Oral History Interview with Heidi Rose Robbins

This oral history is provided free by the Archives of the Interlochen Center for the Arts (ARTICA). It has been accepted for inclusion in Interlochen’s audio archive by an authorized administrator of Interlochen Center for the Arts. For more information, please contact archives@interlochen.org.

00:00:00    IAN JONES
Today is September 11th, 2024, and this is an oral history interview with Heidi Rose Robbins conducted by Ian Jones via zoom. Hi, Heidi.

00:00:09    HEIDI ROSE ROBBINS
Hello, Ian.

00:00:11    IAN JONES
Welcome, welcome.

00:00:12    HEIDI ROSE ROBBINS
Thank you.

00:00:14    IAN JONES
Well, let's get started. I mean, tell me, when you attended Interlochen and what you studied while you were here.

00:00:21    HEIDI ROSE ROBBINS
I attended Interlochen from 1981 to 1984, and I was in the Shakespeare department or the theater department. And then I returned to teach from 1991 to 1998. So I spent 11 summers at Interlochen. It's a soul home for me, for sure.

00:00:41    IAN JONES
Well, tell me how you first connected to Interlochen. What brought you here? How did you find your way here?

00:00:48    HEIDI ROSE ROBBINS
My father went to Interlochen from 1955 to 1960, and from the time I was a kid, he would say to me, oh, we have to get you to Interlochen. And, you know, a kid's like, sure, I'm up for that. But I didn't want to go until I was a little bit older. But I do remember doing a- he was working with me in the basement of our house on a monologue to audition, you know, and it was such a big moment to submit the monologue and to wait to see if I had been accepted. But he was so thrilled. So I was the second generation to attend Interlochen. And then this summer, 2024, my son was the third generation. So it's an enormously important place, Interlochen is, for our family.

00:01:34    IAN JONES
And what did your son study while he was here?

00:01:37    HEIDI ROSE ROBBINS
He also studied theater. He was a, there was a three week sort of improv group that didn't exist when I was there, but he adored it. He was so happy.

00:01:49    IAN JONES
What was the big draw for you to come here? Was it because of, kind of, your father's influence, or did you have this desire to grow and learn? What kind of motivated you to to be here?

00:02:00    HEIDI ROSE ROBBINS
Yeah, well, I always loved theater. My father was an opera director. I was living in Fargo, North Dakota, and he was an opera director in Fargo, North Dakota. And so I grew up in theaters. I, you know, run around the theater at night while he would be rehearsing. And I started acting when. Well, I was in operas when I was three and four years old. I, you know, I played Trouble in Madame Butterfly, so I was always, you know, in, on the stage. And I loved it, I loved it. And I had attended a camp in Fargo, North Dakota, when I was about 11 and 12 and 13. And then I just knew this was the next step, because I had heard it was just a remarkable arts community and Camp. And I thought, I am ready for this. I'm ready for the next level. So the summer after ninth grade, I had just moved from Fargo to New Jersey, and it felt like the moment I said, okay, this is a big growth moment for me. I'm ready to commit to a whole summer of theatre.

00:02:59    IAN JONES
Had you been on campus before?

00:03:02    HEIDI ROSE ROBBINS
No, I just- my, my dad had just told me many stories, and I listened to his stories and I could imagine. And I trusted him implicitly. And he said Interlochen saved his life. That's what he said. Because his family was in the middle of a divorce when he first attended, and he felt it as an incredible refuge. He found Interlochen to be a home and Dude Stevenson was a teacher of operetta at the time, and he- I think he taught at Interlochen for 50 years. And dad often spoke about Dude Stevenson and how he was a man that just had a joy in teaching and living and, you know, 200 kids on the stage. And he was always calm and always making sure that everyone was having fun. And so there were a number of teachers he told me about and his cabin mates, and just his experience felt like home to him. So every summer he would just wait all year to return.

00:04:01    IAN JONES
Did you ever get a chance to meet any of those teachers that he told you about?

00:04:05    HEIDI ROSE ROBBINS
Yes, when I was a camper, I got to meet Dude. He was still there when I was a camper, and actually, I believe he was retiring as I started to teach and I got to work with his wife, Kathy Stevenson, in the theater department, and they were an incredible couple. And, you know, it's everything to walk around Interlochen and feel every moment of history. I just wept for days when I dropped my son off. Because while Interlochen continues to grow and evolve and all these new, beautiful buildings, the essence of it is exactly the same. And so I could feel my father on the stage. I could feel how he came alive there. And so then getting to meet Dude Stevenson, who was part of that.. It's just this long, this lineage. It's deeply moving to me.

00:04:55    IAN JONES
It's this thread that runs through all of the experiences.

00:04:59    HEIDI ROSE ROBBINS
Yeah.

00:04:59    IAN JONES
Do you have memories of when you first stepped on campus? What that was first like, because you'd heard about this place. And so now you show up for your three week session. Do you have some recollections of what that was like, what your initial impression was?

