Robert Yacko '71

“Deep in December…it’s nice to remember…the fires of September…that made us mellow”

Those timeless words from a classic song by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt set the stage well for a look at the career of our next honoree.

Experienced and respected in theater from one coast to the other, Robert Yacko is known as a remarkably versatile actor and singer. Well-trained at Temple University and The Juilliard School, he is equally at home in Repertory, on Broadway, and in front of a camera.  And all this has roots in Robert’s years – when we knew him as Bob – with Bishop McDevitt’s Royal Masque, as both a founding member and later an alumnus mentor, and as a saxophonist on the field and in concert as a member of our Band.  His earliest leading role, in fact, was on the McDevitt stage – or, more precisely, in the round in our cafeteria – in a fondly remembered run of The Fantasticks…by the aforementioned Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt.

An admitted character actor from his early years and blessed with a rich lyric baritone of effortless range, he has been described as an "absolutely natural all-around leading man", garnering epithets for his work that lean from "raucous" and "hilariously deadpan" all the way to "emotionally intense" and "broodingly dark".  

Robert starred in the Los Angeles Premieres of Stephen Sondheim's Sunday in the Park with George and of Chess and the West Coast Premieres of Legacy of Light and Romance, Romance, and he debuted a Bernstein aria never heard before in performance in The Bernstein Peter Pan. He also appeared in the celebrated Jason Robert Brown/Alfred Uhry opus Parade at the Mark Taper Forum. His 2017 Sondheim concert performances include the roles of Ben in Follies and Fredrik in A Little Night Music.

In 2019, Robert co-starred in the Off-Broadway Musical Play, "Two's A Crowd", opposite comedienne extraordinaire, Rita Rudner.   He has had the honor of sharing the stage with luminaries such as Carol Burnett, Leslie Uggams, Herschel Bernardi, Cesar Romero, and Theodore Bikel, and has had the fortunate opportunity to work under the direction of the great Jerome Robbins. He can also proudly count himself as one of Cyd Charisse's dance partners. 

A true triple threat, Robert's other talents include work in numerous accents, opera, folk guitar, piano, saxophone, stage combat, sport fencing and horsemanship. He is also the "Voice of God" at the L.A.  Stage Alliance's annual Ovation Awards ceremony, reprising a role he first played in our theatrical liturgy group, “The Last Day Players,” way back in the early 70s, bringing a touch of St. Genesius to the Book of Genesis. Robert debuted his solo cabaret act, Opening Doors, in August of 2017.  He had just completed pre-production and was about to go into rehearsal as the Director of Musical Theater Guild's "Rewind 2" Benefit when the world shut down during the pandemic, but he remained very active in providing entertainment and helping keep fellow performers and producers afloat through much streaming work in that difficult period, lots of which may be found on his YouTube channel.  He has since returned to in-person work, to the delight of audiences, most recently in a revival of Michael Stewart and Jerry Herman’s Mack and Mabel

As Robert’s fellow alumnus of the Royal Masque, McDevitt’s Marvelous Marchers, and – yes – “The Last Day Players” and as his friend, I am proud to have nominated him.  Please join our Alumni Hall of Fame as we welcome the Class of 1971’s Robert Yacko.