Nov. 30, 2011
Tony-Nominated Producer and Stephens Alumna Jana Robbins
Named Artistic Director for 2012 Season
at Stephens College’s Okoboji Summer Theatre
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Jana Robbins, a Broadway producer/director/actress, has been named Artistic Director at Stephens College’s Okoboji Summer Theatre in Spirit Lake, Iowa. Robbins has agreed to serve in this capacity for the summer 2012 season.
Robbins graduated from Stephens with a B.F.A. in Theatre and has returned to campus several times over the years. In the late ‘80s, Robbins returned to teach at Stephens and direct “Crimes of the Heart,” which she appeared in on Broadway, and in 1985 she served as the Commencement Speaker at Stephens’ graduation ceremony. As a guest artist, she also directed “Little Women,” which she produced on Broadway, at the Macklanburg Playhouse, which starred then student and 2011 graduate, Sydney Turner. Robbins recently made it possible for Turner to sing “Astonishing” (from “Little Women”) on Broadway at The Shubert Theatre during a memorial service for Jana’s partner and late Broadway producer, Randall Wreghitt.
“Our students will have the wonderful experience of working directly with a Broadway producer, director and actor alongside our exceptional faculty,” says Beth Leonard, dean of the Stephens School of Performing Arts and chair of the Department of Theatre, who will continue to oversee the academic program at Okoboji this summer. “As a theatre 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 herself performed at Okoboji as Rosie in “Bye Bye Birdie” and Maggie in “The Man Who Came To Dinner,” among other roles. After graduation, she headed straight to New York and began her career as an actor appearing in many Broadway productions, including “Gypsy” and the Pulitzer Prize-winning “Crimes of the Heart. ” Robbins made her Broadway-producing debut with Allan Knee’s “Little Women,” the musical starring Sutton Foster and Maureen McGovern. In 2009, she 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 Sayre. Executive producer for its first production at the 59E59 Street Theater, she also produced its next developmental production (in association with The Blank Theater Company in Los Angeles) starring Luke McFarlane of “Brothers and Sisters.”
Robbins also helped develop, produce and direct “The Participant” in association with actor Chazz Palminteri. The show, written by and starring Dayton Callie of HBO’s “Deadwood,” was nominated for a Best Solo Performance Award by LA Weekly. Find her bio at www.janarobbins.com.
Founded in 1833, Stephens College is the second-oldest women’s college in the country and prepares students to become leaders and innovators in a rapidly changing world. Stephens engages lifelong learners in an educational experience characterized by intellectual rigor, creative expression and professional practice, in an environment supported by accomplished faculty and dedicated alumnae. Learn more at www.stephens.edu.
Stephens’ Okoboji Summer Theatre, located in Spirit Lake, Iowa, is celebrating 55 years of providing students in the College’s three-year, two-summer B.F.A. program with an intensive experience that involves 13 productions in a 10-week summer stock schedule in the Iowa Lakes tourist region. Learn more at www.okobojisummertheatre.org.
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