“Winnipeg’s answer to Aaron Tveit” (Winnipeg Free Press), Darren Martens is an established and celebrated singer, actor and fight director. He grew up in rural Manitoba on a dairy farm outside of Winnipeg as the youngest of four boys. Darren could be found sitting quietly in front of the record player, listening to his father’s favorite bands, or on the trampoline developing cinematic fight scenes. A multi-talented youth, he took part in a variety of sports, farm work, and music. He eventually focused his talents on studying piano, singing in choir, and performing in local musical theatre productions in his small town. Set on taking over the family farm, a singular moment of clarity surprised him to realize that there was no other path for him than to become a performer. Darren followed his dreams and attained a Bachelors in Vocal Performance from the University of Manitoba Marcel A. Desautels Faculty of Music. 

Seen regularly at the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre and Rainbow Stage, Darren has performed with almost every major theatre company in Winnipeg. His highlight roles on stage include ‘Aramis’ (The Three Musketeers), ‘Duke Orsino’ (Twelfth Night), ‘Charles Bingley’ (Miss Bennett: Christmas at Pemberley), ‘Prince Topher’ (Cinderella), ‘Henrik’ (A Little Night Music), ‘Nicky/Trekkie Monster/Bad Idea Bear’ (Avenue Q), and ‘Danny’ (Danny and the Deep Blue Sea). Upcoming, he can be seen performing as ‘Gerry Goffin’ (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical) at the Segal Centre in Montreal, with a remount run at the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre in the new year. Darren was recognized for his work in 2019 and was nominated for ‘Best Supporting Actor’ at the Evies, for his complex character work as ‘The Lecturer’ in Reefer Madness. This lead role epitomized all the professional multi-character work he had been known for.

This success extended into Darren’s film career, which he took to very quickly. Recently appearing in the Canadian independent film, Polarized, directed by award-winning director Shamim Sarif, and selected for multiple international film festivals, he starred as ‘Ben’, the complicated childhood friend. Other recognizable appearances include, Hallmark’s Christmas by Starlight as ‘Lyle’, alongside co-stars and writers Paul Campbell and Kimberley Sustad, as well as ‘Pete’ in Merry and Bright, with Jodie Sweetin. He can also be seen in The CW’s The Spencer Sisters and the upcoming feature film Psycho Killer. 

Darren’s exploration of fight direction began in 2018 during Reefer Madness, where he took on the duty as fight captain under the fight direction of Jacquie Loewen. Since then he has directed fights for the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre/Necessary Angel Theatre Company’s co-production of New and RMTC’s The Secret to Good Tea, Prairie Theatre Exchange’s production of Volare, and selected excerpts from Oklahoma! for the University of Manitoba Musical Theatre Ensemble. He assisted in fight direction on Hamlet (Shakespeare in the Ruins); The Wedding Party (Prairie Theatre Exchange); Matilda: The Musical, and The Rez Sisters (Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre).

Darren extends his vocal talents as a voice-over artist in varied styles including literary narration, commercials, and character work on cartoons and video games. He was also an active member of Those Guys A Capella performance ensemble for five years, in which time he appeared in multiple music videos and sang on the debut album ‘At Home’. He newly works as an E-Sports Broadcaster as a host and play-by-play commentator for Valorant, League of Legends, and Rocket League.