00:05:14    HEIDI ROSE ROBBINS
Well, yeah. And first of all, when I, when I was a camper, it was only eight weeks. You could only go for eight weeks. There was no choice. And so that was a big commitment, you know. And I had just finished ninth grade. So I had a choice of whether to go to the high school division or the intermediate division. And I chose the intermediate division because I thought, okay, well, I- maybe it's better to be the oldest in the group or something. So I remember my father drove me to Interlochen and we arrived at the intermediate division. And of course, you know, it's all things. I felt incredibly nervous. I felt deeply excited to see this place that my father had talked about. I felt such anticipation. And that moment when you say goodbye and all the cabin members are, you know, you're like, okay, now I have to make my way here. But by that night, as is often the case, you know, you find a person that you know you can hold on to and make your way through with. And so I would say within 24 hours, I was in great shape and I was ready for an incredible eight, you know, eight weeks.

00:06:15    IAN JONES
So you just kind of mentioned that you're finding that person to hold on to. Did you develop any lasting friendships from your time at Interlochen?

00:06:24    HEIDI ROSE ROBBINS
I mostly would say that my friendships are from when I taught, but occasionally there was- I was at a hotel at in Ashland, Oregon, and, you know, someone came up to me and we realized that we'd been cabin mates. Right. So that does happen. I, of course, I have students all over the world, and I have four summers of cabin mates all over the world, and I have once or twice run into cabin mates. But at this point I'm no longer in touch with any of them but- the cabin mates. But they were dear, beloved friends for many years.

00:06:59    IAN JONES
So is there anything in particular that you would say is your favorite memory from your time at Interlochen?

00:07:05    HEIDI ROSE ROBBINS
Yeah, there's so many. I'll just tell you a couple. One of them is, you know, one of the things my father said to me when I left Interlochen is he said, be sure on Sunday mornings to go hear the brass choir before the Sunday morning service. And so I did that the very first Sunday. And I just found it so quieting and beautiful. And I was, I sat in Kresge and looked out at the lake and listened to this, knowing that my father had loved it, you know. And so that as a camper I remember deeply. And then, of course, when I returned as a teacher on the faculty, I would do that every Sunday morning. And then my father has since passed. And taking my son to camp this summer, I got to sit and listen to the brass choir. And, you know, I can only tell you how meaningful that was for me to feel again, his presence through that. So that's one beautiful memory. I had so many beautiful memories performing. Cary Libkin was, had come into the theater department the same summer. No, no, my second summer, he had come in to teach and to direct Shakespeare, and so I spent three summers with him. He was a magnificent director, and he brought such passion and such joy to what he did. And it was such professionalism to, I just remember thinking, oh my gosh, I thought I knew what being in a play was all about. I thought I knew what acting was all about, and he just brought it alive in a whole new way. So my third summer there, I was in Comedy of Errors and I played one of the Dromios. He cast me as one of the Dromios and we were in Corson Auditorium and he choreographed this incredible chase scene that was in the middle of the comedy, and people stood up for five minutes screaming like they were so happy about this crazy chase scene. And it just kept growing and growing and building and building. And is it what? I was 15 years old. I mean, it was overwhelming. And it was so- I mean, what I remember more than anything is just the joy, the joy, the joy. And so I have, I have such a body memory of that.

00:09:15    IAN JONES
I mean, thinking back about it, after your time in Interlochen, how did your time at Interlochen influence your personal or professional life? How has it impacted you over time?

00:09:24    HEIDI ROSE ROBBINS
I have to mention that as I was teaching at Interlochen, I met my husband. So it impacted my personal life deeply, and I met him through creativity because I was directing Henry the Fifth, and he came in the last two weeks to choreograph the broadsword fights. And so we've now been married 25 years, So, you know, it has quite a resonance for our whole little family. Professionally, I would say that I took teaching at Interlochen very seriously. I mean, my friends would say, let's go to the Hofbrau. It's, you know, let's, let's go out. And I'd say, well, no, no, I have to create my syllabi for the next, you know, or I have to create the class for tomorrow. So I loved teaching there and my work ethic there was very deep and I loved creating ensemble. I loved helping the kids fall in love with each other in the in the deepest, most creative, most true way. And that has been a through line for me in my life is creating, loving, creative community. And that started at Interlochen for sure.

00:10:34    IAN JONES
You've been a student. You've been a teacher. You're a parent. You check a lot of boxes along the along the connection line. What advice would you give to current Interlochen students or future students coming to Interlochen.

00:10:46    HEIDI ROSE ROBBINS
I had so many parents when I was teaching say to me, oh, my child wants to major in, you know, fill in the blank art at college. But mostly for me, it was filling, you know, wants to major in theater. What do you think of that? And I would smile at them and I would say, that is wonderful, because if your child majors in theater, they will have such a deep sense of themselves. They will know how to talk to one another. They will understand presence. They will understand how community uplifts. We uplift one another in community. So you know anyone thinking about Interlochen, my heart just grows full and I say yes, please. Yes, because you're held by the natural world. I spent so much time alone at Interlochen in the best way. Like I would go sit behind Gruno that no longer exists. This little theater that was the sweetest little theater I would spend hours playing Gruno with my with my notebook. I learned how to be with myself, held by nature. I learned how to make friends quickly and deeply. I learned how to commit myself to my artistic process with professionalism, but without perfectionism. When I was traveling, when I brought my son this past summer, I just. I told, I said this before, but I. I just walked and wept because Interlochen is a place that is alive and it is soulful and it is reverberating. And you, you know this. If you've been to Interlochen, you walk along and there are practice cabins and you're listening to the music and you're smelling the pine trees and you're walking with your friends and you hear laughter and there's no place like it on the planet. Period.

