Broadway veteran shuffles off to Okoboji

"My mother studied with Gene Kelly as a teenager growing up in Pittsburgh," said Jana Robbins, actor, director and producer. "She says that I came out of the womb dancing."

Robbins began dancing lessons at the age of 4 at the Gene Kelly School of Dance, in Allentown, Pa., appearing in recitals and singing provocative solos like "Blues in the Night" by age 11.

At Westmont Hilltop High School -- where they luckily did a Broadway musical each spring -- she was cast as Nellie Forbush in "South Pacific" her junior year and played Eliza Doolittle in "My Fair Lady" her senior year.

"I loved expressing myself and sharing my talent and received a great deal of encouragement from my family," she said. "By the time I was ready to attend college, I knew that I wanted to major in theater so that I could perfect my craft, grow as a human being, and pursue my career at the Broadway level."

Robbins chose Stephens College in Columbia, Mo., which has owned and operated the Okoboji Summer Theatre since 1957. Robbins performed at Okoboji as Rosie in "Bye Bye Birdie" and Maggie in "The Man Who Came to Dinner," among other roles.

"My parents and especially my mother were my biggest supporters," she said. "They paid for me to attend Stephens and underwrote my move to New York until I landed my first job."

Robbins' first show on Broadway was "Good News," starring John Payne and Alice Faye, where she played Patricia Bingham, the Sorority Queen. Other Broadway shows followed including the Pulitzer Prize-winning "Crimes of the Heart," in which she played Lenny one year after the play won the prize.

Robbins recently played the title role in "The Drowsy Chaperone" for the Human Race Theater Company as part of the Victoria Theater's Broadway Series.

"I have been lucky to have a number of memorable roles, so it would be hard to choose my favorite," she admitted. "Playing Aldonza in the national company of 'Man of La Mancha' opposite Jose Ferrer at 21, just one year after graduating from Stephens. Playing Lenny in 'Crimes of the Heart' on Broadway one year after it won the Pulitzer Prize. Standing by for Tyne Daly on Broadway as Mama Rose  in 'Gypsy' and getting to star in the show for a whole week when she took a vacation. Those are three big ones in my mind. but I'm also looking forward to being on stage at Boji again in 'The Last Romance.'"

"Crimes of the Heart" is one of the two plays Robbins will direct this summer.

"I LOVE directing," she insisted. "It's being part of the whole -- not just your own role -- and helping to guide others to being better than they ever imagined that they could be."

Robbins directed "Crimes" at Stephens in 1985. Her other directorial undertaking will be the musical "Little Women," which she produced on Broadway and directed on the Stephens campus just three years ago.

"Randall Wreghitt, my late producing partner on 'Little Women,' who passed away a year ago much too young, is from Iowa," she said. "I dedicate my first season as OST artistic director and this production of 'Little Women' in his memory."

In 2009, Robbins was nominated for a Tony Award for producing the Broadway production of "Ragtime." Currently Robbins is developing three new Broadway shows, including Allan Knee's "The Jazz Age," a three-character play with music and dance about Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda Sayer.

The president of Stephens College asked Robbins to be the artistic director of the theater this summer.

"I was extremely honored and leaped at the opportunity to return to my roots, to the summer theater that nurtured my dreams and my career," she said. "I'm thrilled to be able to share the knowledge and experience I have gained in working in the regional theaters, off and on Broadway with the seniors who will be starting their careers -- just as I did -- when they leave 'Boji.'"

"Our students will have the wonderful experience of working directly with a Broadway producer, director and actor," said Beth Leonard, back for her 15th year as executive director of the theater. "As a theater grad herself, Jana went from 'Boji' to Broadway and in that process, she has gained much that we are looking forward to having her share with our aspiring performers."

Robbins tells young, talented actors not to choose between "real world" employment and theatrical work.

"There are so many jobs to be held in the field of entertainment and all of them put you in creative positions around an art you love," she explained.

"You don't have to be ON stage," Robbins continued. "You can direct, stage manage, company manage, design the lights, costumes, sound design, be an agent, a producer, a general manager, work in the social media, do PR, marketing. It's endless really, the number of enjoyable careers there are with in the world of entertainment and the theater. Now that I produce, teach, and direct as well as act, I encourage students who are interested in theater to look at ALL the jobs available to them in the business."