Marty Brennaman reveals he dreamed of acting before he found broadcasting: ‘I loved it’

The legendary voice of the Cincinnati Reds will receive the honor of a lifetime this weekend.The Reds will unveil a statue of Hall of Fame broadcaster Marty Brennaman outside of Great American Ball Park on Saturday.Brennaman’s statue will be the ninth outside of the ballpark, all of which have been sculpted by Tom Tsuchiya. It will join statues of Joe Nuxhall, Frank Robinson, Ernie Lombardi, Ted Kluszewski, Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, Tony Perez and Pete Rose.Brennaman will be the first nonplayer to be recognized and honored.WLWT sat down with Brennaman to talk about his career and some of his fondest memories.Brennaman told WLWT that before he got into broadcasting, he actually wanted to be an actor.”I did a lot of theater work. I did drama lessons for eight years,” Brennaman said. “I still say today, one of the great highs in my life is being on stage, live theater, with an audience sitting out there watching you do your thing. I loved it.”He said he wanted to go straight to New York to work in the theater after school, but realized quickly that it was not all glitz and glamour.”My mom and dad put me in touch with two guys who worked off-Broadway, and they were starving to death, and I decided then that, no pun intended, that I didn’t have the stomach I thought I did,” he said. He said he still loves it and very much enjoyed working on high school theater programs with dreams of one day becoming an actor. The statue honoring the sports broadcasting legend will capture his iconic pose, headphones on, microphone in one hand and a scorebook in the other. It will be unveiled before the Reds vs. Mets game this Saturday.

CINCINNATI —

The legendary voice of the Cincinnati Reds will receive the honor of a lifetime this weekend.

The Reds will unveil a statue of Hall of Fame broadcaster Marty Brennaman outside of Great American Ball Park on Saturday.

Brennaman’s statue will be the ninth outside of the ballpark, all of which have been sculpted by Tom Tsuchiya. It will join statues of Joe Nuxhall, Frank Robinson, Ernie Lombardi, Ted Kluszewski, Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, Tony Perez and Pete Rose.

Brennaman will be the first nonplayer to be recognized and honored.

WLWT sat down with Brennaman to talk about his career and some of his fondest memories.

Brennaman told WLWT that before he got into broadcasting, he actually wanted to be an actor.

“I did a lot of theater work. I did drama lessons for eight years,” Brennaman said. “I still say today, one of the great highs in my life is being on stage, live theater, with an audience sitting out there watching you do your thing. I loved it.”

He said he wanted to go straight to New York to work in the theater after school, but realized quickly that it was not all glitz and glamour.

“My mom and dad put me in touch with two guys who worked off-Broadway, and they were starving to death, and I decided then that, no pun intended, that I didn’t have the stomach I thought I did,” he said.

He said he still loves it and very much enjoyed working on high school theater programs with dreams of one day becoming an actor.

The statue honoring the sports broadcasting legend will capture his iconic pose, headphones on, microphone in one hand and a scorebook in the other. It will be unveiled before the Reds vs. Mets game this Saturday.