00:12:42    IAN JONES
If you were pressed on, what would you say creates that?

00:12:45    HEIDI ROSE ROBBINS
Well, I think it it started, you know, I don't know enough about the origin origin. But I think it started with, you know, Joseph Maddy with a deeply strong intention to create a sanctuary and a refuge and a place of beauty to cultivate art and friendship. And I think such a strong intention reverberates still. And there is something about what is asked of us when we go there. It is a camp. It is joyful. It is summer, but it's also held with a lot of intention and a lot of loving structure.

00:13:23    IAN JONES
Are there any other stories, memories that you would feel like.. I just have to share this. I have to share this time that this thing happened.

00:13:31    HEIDI ROSE ROBBINS
Well, I'll tell a funny story that, you know, I was a very good girl. I was, you know, followed the rules, and I would never, I never wanted to, you know, get in trouble or whatever. But my last summer at Interlochen, I had just done Hamlet. I had played Gertrude in Hamlet, I had played Sorrel in Hay Fever. It was like the peak of the mountain, the summit experience of being a camper at Interlochen. I had graduated high school and I had chosen to go back before college. And it was, you know, the last night of camp we'd gone to Les Préludes, and it was so beautiful. And we all went back to our cabins and people were starting to leave. And a group of theater students said, let's meet at Gruno at midnight. Now, that would involve sneaking out of the honor cabin and running across campus to Gruno. And of course, people are leaving all night long. And, you know, it's way more lax than any other night. But I was terrified and exhilarated and I was going to do it. And so, you know, at midnight I left and there were about ten kids that just loved each other. That and we all sat on the stage of Gruno and we just told stories and we cried and we felt young and we also felt old, and it was our kind of little graduation from Interlochen. And, you know, I'll never forget that night. It was, there was a little buzz to it.

00:14:55    IAN JONES
That's a wonderful story.

00:14:58    HEIDI ROSE ROBBINS
You know, you know, there's so many like that. And then I would just say also, again, you and I have talked about this through line feeling. Right. And one of the things that Cary Libkin said to us as theater students is he said, go to WYSO. WYSO every Sunday night, go to the World Youth Symphony Orchestra every Sunday night. He said, you just want to stay in your own theater world. If you do not go and sit and listen to the World Youth Symphony Orchestra every night, every Sunday night you are missing out. And he's like, this is part of you becoming a better artist. This is part of your art actor self growing. You must immerse yourself in the different arts. And so I would go every Sunday night and I would also I would bring my journal and I often sat, I went by myself and sat by myself. And again it was like the brass choir, but it gave me a time to think, and it gave me a time to understand how I was growing. And of course, I was so blown away by the extraordinary talent. And talk about a beautiful community, you know, an orchestra. I mean, it's such a teaching for, we who were in theater. It's like, well, this is how you play together. This is how you listen to one another. So that's another beautiful memory. That was a sort of rhythmic memory.

00:16:14    IAN JONES
Yeah. That's being part of an ensemble. It's one of the things you learn as a as an actor, being part of an ensemble, how to listen and respond. I mean, a lot of life skills tied up in that. So.

00:16:26    HEIDI ROSE ROBBINS
Absolutely.

00:16:27    IAN JONES
Well, let me ask you this kind of as a closing thought and doesn't mean we have to stop if you've got other things you'd like to share, but you've talked a little bit about Interlochen and the importance of Interlochen in your life and in your family's life. Why do you think art matters in the world today?

00:16:43    HEIDI ROSE ROBBINS
It's such a good question. It connects us. It reveals us to one another. We create ourselves as we create art. And so when we're creating together, we're creating our humanity. It is of the soul, I want to say. It uplifts it, inspires it.. It gives us a horizon to, to move towards. It teaches us how to be in harmony with one another. You know, we sing together. We play together. We act together. Even a visual artist sitting in the same room creating within a group of other visual artists, something's going on where we're growing one another through the revealing of ourselves. I mean, art is everything.

00:17:41    IAN JONES
You talking about the visual artist there made me think of the visual artist during Collage. And if you're standing outside Kresge, there are concerts going on or the performance is going on, and we're moving from one thing to another, and it's film and it's a reading, it's a monologue. It's a scene from a show. It's a singer songwriter, rock pop, and then you have the visual artists all lining Kresge on either side, painting and looking at kind of the same thing, but being inspired by different parts of it and taking it in different directions and in their own style. It's one of the things I love, that visual of watching that happen and then seeing all the different approaches that come out of that at the end of the night.

