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Written by Dan England
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Thursday, 21 February 2008 |
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 Jack Robinson’s booming voice rattles the windows. His face is red, flushed, even, and he’s breathing deep, slightly hunching over.
He’s singing opera, but it’s not hard to imagine that this is what he looks like when he’s going through one of his workouts, lifting the kind of weight that few 70 year olds can manage.
Robinson of Greeley will ask you first, out of politeness, if “he can cut loose,” and out of politeness, you should probably say yes (he’s a big dude, after all). When you do say yes, he will cut loose, as most opera singers will.
And it only makes sense that he would look and act nearly the same when he’s doing either one. He believes the two are connected much more than people might think.
Opera and weights?
“I have no doubt about it,” Robinson said.
Opera is the most demanding form of music for vocalists, and yet Robinson is still singing the demanding parts in his ocean-deep bass at his age, as he will beginning Friday, Feb. 29, for the Loveland Opera Theatre’s production of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute.” In the show he plays Sarastro, a high priest and a powerful leader, a prime role for a bass for its arias, Robinson said. It’s still one of his favorite roles, one he first tackled in 1993.
You can tell right away when you meet him that Robinson sings opera and lifts some pretty heavy weights, or at the very least, you’d think it was a waste if he, say, played pool at the Greeley Senior Center instead.
At 70, he couldn’t sing without working out.
“The body is the instrument,” Robinson said. “My physical health is essential for my voice. It’s essential to life.”
Back in November, Robinson set four American records for the 70-year-old, 220-pound division of the Natural Athlete Strength Association. He did so just eight months after quintuple-bypass surgery.
“The other reason I’m so healthy and able to sing,” Robinson said, “is I’ve never taken a steroid in my life.”
The lifting helps, but Robinson’s voice is a key as well, a big, booming timbre that rattles your rib cage. It would even be a little scary if it wasn’t accompanied by his smile and an accent that gives away his Georgia birthplace. He sounds a bit like Johnny Cash, which Robinson, who grew up on country music, considers a compliment.
But singing was not Robinson’s true profession, even if he does consider it part of his career. He initially got into music because, as he told parents who were considering sending their kids to him at the University of Northern Colorado, he couldn’t help it.
He grew up singing but began playing the trombone after his ninth-grade music teacher offered him his college horn if Robinson took it up. The teacher was a father figure — Robinson’s father (who he still calls “my daddy” and who inspired him to play) died at an early age — so Robinson agreed and eventually taught tuba and bass trombone at UNC for 33 years.
He wanted to play in an orchestra and maybe one of the big bands at the time, but he took up teaching for the steady job and the chance to play in Denver. He played for George Burns’ and Milton Berle’s orchestras when they appeared in Denver, got to see a young Jay Leno open and played hundreds of other gigs. He was young, so it was perfectly fine to teach all day and then play most of the night and drive back to Greeley for another day of teaching.
He enjoyed his time playing, but he doesn’t play nearly as much anymore. He doesn’t want to keep up with the intense practicing professional play requires.
“Plus it’s time for the next generation at UNC to take my place,” Robinson said.
But he still loves to sing. He sings every day and enjoys performing, rehearsing and just having fun with his retirement. The singing doesn’t seem to be quite as demanding as his instrument.
“I can practice singing on my way to the fishing hole,” he said and laughed.
However, Robinson still demands a high standard from himself. He’s realistic, he said, about his powerlifting. He plans on breaking his records this summer in a competition, but he also said he doesn’t consider them that tough and that they may fall before he breaks them himself. He was, for instance, bench pressing far more than 300 pounds even when he was 50, but he set the record by benching 220 pounds.
“I don’t have any problems with lifting less weight,” he said. “I’m getting older.”
But if he believes his voice is fading, he won’t perform anymore. He just hopes it stays with him as long as he’s alive. His voice is one of the main reasons he’s in the gym almost every morning, red-faced and lifting far more than a 70-year-old man should be able to.
“When my voice isn’t there,” Robinson said, “that’s when I’ll know to leave it in the house.”
See Robinson Sing
• The Loveland Opera Theater’s production of “The Magic Flute” by Mozart
• 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 29 and March 1, 6 and 7. There are 2:30 p.m. performances on March 2 and 8.
• Shows are at the Rialto Theatre, 228 E. 4th St., Loveland.
• Tickets are $25 for adults and $18 for seniors and students. On March 6 tickets for seniors and students are only $10.
• For more information, go to www.fortnet.org/LOT or call 593-0085 | Only registered users can write comments.
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