'Fannie Lou' Musical

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"Singing has always been a passion of mine. I like entertaining people; I like making people happy."

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Robert Rice was one of the valued cast member veterans in “Scenes and Songs from Fannie Lou: At Carnegie Hall.”

He first appeared in the 2012 New York reading. Unable to perform later that year in the Off-Broadway world premiere due to a scheduling conflict, Robert was back for the
Oct. 9, 2014 concert production at Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall.

“I have to say, that’s a testament to the music. I remember almost everything,” said Robert, who performed several different roles for the production. They included a local resister to voting rights, a civil rights aide and a student volunteer. 

“Scenes and Songs from Fannie Lou: At Carnegie Hall” featured selected music and dialogue from the new musical Fannie Lou. The work was inspired by the life of voting rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer, a sharecropper who grew up in rural Mississippi. Robert was among a cast of more than a dozen actors and singers who relayed Mrs. Hamer’s struggle through both her eyes and the eyes of various fictional characters, reflecting different aspects of the voting rights movement during the early 1960’s.

The music, which is all original, is an affective mix of jazz, blues, pop, opera, folk, spoken word and traditional musical theater.

“I love being in the ‘Make It Like It Was Before’ group,” said Robert, referring to one of the most popular songs in the production. A resounding audience favorite, “Make It Like It Was Before” follows a local white resister group as members devise a “solution” to the “troublemakers” and “agitators” who are disturbing their peaceful existence.

Robert did even more with the song for the Carnegie Hall performance. In his first performance of it, he was part of the ensemble. For the Carnegie Hall event he’ll share the lead. (Robert had a small taste of singing the lead for “Make It Like It Was Before” on a promotional recording for the world premiere.)  He also helped with the vocal arrangement of the song for the Carnegie Hall production.

"There are racial undertones of bigotry" in the song, noted Robert. Yet, he had to find a way to feel comfortable performing it. He used a traditional actor's tool.

"I try to find something relatable and something likable" about characters he portrays who happen to be antagonists, Robert said. "Even though those guys [in 'Make It Like It Was Before'] are kind of despicable," they're products of their environment, he noted.

Robert has proven to be a quick study, delving into acting without a lot of training. But the training he did get was intensive. 

"I started my professional theater career for a children's theater, doing multiple parts for [any given] production," he noted.

That was in upstate New York -- Albany, to be exact. Robert is from that area, and he worked at Steamer #10 children's theater for two years before coming to New York City in the fall of 2010 to pursue a performing arts career. 

Before that, Robert attended the University of Rochester. He graduated in 2006 with a bachelor's degree in Japanese.

"I was always interested in languages," he said. "In high school I studied German, but I wanted to study something different [in college]."

Robert lived in Japan for a couple of years after graduating.

"I taught English there and I wanted to become more fluent in the language," he said. 

But it was a connection with the University of Rochester's sister school, the Eastman School of Music, that set Robert on his career path.

"I was able to take voice," noted Robert, who also formally studied piano for 10 years as a youngster. 

He now lives in the Sugar Hill area of New York City. 

"I came to New York City to perform," Robert said. While he's now starting to pursue voiceover work, musical theater will always hold a special place for him. 

"Singing has always been a passion of mine," he said. "I like entertaining people; I like making people happy. I just enjoy it."