00:18:22    HEIDI ROSE ROBBINS
Oh, I love that. That's so well said. It actually also makes me think of when I was teaching there. Garrison Keillor would come for Prairie Home Companion and he would always use theatre students in his piece and. But he would always talk about he. He would talk about walking around the campus and just that, like being inspired by the kids from all the different arts. And then of course, he would create this radio show which combined all of it as well. And so, I don't know, I just had an image of him walking and listening and absorbing and then, and then it turning into a whole other piece of art through his Prairie Home Companion.

00:18:57    IAN JONES
Thinking more about your time as a faculty member?

00:19:01    HEIDI ROSE ROBBINS
Yeah.

00:19:02    IAN JONES
Are there any impressions there that you carry with you as a former faculty member about what it was like to teach in this environment, what was expected of you in this environment, the connection you built with the kids that you worked with?

00:19:16    HEIDI ROSE ROBBINS
Yeah. What an incredible honor to teach at Interlochen. I started teaching when I was 24. So and I was working with high school students. So I was really, you know, 7 or 8 years older than the kids. And I still felt I was still very much a kid, you know. But they invested, they trusted, they gave their love and attention in such a beautiful way. And, you know, at first I came, I was an assistant director, and so I was more responsible for let's warm up together. Let's play together, you know. And yeah, we built incredible ensembles. And so as a faculty member, I guess I just want to say I felt.. I felt such gratitude for the kids that showed up there because they were they were taking themselves seriously and they were taking their art seriously, but they also were kids and wanted to invest with a lot of play and joy. And I became a teacher there, really. I mean, by the time I left, I had gone through a huge process of maturation, and I held the shows that I directed and the kids in better ways, and Interlochen taught me to do that, you know, by watching other teachers inspired by other teachers. And that's the remarkable thing. We just get to all stand and wonder at one another and the gifts that we bring.

00:20:44    IAN JONES
I also want to just hear from you on kind of your thoughts about this process. First of all, how did you come to schedule this? Who did you hear about this through someone? Did someone reach out to you?

00:20:57    HEIDI ROSE ROBBINS
I actually, when I dropped my son off in the middle of the summer, I stopped by the alumni hut and I just stopped in briefly to find out the year my father started. I wasn't sure when it was, and somebody handed me the form and I honestly, I wouldn't normally do something like this, but I was like, of course I have to do this. I love Interlochen, I have such, like, my heart is full. And so I had it in my purse for like two months before I even or, I don't know, a month before I even wrote. But I'm just 100 years. My gosh, that has to be marked and celebrated. And because when I was dropping my son off and feeling my father and feeling like I said, this lineage, this timelessness, that Interlochen has a timeless quality to it and feeling like I'm every age, you know, I could feel my little 16 year old self. I could feel my, you know, 28 year old self. And then I'm Mama. I look at my son who was falling in love with Interlochen the moment he set foot, and it just broke my heart in all the best ways.

00:22:03    IAN JONES
Glad to hear it was best ways. Know I'm glad to hear that that kind of thread is still taut and moving. Moving through your son's life as well as yours, and tying you back to your time with your dad.

00:22:14    HEIDI ROSE ROBBINS
And even just for fun, Ian, I'll say that I was on campus. I was going to go see Nickel Creek the night I dropped him off, and I'm walking along and across the, you know, from the Melody Freeze. I hear Heidi Rose Robbins. And I was like, what? And he's like Andy McGinn. He said, I was your student. I was your student at Interlochen. You know, he played Macbeth when I was assistant directing, and we hadn't seen each other, and we were so happy. And I ended up going having dinner at his house and, you know, and this was 28 years later, something like that.

00:22:51    IAN JONES
Did you know he was here?

00:22:53    HEIDI ROSE ROBBINS
You know, I feel like I knew and then forgot, like I think he wrote me when he started to teach at Interlochen. But then I just didn't put it together. And I was like, that's right. You're working at the Academy. But we hadn't seen each other and I. So again, like, time collapsing. You know, here's this wonderful man teaching at the Academy, and here's the 17 year old boy that I knew, you know, who was just finding his footing as an actor. And it was incredible.

00:23:21    IAN JONES
That's a great story. I'm glad you shared that. Well, thank you so much for taking time to do this. I appreciate it more than you know. It is a you know, it was an idea to put something like this together for the centennial. It was very much a pilot this summer to see how do we do this? What do we need to do it effectively? How can we do it both here on campus so we can connect with people while they're here? But then also, how can we do this remotely so that people all over the country, all over the world, can participate? We're still learning. We're modifying what we're doing and how it's working and what we think is going to be the best. So I really appreciate you being a part of this pilot and for saying like you did, oh, of course it's 100, 100th anniversary. I've got to do this.

00:24:03    HEIDI ROSE ROBBINS
Yeah, yeah. It's wonderful. I'm so glad you're doing it. And if I think of, you know, anyone else that could, you know, reach out, I will certainly share your info. All right. Ian, thank you so much.

00:24:14    IAN JONES
Thank you. So nice to meet you. And if you're back next summer, please make sure you stop into Apollo Hall and say hello.

