Cabaret August – Robb Barnard – If Only! – Roles I Could Have Played if I Were Not Me

1249 Main Street
West Warwick,RI

August 26, 2025
7:30 PM

Price: $22

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After fifty-plus years as an entertainer, Robb has had the opportunity to inhabit the lives of countless characters, and bring their stories to life, but has always been limited by who he is – and by what roles others cast him in. If Only! is a show created by Robb and Ida Zecco where he tosses off the limits of being a 58-year-old, white, cis-gendered male with a few extra pounds around his midriff, and dives into songs and stories he has always loved, but never had the chance to perform before.

Robb Barnard is an actor, singer, teacher, and coach – and depending on the time of day may put those things in a different order. He studied first at Oberlin College and Conservatory earning a B.A. in Music, then at The University of Iowa where he received an M.F.A. in Theater (Acting)  As a member of Actors Equity, he spent well over a decade touring the country performing for over 100,000 students a year in various productions including seven years with Jim West as a Puppeteer. For 12 summers Barnard worked in the theater department at Belvoir Terrace in Lenox, MA – teaching and directing girls ages 8-17, and was the department chair overseeing the team of theater artists for many of those years. He is the past Owner /Producer/Director of the Carousel Music Theater in Boothbay Harbor, Maine where he wrote and directed over 15 productions.  A Barbershopper, Robb discovered the Providence Chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society eight years ago, and wishes he knew about it sooner! His quartet, Second Nature, is a Patriot Division Champion, and a Northeast District Medalist.

Robb is in his 19th year as the Head of the Performing Arts Department at Lincoln School in Providence, RI, coordinating the department and figuring out how to keep the creative juices flowing! A few years ago Lincoln acknowledged him as the teacher of the year with the Dorothy Gifford Chair Award.  Past performance roles have included Higgins and Doolittle in My Fair Lady (separate productions,) Pseudolis in A Funny Thing…, Snoopy in Snoopy, Valere in La Bete, and Cal in The Art of Dining.  He lives in Providence, RI with his Husband, Doug, two cats, Newt and Luna,  and too many houseplants.