Darryl Maximilian Robinson

DARRYL MAXIMILIAN ROBINSON is a veteran and award-winning American stage actor, play director, theatre producer and private acting instructor celebrating 47 years of involvement in The Performing Arts. Best known for touring engagement performances of his original one-man show of Shakespeare and time-travel comedy, "A BIT OF THE BARD," ( in which he is noted for his portrayal of His Lordship, Sir Richard Drury Kemp-Kean ) Mr. Robinson is originally from the Windy City, where he served as Founder, Artistic Director, Producer and Principal Actor of the critically-praised, multiracial, non-Equity professional chamber theatre, THE EXCALIBER SHAKESPEARE COMPANY OF CHICAGO. Mr. Robinson has presented over 70 intimate dramatic productions in his native Chicago, St. Louis, Missouri ( under the banner name of EXCALIBER PRODUCTIONS ) and Louisville, Kentucky ( at The Rudyard Kipling Pub ). Mr. Robinson has played leading and featured roles with THE NATIONAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY TOUR OF NEW YORK, THE INDIANAPOLIS SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL, THE BRISTOL RENAISSANCE FAIRE OF WISCONSIN, THE THEATRE PROJECT COMPANY OF ST. LOUIS, THE HISTORIC GOLDENROD SHOWBOAT DOCKED AT LACLEDE'S LANDING OF ST. LOUIS ( where in 1987 he starred for 10 weeks as the villainous Professor Moriarty in Producer-Director John Auble's vaudeville musical adaptation of "SHERLOCK HOLMES" ) and THE ENCHANTED HILLS PLAYHOUSE OF SYRACUSE, INDIANA ( where in 1981 Mr. Robinson was named winner of THE FORT WAYNE NEWS-SENTINEL REVIEWER'S RECOGNITION AWARD as Outstanding Thespian of the Season for his performances in professional summer stock, most particularly, as Fagin in Lionel Bart's "OLIVER!" ). Mr. Robinson's other awards and honors for his work in The Theatre include: a 1992 CERTIFICATE OF HONORARY MEMBERSHIP AWARD from THE HARPOONERS OF THE SEA UNICORN ( The Sherlock Holmes Society of The Greater St. Louis / Western Illinois Region ) for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes in Excaliber Productions, Ltd.'s staging of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's "SHERLOCK HOLMES: THE FINAL PROBLEM"; a 1995 WKKC RADIO CRITICS' CORNER CERTIFICATE OF RECOGNITION for 20 Years of Service to American Theatre ( following his stagings of the 1995 ESC revival productions of Oscar Wilde's "THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST" and William Shakespeare's "THE TEMPEST" both presented at The Hidden Stages Theatre in The Windy City ); both a 1997 CHICAGO JOSEPH JEFFERSON CITATION AWARD for Outstanding Achievement By An Actor In A Principal Role and a 1997 CHICAGO BLACK THEATRE ALLIANCE / IRA ALDRIDGE AWARD NOMINATION for Best Leading Actor In A Play for his performance as Sam Semela in the ESC's revival of Athol Fugard's "MASTER HAROLD AND THE BOYS" presented at The Heartland Cafe Studio Theatre of Chicago's Rogers Park; a 1998 WKKC RADIO CRITIC'S CORNER FINE ARTS AWARD for Outstanding Director Of A Play for his mounting of ESC's revival of Samuel Beckett's comic-tragic existential masterpiece "WAITING FOR GODOT" also staged at The Heartland; a 1999 BLACK THEATRE ALLIANCE / IRA ALDRIDGE AWARD NOMINATION for Best Direction Of An Ensemble for his staging of the ESC's revival of Athol Fugard's "THE BLOOD KNOT" presented at The Heartland; and a 2001 BLACK THEATRE ALLIANCE / IRA ALDRIDGE AWARD NOMINATION for Best Direction Of A Theatrical Production for his rendering of the ESC's production of "THE DUTCHMAN" by LeRoi Jones ( aka Immamu Amiri Baraka ) presented at The Harrison Street Galleries Studio Theatre of Oak Park, IL. In addition to these honors, Mr. Robinson has been blessed to receive monetary grant awards from THE CITY OF CHICAGO DEPT. OF CULTURAL AFFAIRS and THE ILLINOIS ARTS COUNCIL to support his artistic endeavors, including Screenwriting. Mr. Robinson is the sole owner and author of three unsold and unpublished motion picture screenplays, which was the principal reason he moved to Los Angeles in 2005. Since arriving in