00:24:20    HEIDI ROSE ROBBINS
Great. Take care, my friend. All right. Bye bye.

00:24:22    IAN JONES
Bye.

00:00:00    IAN JONES
Today is September 11th, 2024, and this is an oral history interview with Heidi Rose Robbins conducted by Ian Jones via zoom. Hi, Heidi.

00:00:09    HEIDI ROSE ROBBINS
Hello, Ian.

00:00:11    IAN JONES
Welcome, welcome.

00:00:12    HEIDI ROSE ROBBINS
Thank you.

00:00:14    IAN JONES
Well, let's get started. I mean, tell me, when you attended Interlochen and what you studied while you were here.

00:00:21    HEIDI ROSE ROBBINS
I attended Interlochen from 1981 to 1984, and I was in the Shakespeare department or the theater department. And then I returned to teach from 1991 to 1998. So I spent 11 summers at Interlochen. It's a soul home for me, for sure.

00:00:41    IAN JONES
Well, tell me how you first connected to Interlochen. What brought you here? How did you find your way here?

00:00:48    HEIDI ROSE ROBBINS
My father went to Interlochen from 1955 to 1960, and from the time I was a kid, he would say to me, oh, we have to get you to Interlochen. And, you know, a kid's like, sure, I'm up for that. But I didn't want to go until I was a little bit older. But I do remember doing a- he was working with me in the basement of our house on a monologue to audition, you know, and it was such a big moment to submit the monologue and to wait to see if I had been accepted. But he was so thrilled. So I was the second generation to attend Interlochen. And then this summer, 2024, my son was the third generation. So it's an enormously important place, Interlochen is, for our family.

00:01:34    IAN JONES
And what did your son study while he was here?

00:01:37    HEIDI ROSE ROBBINS
He also studied theater. He was a, there was a three week sort of improv group that didn't exist when I was there, but he adored it. He was so happy.

00:01:49    IAN JONES
What was the big draw for you to come here? Was it because of, kind of, your father's influence, or did you have this desire to grow and learn? What kind of motivated you to to be here?

00:02:00    HEIDI ROSE ROBBINS
Yeah, well, I always loved theater. My father was an opera director. I was living in Fargo, North Dakota, and he was an opera director in Fargo, North Dakota. And so I grew up in theaters. I, you know, run around the theater at night while he would be rehearsing. And I started acting when. Well, I was in operas when I was three and four years old. I, you know, I played Trouble in Madame Butterfly, so I was always, you know, in, on the stage. And I loved it, I loved it. And I had attended a camp in Fargo, North Dakota, when I was about 11 and 12 and 13. And then I just knew this was the next step, because I had heard it was just a remarkable arts community and Camp. And I thought, I am ready for this. I'm ready for the next level. So the summer after ninth grade, I had just moved from Fargo to New Jersey, and it felt like the moment I said, okay, this is a big growth moment for me. I'm ready to commit to a whole summer of theatre.

00:02:59    IAN JONES
Had you been on campus before?

00:03:02    HEIDI ROSE ROBBINS
No, I just- my, my dad had just told me many stories, and I listened to his stories and I could imagine. And I trusted him implicitly. And he said Interlochen saved his life. That's what he said. Because his family was in the middle of a divorce when he first attended, and he felt it as an incredible refuge. He found Interlochen to be a home and Dude Stevenson was a teacher of operetta at the time, and he- I think he taught at Interlochen for 50 years. And dad often spoke about Dude Stevenson and how he was a man that just had a joy in teaching and living and, you know, 200 kids on the stage. And he was always calm and always making sure that everyone was having fun. And so there were a number of teachers he told me about and his cabin mates, and just his experience felt like home to him. So every summer he would just wait all year to return.

00:04:01    IAN JONES
Did you ever get a chance to meet any of those teachers that he told you about?

00:04:05    HEIDI ROSE ROBBINS
Yes, when I was a camper, I got to meet Dude. He was still there when I was a camper, and actually, I believe he was retiring as I started to teach and I got to work with his wife, Kathy Stevenson, in the theater department, and they were an incredible couple. And, you know, it's everything to walk around Interlochen and feel every moment of history. I just wept for days when I dropped my son off. Because while Interlochen continues to grow and evolve and all these new, beautiful buildings, the essence of it is exactly the same. And so I could feel my father on the stage. I could feel how he came alive there. And so then getting to meet Dude Stevenson, who was part of that.. It's just this long, this lineage. It's deeply moving to me.

00:04:55    IAN JONES
It's this thread that runs through all of the experiences.

00:04:59    HEIDI ROSE ROBBINS
Yeah.

00:04:59    IAN JONES
Do you have memories of when you first stepped on campus? What that was first like, because you'd heard about this place. And so now you show up for your three week session. Do you have some recollections of what that was like, what your initial impression was?

