Journal Sentinel Interview with Sanford Robbins

Acting isn't everything: It's the only thing
'Lombardi' of state theater returns from East for 'True West'

By DAMIEN JAQUES

Journal Sentinel theater critic


Milwaukee Repertory Theater actor Mark Corkins recalls the intermission of a comedy that was being staged by the Professional Theatre Training Program at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in the mid-1980s.

Sanford Robbins

Sandford Robbins will direct Sam Shepard's "True West" for the Milwaukee Rep. Although classics are his specialty, Robbins has an affinity for Shepard's work and has staged it here and abroad.

Robbins left the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Professional Theatre Training Program for Delaware in 1988. Sixteen years later, he is returning as a thriving acting professor, but the program he left behind has almost wilted away.

Sandy Robbins, former head of the University of Milwaukee Wisconsin's Professional Theatre Training Program, is back in Milwaukee at the suggestion of two former students. He is directing Sam Shepard's "True West," which will star Lee Ernst and Mark Corkins as bickering brothers.

"We're doing a lot of dribbling out there but we are not making any baskets," Corkins, who was in the cast, remembers him saying. "It was his metaphor for landing a joke," the actor explained.

The sport may be different, but Robbins was having a Vince Lombardi moment.

The comparison between the actor-training guru and the football legend is not as farfetched as it may seem.

"He didn't have anything invested in whether we liked him," Corkins said. " 'This is not a democracy,' he would tell us. He would say that a lot."

"Ruthless, he was ruthless," recalls Brian Robert Mani, another happy graduate of the PTTP when Robbins was running it at UWM. "As a student, he easily got my number. He knew what buttons to push to get me to react, to get me motivated.

"He's very persuasive. It is very hard to say no to him."

Trained generation of actors
Like Lombardi, Robbins began a dynasty in Wisconsin and then left for the East Coast.

Unlike the Packers deity, Robbins has returned, albeit for only a few weeks.

For the first time since transferring nearly the entire staff and faculty of his training program to the University of Delaware in 1988, Sandy Robbins is back working in Milwaukee.

He's here to direct the Rep production of Sam Shepard's "True West" that opens tonight in the Stiemke Theater.

Using his strong personality and passion for theater, Robbins trained a generation of now middle-aged actors while in Milwaukee, and in doing so was an influential architect of the state's expanding theatrical landscape.

His program's reluctant departure from UWM was caused by funding that was inadequate for competing with the other top graduate-level actor training schools in the country.

But Robbins and the other key members of his training team - Leslie Reidel, Jewel Walker and Susan Sweeney - continued to affect the quality of Wisconsin theater after they moved to Delaware.

Pride in successes
Rep favorite Lee Ernst graduated from the Delaware program, and two of the American Players Theatre's brightest young stars, Colleen Madden and David Daniel, went to Spring Green after being trained by Robbins and his colleagues.

Over a low-carb breakfast on a Sunday morning, Robbins expressed pride in his graduates' successes.

"Almost a third of this company (the Rep's resident acting ensemble) graduated from our program, and I think the percentage is even higher at APT," he said. "There are not many resident acting companies in regional theater, but where there are, we have a lot of people."

In Milwaukee, the Chamber Theatre has relied heavily on Robbins' graduates. Mani, James Tasse, Norman Moses and Carrie Hitchcock have been regulars.

The rising In Tandem Theatre Company was founded by Robbins alum Chris Flieller and his wife, Jane.

Tyne Turner, Jim Butchart and Michael Duncan have been valuable contributors to a variety of theatrical projects and endeavors in the state.

The stage, the classics
Drew Brhel, a Milwaukeean who received his training in Delaware, has emerged as a successful director as well as actor.

Unlike most actor training programs, Robbins' has concentrated exclusively on stage acting, with an emphasis on the classics.

Affecting American theater has been a goal.

"You don't come to us if you want to be on TV," he said.

Corkins and Ernst are playing the leading characters in "True West," brothers whose sibling rivalry is primal and volatile, and Robbins is back directing in Milwaukee because of them.

After they were cast, the two actors were approached by Rep management, according to Corkins, and asked if they had a preference for director. They suggested their former teacher.

"One of the great things about the Rep is that Joe has this tremendous faith in and a commitment to a resident company," Corkins said of artistic director Joseph Hanreddy. "Lee and I were asked if we could think of anyone to direct, and we immediately came up with Sandy (Robbins). He has an edge to him, has a lot of history directing Shepard, and we both spent an extended period of time with him."

Changed relationship
Although the classics are his specialty, Robbins has a recognized affinity for Shepard's gritty plays, directing the American dramatist's work in Europe.

He has staged the Finnish premiere of "The Tooth of Crime" and the Russian and Cypriot premieres of "Buried Child," a piece he directed at UWM during his tenure there.

The Russian production was at the world-renowned Moscow Art Theatre, where Robbins sat in a chair once occupied by the legendary Constantin Stanislavky.

The students in the Moscow Arts theater school were most interested in knowing if he knew Al Pacino and Robert De Niro.

The relationship Robbins has with Corkins and Ernst is different now, because they are veteran professionals rather than his students.

"I was still thinking of Sandy as an authority figure," Corkins said about their first day of rehearsals.

"But the relationship has completely changed. He is giving us a lot of respect and trust. We are collaborators now. He began by asking us what we needed from him."

No victimhood
Robbins has always emphasized professionalism as much as learning to speak and move on stage.

Work ethic and attitude are key ingredients in his professional credo, according to Mani.

"I am responsible for my own life, and I should not be a victim in my career," the actor said he learned from his three years of training under Robbins.

Mani said victimhood is a tempting mental posture for actors to assume if they are not getting the roles for which they audition.

"If I am not getting work, I should not blame the theater company." An honest self-assessment of the reasons is in order, Mani added.

Corkins recalls Robbins constantly telling his students to create a context and have a meaning for their work.

" 'You want a job, but why?' he would ask. What are you doing, why are you doing it?'

"At the very beginning of rehearsals for 'True West,' Sandy talked about the possibility of this show being a breakthrough for anyone involved with it." If that were possible, Robbins wanted to facilitate it.

"I thought," Corkins said, "Oh, yeah, that's Sandy."