Robbins, who graduated from Stephens with a B.F.A. in theatre, will serve as artistic director for the summer 2012 season.
"Our students will have the wonderful experience of working directly with a Broadway producer, director and actor alongside our exceptional faculty," said Beth Leonard, dean of the Stephens School of Performing Arts and chair of the Department of Theatre, in a statement. "As a theatre grad herself, Jana went from 'Boji to Broadway, and in that process she has gained much that we are looking forward to having her share with our aspiring performers."
Robbins has been seen on Broadway in Gypsy and Crimes of the Heart, among others. She made her Broadway-producing debut with Allan Knee’s Little Women, which starred Sutton Foster and Maureen McGovern. Currently, Robbins is developing three new Broadway shows, including Allan Knee's The Jazz Age, a three-character play with music and dance about Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda Sayre.
Stephens’ Okoboji Summer Theatre is celebrating 55 years of providing students in the College’s three-year, two-summer B.F.A. program with an intensive experience that involves 13 productions in a 10-week summer stock schedule in the Iowa Lakes tourist region.
For more information, visit www.okobojisummertheatre.org.