The City of Angels, Mr. Robinson has appeared as the old Shakespearean actor Henry Albertson in THE TRIBE PRODUCTIONS'2010 HOLLYWOOD FRINGE FESTIVAL 50th Anniversary Revival Production of Tom Jones' and Harvey Schmidt's "THE FANTASTICKS" at The Complex Theatre; The Ghost of Christmas Present in Charles Dickens' "A CHRISTMAS CAROL,", The Reverend Sykes in Harper Lee's "TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD" and Butler John Lawless in Kyle Crichton's "THE HAPPIEST MILLIONAIRE" at The Glendale Centre Theatre; Major-General Stanley in the 2014 San Pedro Theatre Club 135th Anniversary Revival Production of Gilbert and Sullivan's "THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE," and The Narrator and The Mysterious Man in the 2014 Burbank Community Theatre Production of Stephen Sondheim's and James Lapine's "INTO THE WOODS" at The Hall Of Liberty at Forest Lawn in The Hollywood Hills. Mr. Robinson appears in numerous theatre performance collection videos at YOUTUBE.COM including "DARRYL MAXIMILIAN ROBINSON AS MAJOR-GENERAL STANLEY," published by Ruth Featherstone, which features Mr. Robinson's rendition of "I Am the Very Model of A Modern Major-General"; "DARRYL MAXIMILIAN ROBINSON AS THE BUTLER AT GLENDALE CENTRE THEATRE", published by Dash Porter, which highlights some of the best moments of his performance as The Butler John Lawless in "THE HAPPIEST MILLIONAIRE" and "DARRYL MAXIMILIAN ROBINSON PERFORMS RUDYARD KIPLING'S "IF" ON SUNSET BLVD. IN HOLLYWOOD!". Mr. Robinson also was featured as the debonair, but aging leading man, Ernest in Tad Mosel's classic one-act about life in the theatre, "IMPROMPTU" as part of "JUST 4 FUN", a quartet of entertaining and unique one-act plays presented by THE EMMANUEL LUTHERAN ACTORS THEATRE ENSEMBLE( ELATE )at THE LINCOLN STEGMAN THEATRE, 6020 Radford Ave.,North Hollywood, Ca. 91606. DARRYL MAXIMILIAN ROBINSON was nominated for a 2015 / 2016 ELATE SEASON TICKET HOLDER AWARD as Best Actor for his performance as Ernest in "IMPROMPTU," as part of "JUST 4 FUN," and Mr. Robinson is highlighted in the April 28th 2016 print issue and May 3, 2016 internet edition of the national entertainment industry magazine BACKSTAGE, interviewed in "I Got Cast: Darryl Maximilian Robinson". DARRYL MAXIMILIAN ROBINSON was also recently thrilled and honored to appear as a Guest Actor discussing his life and career during the second half-hour of the RMCONAIR 9-19-2016 Edition of THE ACTOR'S CHOICE Hosted by noted arts and entertainment journalist RON BREWINGTON and which is not only available for viewing at www.rmconair.com and Youtube, but BROADWAYWORLD.COM'S STAGE TUBE as well. During the course of his more than four decade-long stage career, DARRYL MAXIMILIAN ROBINSON has also earned critical praise for such classic roles as: Sir Thomas More in Director John Grassilli's 1984 University Players of The University of Missouri-St. Louis ( UMSL ) revival production of Robert Bolt's "A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS" at The Benton Hall Theatre; the title role of The Moor of Venice in Director Dr. James Barushok's 1984 StagePlayers of Northeastern Illinois University of Chicago revival production of William Shakespeare's "OTHELLO"; His Majesty, King Henry II of England in his own staging of The Excaliber Productions, Ltd. 1992-1993 revival production of James Goldman's "THE LION IN WINTER" at The Wabash Triangle Cafe of St. Louis, MO. ( the first documented staging of the work with a multiracial cast ); and mystery writer Andrew Wyke opposite gifted actor Sean Nix as Milo Tindle in his unique mounting of The Excaliber Shakespeare Company of Chicago 2000 30th Anniversary Revival Production of Anthony Shaffer's Tony Award-winning Best Play "SLEUTH" at The Harrison Street Galleries Studio Theatre of Oak Park, IL. ( the first documented staging of the acclaimed play with an all African-American cast ). DARRYL MAXIMILIAN ROBINSON also recently garnered audiences' accolades for his performance as the determined prosecutor DISTRICT ATTORNEY FLINT in the ELATE 