Arts & Entertainment
Q&A With Ken Robinson of Oregon Shakespeare Festival
...my favorite authors are Toni
Morrison, John Steinbeck and
Walter Mosley.
in New York City. I worked in investment banking for four
years, and then moved back to Atlanta and did management
consulting for another five years. Once back in Atlanta, I
started doing (and loving) community theatre. And after a
couple of shows, I was cast in three shows at the Alliance
Theatre in Atlanta in one season. That was when I knew I
could make a living at it — if I studied. So I left Atlanta
again and went to grad school at Yale.
OSF: How’s Ashland treating you so far?
Ken Robinson as Freddy Eynsford-Hill in the Oregon
Shakespeare Festival’s 2013 production of My Fair
Lady.
KR: So far so good... I was born and raised on the West
Coast. I grew up in Oakland, CA. But, great weather and
second syllables aside, Oakland is a far cry from Ashland.
OSF: You have such a beautiful singing voice. What
music do you like to listen to?
KR: I love beautiful voices singing thoughtful lyrics with
strong melodies. That love allows me to appreciate artists
from many genres. I love singer/songwriters — Eric Rober-
son, Dolly Parton, Bill Withers, Alanis Morrissette, Sarah
McLachlan... But the voices who have influenced me the
most are soul legend Donny Hathaway, R&B balladeer Will
Downing and the gospel tenor of life, Daryl Coley.
OSF: With having to juggle work and family, reading
books might be a luxury you don’t have time for, but are
there books on your nightstand calling out to you, or any
you’ve read lately that you’ve liked?
KR: Are you kidding? I must read — each day. Even if
it’s just a couple of pages before bed, I’m always reading
something. Right now, I’m reading Stephen Sondheim’s
PHOTOS BY JENNY GRAHAM
T
his is Ken’s first year in the acting company, where
he’s playing Freddy Eynsford-Hill in My Fair Lady
and the Preacher in The Unfortunates.
OSF: Your first season here at OSF is turning out to be an
adventure for the whole family. Can you tell us about that?
KR: Sure! My wife Christina and I are both new mem-
bers of the OSF acting company. We moved to Ashland
with our then six-month-old daughter Marilyn in December
2012. Now Christina and I are performing together in both
My Fair Lady and The Unfortunates.
OSF: Where is home when you aren’t in Ashland?
KR: We came to Ashland from Union City, New Jersey,
right across the river from New York City. But as much as
we loved it there, I wouldn’t consider Union City home.
Home is wherever we are.
OSF: How did you first become involved in theatre? Is it
true that you were going down a different career path before
you went to Yale School of Drama?
KR: I first became involved in the theatre in the fourth
grade of Lakeview Elementary in Oakland, CA, where I
played the lead in Oliver. Years later, I attended a perform-
ing arts magnet high school in Oakland called Skyline. But
I didn’t believe I could make a living as an artist. So I stud-
ied economics when I went to Morehouse College in
Atlanta, GA. I graduated from Morehouse and landed a
position as an analyst with an investment banking boutique
Ken Robinson as Preacher and Jesse Baldwin at the
piano in the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s 2013
world premiere production of The Unfortunates.
Look, I Made a Hat. Sondheim is as compelling an author
as he is a composer/lyricist. But my favorite authors are
Toni Morrison, John Steinbeck and Walter Mosley. I’ve
read all of Morrison’s novels. I’m about halfway through
the Steinbeck and Mosley catalogues.
OSF: Are you a good cook? If so, what are your special-
ties?
KR: I would not call myself a good cook; I would call
myself a good reader of directions. That said, I do make
four things really well: breakfast, turkey lasagna, oatmeal
cookies and smoothies.
Reprinted with permission of Oregon Shakespeare Festi-
val.
Movies
continued from page 6
drawn as tag teams of
opposing
professional
wrestlers. Here’s the story-
line in 25 words or more.
Dominic coaxes his cohorts
(Tyrese, Paul Walker,
Ludacris, Sung Kang and
Gal Gadot) out of retirement
for one last adventure, after
rumors surface that his late-
ex,
Letty
(Michelle
Rodriguez), might miracu-
lously still be alive.
They hatch a plan to res-
cue the damsel in distress
who’s suffering from amne-
sia and currently in the
clutches of Owen Shaw
(Luke Evans), a worthy
adversary specializing in
vehicular warfare. His
posse’s recent attack on a
Russian military convoy
explains why Diplomatic
Security Service agent
Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) is
desperately seeking the
assistance of Dominic’s
crew.
They agree on the condi-
tion that, should this
mission succeed, they’ll be
granted clemency for the
host of crimes committed in
F&F episodes 1-5. Hobbs
okays the deal, and soon, a
dogfight featuring fisticuffs,
pyrotechnics and plenty of
cartoon physics unfolds all
over London, involving not
only souped-up autos and
state-of-the-art gadgetry,
but a tank and a plane, to
boot.
The epitome of a summer
blockbuster, complete with
a post-credits set-up of F&F
7 (already slated to be
released in July of 2014).
Just remember to check
your brain at the box office,
and you won’t be disap-
pointed.
Excellent (4 stars)
PG-13 for sexuality, pro-
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May 29, 2013 The Portland Skanner Page 7