00:05:14    HEIDI ROSE ROBBINS
Well, yeah. And first of all, when I, when I was a camper, it was only eight weeks. You could only go for eight weeks. There was no choice. And so that was a big commitment, you know. And I had just finished ninth grade. So I had a choice of whether to go to the high school division or the intermediate division. And I chose the intermediate division because I thought, okay, well, I- maybe it's better to be the oldest in the group or something. So I remember my father drove me to Interlochen and we arrived at the intermediate division. And of course, you know, it's all things. I felt incredibly nervous. I felt deeply excited to see this place that my father had talked about. I felt such anticipation. And that moment when you say goodbye and all the cabin members are, you know, you're like, okay, now I have to make my way here. But by that night, as is often the case, you know, you find a person that you know you can hold on to and make your way through with. And so I would say within 24 hours, I was in great shape and I was ready for an incredible eight, you know, eight weeks.

00:06:15    IAN JONES
So you just kind of mentioned that you're finding that person to hold on to. Did you develop any lasting friendships from your time at Interlochen?

00:06:24    HEIDI ROSE ROBBINS
I mostly would say that my friendships are from when I taught, but occasionally there was- I was at a hotel at in Ashland, Oregon, and, you know, someone came up to me and we realized that we'd been cabin mates. Right. So that does happen. I, of course, I have students all over the world, and I have four summers of cabin mates all over the world, and I have once or twice run into cabin mates. But at this point I'm no longer in touch with any of them but- the cabin mates. But they were dear, beloved friends for many years.

00:06:59    IAN JONES
So is there anything in particular that you would say is your favorite memory from your time at Interlochen?

00:07:05    HEIDI ROSE ROBBINS
Yeah, there's so many. I'll just tell you a couple. One of them is, you know, one of the things my father said to me when I left Interlochen is he said, be sure on Sunday mornings to go hear the brass choir before the Sunday morning service. And so I did that the very first Sunday. And I just found it so quieting and beautiful. And I was, I sat in Kresge and looked out at the lake and listened to this, knowing that my father had loved it, you know. And so that as a camper I remember deeply. And then, of course, when I returned as a teacher on the faculty, I would do that every Sunday morning. And then my father has since passed. And taking my son to camp this summer, I got to sit and listen to the brass choir. And, you know, I can only tell you how meaningful that was for me to feel again, his presence through that. So that's one beautiful memory. I had so many beautiful memories performing. Cary Libkin was, had come into the theater department the same summer. No, no, my second summer, he had come in to teach and to direct Shakespeare, and so I spent three summers with him. He was a magnificent director, and he brought such passion and such joy to what he did. And it was such professionalism to, I just remember thinking, oh my gosh, I thought I knew what being in a play was all about. I thought I knew what acting was all about, and he just brought it alive in a whole new way. So my third summer there, I was in Comedy of Errors and I played one of the Dromios. He cast me as one of the Dromios and we were in Corson Auditorium and he choreographed this incredible chase scene that was in the middle of the comedy, and people stood up for five minutes screaming like they were so happy about this crazy chase scene. And it just kept growing and growing and building and building. And is it what? I was 15 years old. I mean, it was overwhelming. And it was so- I mean, what I remember more than anything is just the joy, the joy, the joy. And so I have, I have such a body memory of that.

00:09:15    IAN JONES
I mean, thinking back about it, after your time in Interlochen, how did your time at Interlochen influence your personal or professional life? How has it impacted you over time?

00:09:24    HEIDI ROSE ROBBINS
I have to mention that as I was teaching at Interlochen, I met my husband. So it impacted my personal life deeply, and I met him through creativity because I was directing Henry the Fifth, and he came in the last two weeks to choreograph the broadsword fights. And so we've now been married 25 years, So, you know, it has quite a resonance for our whole little family. Professionally, I would say that I took teaching at Interlochen very seriously. I mean, my friends would say, let's go to the Hofbrau. It's, you know, let's, let's go out. And I'd say, well, no, no, I have to create my syllabi for the next, you know, or I have to create the class for tomorrow. So I loved teaching there and my work ethic there was very deep and I loved creating ensemble. I loved helping the kids fall in love with each other in the in the deepest, most creative, most true way. And that has been a through line for me in my life is creating, loving, creative community. And that started at Interlochen for sure.

00:10:34    IAN JONES
You've been a student. You've been a teacher. You're a parent. You check a lot of boxes along the along the connection line. What advice would you give to current Interlochen students or future students coming to Interlochen.

00:10:46    HEIDI ROSE ROBBINS
I had so many parents when I was teaching say to me, oh, my child wants to major in, you know, fill in the blank art at college. But mostly for me, it was filling, you know, wants to major in theater. What do you think of that? And I would smile at them and I would say, that is wonderful, because if your child majors in theater, they will have such a deep sense of themselves. They will know how to talk to one another. They will understand presence. They will understand how community uplifts. We uplift one another in community. So you know anyone thinking about Interlochen, my heart just grows full and I say yes, please. Yes, because you're held by the natural world. I spent so much time alone at Interlochen in the best way. Like I would go sit behind Gruno that no longer exists. This little theater that was the sweetest little theater I would spend hours playing Gruno with my with my notebook. I learned how to be with myself, held by nature. I learned how to make friends quickly and deeply. I learned how to commit myself to my artistic process with professionalism, but without perfectionism. When I was traveling, when I brought my son this past summer, I just. I told, I said this before, but I. I just walked and wept because Interlochen is a place that is alive and it is soulful and it is reverberating. And you, you know this. If you've been to Interlochen, you walk along and there are practice cabins and you're listening to the music and you're smelling the pine trees and you're walking with your friends and you hear laughter and there's no place like it on the planet. Period.

