Life's perfect casting

They discovered they were made for each other, and for the stage.

By MICHELE MILLER, Times Staff Writer
Published August 17, 2007

NEW PORT RICHEY

It's one of those unexpected collaborations, one that started out with a rather reluctant blind date and grew into something more.

It was February 1991. All his bags were packed and he was ready to go back to New Orleans, where he had once made a living working for an underwater welding company.

Brad: "I love New Orleans, and Florida just wasn't working for me. I didn't really like it here."

She was keeping busy "doing hair," managing her dad's hair styling shops and performing in community theater gigs, mostly in the Clearwater area, where she grew up.

Robbie Lynn: "I'd been doing community theater since I was about 14. The Golden Apple Dinner Theater, the Showboat on Ulmerton Road. Now I believe it's a Chick-fil-A. That's really a shame. I did children's theater with Ruth Eckerd Hall. Disney World."

They were worlds apart, or so it seemed until a friend, who worked with Brad on the night shift at the Budweiser plant and was dating one of Robbie Lynn's friends, brought them together.

Brad: "He said, 'I've got the perfect person for you.' I was like, 'Yeah, right - the perfect person. I've heard that one before.' That's what everyone says when they want to fix you up."

But he gave it a shot anyway, only to find out that his friend was right.

Robbie Lynn: "It was love at first sight."

Brad: "It really was."

Even though he showed up late and was wearing his Budweiser duds.

Robbie Lynn: "That helped."

Brad: "Yes. She was a sucker for the uniform."

Brad unpacked those bags pretty quickly and made a different kind of move. Before long the two were one of those inseparable couples with a kind of devotion that tends to make their friends nauseated.

As proof, he even agreed to spend their honeymoon on tour while she performed with the Ruth Eckerd Theater Co.

Mmmm, one of those happily-ever-after endings?

Well, they have been married for 15 years, have a nice home in the Longleaf community and are the parents of 5-year-old twin sons, Cameron and Joshua.

Robbie Lynn: "We waited 10 years to have them because we were really enjoying the newlywed phase."

And there also was the business of the little theater company she decided to start up in 1999 after her dad retired from the hair business. She went after her dream, coming up with the name, Play'n Around Traveling Children's Theatre Company, shortly after writing her own adaptation of the fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood in just one day.

Brad: "I came home from work one day and she said, 'I wrote a show today.' "

Robbie Lynn: "I have a knack for it. This is really easy for me. I know what kids like."

And what would that be?

Robbie Lynn: "Physical comedy. They love chasing scenes."

And easy, repetitive songs, the kind that have the kid in the third row singing along after hearing the refrain just once or twice.

Robbie Lynn: "I love when that happens."

Since then, other shows have been added and performed at libraries and schools throughout Pasco, Hillsborough and Pinellas counties. The Elves and the Shoemaker, Peter Rabbit and Friends, Hansel and Gretel and Rumpelstiltskin are listed on this year's upcoming season. There are other scripts in the works - one in particular that will be directed to middle school kids who are dealing with issues such as peer pressure and bullying.

The Colleys plan to continue their collaboration over scripts, songs, stage directions and those all-important life lessons that are a constant in every one of the adapted plays.

Robbie Lynn: "We take out the scary parts. These are adapted fairy tales and the Grimms' fairy tales, well, they can be really scary for little kids. Our villains are misguided, not scary."

And Brad - well, after a few years working behind the scenes, he's on board as an actor, too. While the two often hire local actors to help out on occasion, both often take on multiple roles and make some very quick changes backstage for plays with multiple parts.

Recently Brad played Prince Harry to Robbie Lynn's Queen of Mean in The Princess and the Pea, performed for youngsters in the PLACE day care program at Gulfside Elementary School. With his quirky facial expressions and his own knack for physical comedy, Robbie Lynn concedes that Brad usually ends up stealing the show.

Robbie Lynn: "He really gets the kids going, laughing like crazy. Of course it helps when you have someone who's really willing to take the fall for you."

To learn more

For information on Play'n Around Traveling Children's Theatre, call 727 376-0303 or visit www.playnaround.com.

About this feature

Pasco People spotlights the people who make Pasco County the kind of community it is. Got someone you think we should profile? E-mail us at pasco@sptimes.com.

[Last modified August 16, 2007, 21:47:34]