnson, Jr. went on to play the role of 'Christopher' in his Theatre III Honors class production of Tom Stoppard's "On The Razzle," which was then followed by taking on the role of 'Sir Lancelot' in Eric Idle's "Spamalot." Upon graduating from the Haverford School in 2015, Johnson, Jr. went on to attend Muhlenberg College where he majored in Theatre with a concentration in acting, and minored in Business Administration. Johnson, Jr's first opportunity to perform came in the Fall of 2016 when he played the role of 'Boy' in a student-run production of Walter Wykes' "Tainted Love." After that performance opportunity, Johnson, Jr. would then go on to appear in Muhlenberg's 2017 Spring production of "Wig Out!" by Tarell Alvin McCraney for the role of 'Deity.' This was his first and only Mainstage appearance while at Muhlenberg College, but it served to be Johnson, Jr.'s most transformational and self-affirming experience--in terms of career path and life purpose--that he had throughout his entire academic career. Fast-forward to the Summer of 2018, Johnson, Jr. managed to book his first on-camera role as a 'High School Student' in Bill Crossland's independent film, "Catching Up." Later, during that same Summer, Johnson, Jr. went on to play as 'Reece Sargeant' in Season 3, Episode 17 of the Reelz Network True Crime Series television show "CopyCat Killers." Soon after graduating from Muhlenberg College in May of 2019, Johnson, Jr. became a reader for the 2019 Philadelphia PlayPenn Play Development Conference. He [Johnson, Jr.] read for the roles 'Marcus' and 'Gerard' in Dave Harris's "Incendiary." After PlayPenn ended in July, Johnson, Jr. relocated to Sarasota, Florida in September of 2019 to work as an acting apprentice at the Florida Studio Theatre. While at the Florida Studio Theatre, Johnson, Jr. performed in two children's theatre productions. The first of these productions was an in-house production of "Pinocchio" where Johnson, Jr. played the role of 'Lampwick,' as well as other smaller roles. The second children's theatre production--entitled, "Historically Speaking: Voices of the Suffragists"-was a piece that toured Middle and High Schools all across the Sarasota/Bradenton areas. This piece gave Johnson, Jr. an opportunity to play the roles of both 'Frederick Douglass' and 'W.E.B. Du Bois,' as well as operate the sound system for the entirety of the tour. By the end of the apprenticeship, Johnson, Jr. managed to touch the lives of over thousands of children (Pre-K through 12th grade) within the Sarasota/Bradenton Counties.