00:12:42    IAN JONES
If you were pressed on, what would you say creates that?

00:12:45    HEIDI ROSE ROBBINS
Well, I think it it started, you know, I don't know enough about the origin origin. But I think it started with, you know, Joseph Maddy with a deeply strong intention to create a sanctuary and a refuge and a place of beauty to cultivate art and friendship. And I think such a strong intention reverberates still. And there is something about what is asked of us when we go there. It is a camp. It is joyful. It is summer, but it's also held with a lot of intention and a lot of loving structure.

00:13:23    IAN JONES
Are there any other stories, memories that you would feel like.. I just have to share this. I have to share this time that this thing happened.

00:13:31    HEIDI ROSE ROBBINS
Well, I'll tell a funny story that, you know, I was a very good girl. I was, you know, followed the rules, and I would never, I never wanted to, you know, get in trouble or whatever. But my last summer at Interlochen, I had just done Hamlet. I had played Gertrude in Hamlet, I had played Sorrel in Hay Fever. It was like the peak of the mountain, the summit experience of being a camper at Interlochen. I had graduated high school and I had chosen to go back before college. And it was, you know, the last night of camp we'd gone to Les Préludes, and it was so beautiful. And we all went back to our cabins and people were starting to leave. And a group of theater students said, let's meet at Gruno at midnight. Now, that would involve sneaking out of the honor cabin and running across campus to Gruno. And of course, people are leaving all night long. And, you know, it's way more lax than any other night. But I was terrified and exhilarated and I was going to do it. And so, you know, at midnight I left and there were about ten kids that just loved each other. That and we all sat on the stage of Gruno and we just told stories and we cried and we felt young and we also felt old, and it was our kind of little graduation from Interlochen. And, you know, I'll never forget that night. It was, there was a little buzz to it.

00:14:55    IAN JONES
That's a wonderful story.

00:14:58    HEIDI ROSE ROBBINS
You know, you know, there's so many like that. And then I would just say also, again, you and I have talked about this through line feeling. Right. And one of the things that Cary Libkin said to us as theater students is he said, go to WYSO. WYSO every Sunday night, go to the World Youth Symphony Orchestra every Sunday night. He said, you just want to stay in your own theater world. If you do not go and sit and listen to the World Youth Symphony Orchestra every night, every Sunday night you are missing out. And he's like, this is part of you becoming a better artist. This is part of your art actor self growing. You must immerse yourself in the different arts. And so I would go every Sunday night and I would also I would bring my journal and I often sat, I went by myself and sat by myself. And again it was like the brass choir, but it gave me a time to think, and it gave me a time to understand how I was growing. And of course, I was so blown away by the extraordinary talent. And talk about a beautiful community, you know, an orchestra. I mean, it's such a teaching for, we who were in theater. It's like, well, this is how you play together. This is how you listen to one another. So that's another beautiful memory. That was a sort of rhythmic memory.

00:16:14    IAN JONES
Yeah. That's being part of an ensemble. It's one of the things you learn as a as an actor, being part of an ensemble, how to listen and respond. I mean, a lot of life skills tied up in that. So.

00:16:26    HEIDI ROSE ROBBINS
Absolutely.

00:16:27    IAN JONES
Well, let me ask you this kind of as a closing thought and doesn't mean we have to stop if you've got other things you'd like to share, but you've talked a little bit about Interlochen and the importance of Interlochen in your life and in your family's life. Why do you think art matters in the world today?

00:16:43    HEIDI ROSE ROBBINS
It's such a good question. It connects us. It reveals us to one another. We create ourselves as we create art. And so when we're creating together, we're creating our humanity. It is of the soul, I want to say. It uplifts it, inspires it.. It gives us a horizon to, to move towards. It teaches us how to be in harmony with one another. You know, we sing together. We play together. We act together. Even a visual artist sitting in the same room creating within a group of other visual artists, something's going on where we're growing one another through the revealing of ourselves. I mean, art is everything.

00:17:41    IAN JONES
You talking about the visual artist there made me think of the visual artist during Collage. And if you're standing outside Kresge, there are concerts going on or the performance is going on, and we're moving from one thing to another, and it's film and it's a reading, it's a monologue. It's a scene from a show. It's a singer songwriter, rock pop, and then you have the visual artists all lining Kresge on either side, painting and looking at kind of the same thing, but being inspired by different parts of it and taking it in different directions and in their own style. It's one of the things I love, that visual of watching that happen and then seeing all the different approaches that come out of that at the end of the night.

