Spotlight Sunday - Janelle Robinson
Happy Spotlight Sunday, everyone! We are very excited to present our featured artist, Janelle Robinson who will be singing the role of Ma Moss in The Tender Land on June 2 & 4 at The Aetna Theatre at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art. Tickets are going fast! You can purchase them through our website by clicking here.
For the past twenty years, Janelle Anne Robinson has enjoyed an ongoing professional career on the operatic and musical theater stage. Her performances span several countries including France, Canada and Japan as well as most of the continental United States. Recently, Janelle received the 2014 Connecticut Critic’s Choice award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical for her portrayal of Bloody Mary in STONC’s South Pacific. Other awards include The Richard Tucker Study Grant and the MacAllister Award.
Janelle’s credits include the Broadway production of Cameron Mackintosh and Disney’s Mary Poppins, directed by the award-winning Sir Richard Eyre, in which she originated the role of Mrs. Corry; Oklahoma, also produced by Cameron Mackintosh and directed by Trevor Nunn; and Hal Prince and Susan Stroman’s revival of Showboat. She was a principal member in the 1st National tours of Thoroughly Modern Millie and Showboat. Regionally, Janelle has performed with Virginia Opera, Opera Omaha, Connecticut Opera and Opera Company Philadelphia, Papermill Playhouse, North Shore Music Theater, Maine State Music Theater, The Cleveland Playhouse, STONC and Playhouse.
Along with the aforementioned, Janelle has worked with many illustrious directors and choreographers throughout the years, including Michael Mayer, Lynn Taylor-Corbett, Barry Ivan, Vicky Bussert, Dotty Danner, George Osborne, Wayne Cilento, Rob Ashford, Eric Stern and David Caddick. Her various television and film credits include Febreze, Law and Order: Criminal Intent, A Little Game and Aftermath.
She received a Bachelor of Music from the Hartt School, an Advanced Certificate in Voice from the Juilliard School and a Master of Music from The Curtis Institute. She has also trained at the School for Film and Television in NYC.
Presently, she is on faculty at Western CT State University and The Hartt School in the music theater departments. She is also a faculty member of Hartt’s Community Division, Fineline Arts Center and The Enchanted Garden. Janelle previously taught at Juilliard’s summer exchange program.
Here is what Janelle had to say about opera without borders:
Opera without borders" to me, brings new outlets to artists who otherwise are without a platform to speak. It also gives the audience an opportunity to shift their perspective and question "traditional theater" as we know it. But most importantly, it allows me to meet and create with those I might not have crossed paths and see the work from their point of view.