2017 revival production of AYN RAND'S "NIGHT OF JANUARY 16TH" at The Lincoln Stegman Theatre. Of his work in the show, Theatre Critic JOHN K. ADAMS in the print edition of the June 7, 2017 TOLUCAN TIMES AND CANYON CRIER wrote: "...ROBINSON LEADS THE TALENTED CAST, PLAYING THE PROSECUTING DISTRICT ATTORNEY WITH STYLE AND WIT." After 12 years as an Angelino, Mr. Robinson recently returned to his hometown of The Windy City for an extended visit. Last fall, Mr. Darryl Maximilian Robinson returned to appear on a Chicago Theatre stage for the first time in 17 years where he assumed the marvelous dual roles of MR. WILLIAM CARTWRIGHT, THE CHAIRMAN OF THE MUSIC HALL ROYALE and The Honorable MAYOR THOMAS SAPSEA in skilled Director-Music Director ROBERT-ERIC WEST'S and talented Choreographer TAMARA DREW'S exciting SAINT SEBASTIAN PLAYERS OF CHICAGO revival production of amazing Composer / Lyricist / Book Author / Orchestrator RUPERT HOLMES' multiple TONY AWARD-WINNING SOLVE-IT-YOURSELF MUSICAL WHODUNIT "THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD" ( based on the final and unfinished novel by 19th-century English literary master CHARLES DICKENS ) which was presented Oct. 26th through Nov. 18th of 2018, Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 pm and Sundays at 2:00 pm in the lovely and intimate Black Box Theatre of the 100-year-old-plus ST. BONAVENTURE CHURCH, 1625 West Diversey, Chicago, IL. 60614. For his work in the show Mr. Robinson earned fine critical praise including: "But the real ringer is Darryl Maximilian Robinson, as the Chairman of the Music Hall Royale. It's a huge part that demands not just talent, but charm during his frequent interactions in a show that looks for a laugh at every turn and has no respect for the fourth wall." -- ART GETS OUT, Theatre Review of The Mystery of Edwin Drood - St. Sebastian Players Nov. 9, 2018. Posted Nov. 10, 2018. As well as:"Equally as impressive is the man keeping our cast in order the Chairman and Mr. William Cartwright, Darryl Maximilian Robinson. He has the audience rolling in their seats with his penchant for flair and mastery of comedic timing - including some very well timed pointed stares and slow blinks." -- ALEXIS BURGAJSKI, PICTURE THIS POST Saint Sebastian Players The Mystery of Edwin Drood Review Oct. 28, 2018. And also:"I attended a preview performance of The Mystery of Edwin Drood last night at the Saint Sebastian Players. This is a wonderful production led by long time Chicago theatre veteran Darryl Maximilian Robinson. Everything was top notch, from the direction, the choreography, the vocal performances, the costumes, the set, projections and props. This rarely mounted musical is a production you don't want to miss, all at a reasonable price." -- GERALD H. BAILEY, Artistic Director, Genesis Theatrical Productions at Visitor Posts of The Saint Sebastian Players Theatre Company Facebook Page Oct. 26, 2018. In addition to this fine critical praise, Darryl Maximilian Robinson's performance as Mr. William Cartwright, Your Chairman of The Music Hall Royale and The Mayor Thomas Sapsea of Cloisterham, England in The Mystery of Edwin Drood has been documented by Wikipedia, highlighted by a Youtube.com video entitled "Darryl Maximilian Robinson as The Chairman Mr. William Cartwright & Cast Go Off To The Races," and in November of 2019: The Year of Chicago Theatre, he received a 2019 Chicago BroadwayWorld.com Regional Theatre Award Nomination for Best Performer In A Musical or Revue ( Resident Non-Equity ) for his work in Rupert Holmes' brilliant, but seldom performed musical masterpiece, which was one of seven Chicago BWW Non-Equity Regional Theatre Award Nominations that The Saint Sebastian Players of Chicago revival of The Mystery of Edwin Drood received. Mr. Robinson currently seeks both talent and literary representation in The Windy City and Los Angeles and continues to pursue opportunities to practice his craft in The Performing Arts. And, as always, he thanks God, family, friends and his fellow artists for their love and support!