00:18:22    HEIDI ROSE ROBBINS
Oh, I love that. That's so well said. It actually also makes me think of when I was teaching there. Garrison Keillor would come for Prairie Home Companion and he would always use theatre students in his piece and. But he would always talk about he. He would talk about walking around the campus and just that, like being inspired by the kids from all the different arts. And then of course, he would create this radio show which combined all of it as well. And so, I don't know, I just had an image of him walking and listening and absorbing and then, and then it turning into a whole other piece of art through his Prairie Home Companion.

00:18:57    IAN JONES
Thinking more about your time as a faculty member?

00:19:01    HEIDI ROSE ROBBINS
Yeah.

00:19:02    IAN JONES
Are there any impressions there that you carry with you as a former faculty member about what it was like to teach in this environment, what was expected of you in this environment, the connection you built with the kids that you worked with?

00:19:16    HEIDI ROSE ROBBINS
Yeah. What an incredible honor to teach at Interlochen. I started teaching when I was 24. So and I was working with high school students. So I was really, you know, 7 or 8 years older than the kids. And I still felt I was still very much a kid, you know. But they invested, they trusted, they gave their love and attention in such a beautiful way. And, you know, at first I came, I was an assistant director, and so I was more responsible for let's warm up together. Let's play together, you know. And yeah, we built incredible ensembles. And so as a faculty member, I guess I just want to say I felt.. I felt such gratitude for the kids that showed up there because they were they were taking themselves seriously and they were taking their art seriously, but they also were kids and wanted to invest with a lot of play and joy. And I became a teacher there, really. I mean, by the time I left, I had gone through a huge process of maturation, and I held the shows that I directed and the kids in better ways, and Interlochen taught me to do that, you know, by watching other teachers inspired by other teachers. And that's the remarkable thing. We just get to all stand and wonder at one another and the gifts that we bring.

00:20:44    IAN JONES
I also want to just hear from you on kind of your thoughts about this process. First of all, how did you come to schedule this? Who did you hear about this through someone? Did someone reach out to you?

00:20:57    HEIDI ROSE ROBBINS
I actually, when I dropped my son off in the middle of the summer, I stopped by the alumni hut and I just stopped in briefly to find out the year my father started. I wasn't sure when it was, and somebody handed me the form and I honestly, I wouldn't normally do something like this, but I was like, of course I have to do this. I love Interlochen, I have such, like, my heart is full. And so I had it in my purse for like two months before I even or, I don't know, a month before I even wrote. But I'm just 100 years. My gosh, that has to be marked and celebrated. And because when I was dropping my son off and feeling my father and feeling like I said, this lineage, this timelessness, that Interlochen has a timeless quality to it and feeling like I'm every age, you know, I could feel my little 16 year old self. I could feel my, you know, 28 year old self. And then I'm Mama. I look at my son who was falling in love with Interlochen the moment he set foot, and it just broke my heart in all the best ways.

00:22:03    IAN JONES
Glad to hear it was best ways. Know I'm glad to hear that that kind of thread is still taut and moving. Moving through your son's life as well as yours, and tying you back to your time with your dad.

00:22:14    HEIDI ROSE ROBBINS
And even just for fun, Ian, I'll say that I was on campus. I was going to go see Nickel Creek the night I dropped him off, and I'm walking along and across the, you know, from the Melody Freeze. I hear Heidi Rose Robbins. And I was like, what? And he's like Andy McGinn. He said, I was your student. I was your student at Interlochen. You know, he played Macbeth when I was assistant directing, and we hadn't seen each other, and we were so happy. And I ended up going having dinner at his house and, you know, and this was 28 years later, something like that.

00:22:51    IAN JONES
Did you know he was here?

00:22:53    HEIDI ROSE ROBBINS
You know, I feel like I knew and then forgot, like I think he wrote me when he started to teach at Interlochen. But then I just didn't put it together. And I was like, that's right. You're working at the Academy. But we hadn't seen each other and I. So again, like, time collapsing. You know, here's this wonderful man teaching at the Academy, and here's the 17 year old boy that I knew, you know, who was just finding his footing as an actor. And it was incredible.

00:23:21    IAN JONES
That's a great story. I'm glad you shared that. Well, thank you so much for taking time to do this. I appreciate it more than you know. It is a you know, it was an idea to put something like this together for the centennial. It was very much a pilot this summer to see how do we do this? What do we need to do it effectively? How can we do it both here on campus so we can connect with people while they're here? But then also, how can we do this remotely so that people all over the country, all over the world, can participate? We're still learning. We're modifying what we're doing and how it's working and what we think is going to be the best. So I really appreciate you being a part of this pilot and for saying like you did, oh, of course it's 100, 100th anniversary. I've got to do this.

00:24:03    HEIDI ROSE ROBBINS
Yeah, yeah. It's wonderful. I'm so glad you're doing it. And if I think of, you know, anyone else that could, you know, reach out, I will certainly share your info. All right. Ian, thank you so much.

00:24:14    IAN JONES
Thank you. So nice to meet you. And if you're back next summer, please make sure you stop into Apollo Hall and say hello.

00:24:20    HEIDI ROSE ROBBINS
Great. Take care, my friend. All right. Bye bye.

00:24:22    IAN JONES
Bye.