Chamberlain in charge

For more than 20 years Robin Chamberlain did it all at Turtle Lane Playhouse, the quaint musical theater space in Auburndale.

"I started out here as an actor, then I gained experience in all aspects of theater," says Chamberlain, who lives in Franklin. Not that her ambition was to put the entire operation of the theater on her shoulders.

But that's what happened.

"One day I was helping out in the office, and the chief finance officer said, 'How would you feel about running this place?"' Nancy McArthur, the long-time general manager had retired. Chamberlain thought it over, then said, "OK, I'll take the challenge."

That was 1 1/2 years ago. "They thought I was grown up enough to handle the job," she laughs.

Running a theater is a handful, but Chamberlain loves the theater life. "It's not just taking ticket orders. The most important thing is to get bodies in the seats and have people leave thinking they got a bang for their buck."

Turtle Lane's next show, "Falsettos," opens Sept. 12, directed by the gifted Russell Greene. He's also been hired to direct the next show here, "Into The Woods," a very unusual circumstance for Turtle Lane, but that's how highly regarded Greene is.

Chamberlain admits she's always had a theatrical bent. "It started in first grade when I was in 'Little Red Riding Hood.' I was the flower." Growing up in Western Massachusetts, she would park cars and usher at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, Shakespeare Company and Tanglewood. "I'd do anything to be around theater." She even landed a few small roles in stage productions.

The experience gave her an opportunity to be around legendary maestros Seiji Ozawa and Leonard Bernstein. One she liked, one she wasn't crazy about. "We played Frisbee with Ozawa, just to relax and unwind between shows," says Chamberlain. "Bernstein was a meany. But a genius."

Chamberlain did theater at Pittsfield High and went to Berkshire College as a theater major.

Her family moved to Franklin in 1986. "I hadn't heard of Franklin, but I was excited because it was closer to Boston where the real theater action was." Her father had taken a new job in Beantown. "He was a magazine editor. When the magazine got bought out it was either move to Atlanta or Boston." With four children, including twin boys, the family at the time had three of the kids about to graduate. So a move to the Boston area made much more sense than heading south.

"The first thing I did in Franklin was go out and find a theater company," says Chamberlain. "It was the Franklin Singers. It's defunct now. But I got to meet a lot of theater people." The networking had begun. She was cast in Marlborough's Theater One's "Evita." and "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat."

In 1986, she was in "Pirates of Penzance" at Turtle Lane. "It was like the big-time," says Chamberlain. "I was getting paid to be in a show." Turtle Lane has been home base for her ever since.

Chamberlain left a job as a corporate trainer that had her flying all over the country. "I had to look at the area code to see what city I was in. All I saw was airports and hotels. It got old."

Early in her Turtle Lane days, Chamberlain met the theater's resident musical director Wayne Ward. They've lived together since then and have bought a house in Holliston.

Chamberlain's goal is to make things "bigger and better." The theater has a summer workshop for children, does cabaret-style seating for many of the shows and has the cozy Stage Door Pub where patrons can get an adult beverage.

The ever-busy Chamberlain relaxes in her kitchen. "I love to cook. I'd cook for people every day if I could."

Cooking up good theater isn't a bad gig either.

Lenny Megliola can be reached at lennymegs@aol.com.