THIS WEEK'S PERSONALITIES: Roblins bring AU theater skills to Mohican Players
LOUDONVILLE - Little did Emily Roblin know, when she was hired last summer to teach eighth grade math at the Loudonville Junior High School that she would be playing a lead role in the Mohican Community Theatre production of "Shrek."
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Roblin, who will be joined in the "Shrek" cast by husband Nate, has been involved in theater since her days at Westlake High School. She went to Ashland University, majoring in math education, but earned a minor in theater, doing so while playing in several AU theater performances, including "Cat in the Hat," "Sherlock Holmes in Baskerville" and "Mama Mia."
She also met future husband Nate, from Mansfield, just as she arrived in Ashland. They started dating in October of 2017, just a couple of months after she started at AU, and got married in June 2021.
Nate, a year old than Emily, earned a degree in biology at AU, and today works with the university’s correctional education program, which is now involved in programs in 13 different states. Nate Roblin is involved in the admissions program for the innovative initiative of the university, but he is also considering starting work on a master degree in biology.
By being around Emily, who he met when both were members of the AU marching band, Nate gradually was pulled into her theater involvements, and was on the cast with her in "Mama Mia" in the winter of 2020, just before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
When Emily Roblin started working at the Loudonville Junior High, where she teaches several sections of eighth grade math and two of algebra I, she was immediately recruited by LHS choir teacher Rachel Kelly, whom she met and was in plays with at AU, to get involved in the Mohican Community Theatre. "Shrek the Musical," her first Mohican production, is a musical comedy version of the very successful comedy "Shrek."
“ 'Shrek' is fun, and we have come to love the community theater,” Nate said as he spoke during a rehearsal last week. “The theater people here are great.”
Emily added, “we love Loudonville, a really nice small town.”
At this point, the Roblins live in Mansfield.
“One of the neat things about being in a community theater cast is that many of my students at school are also in the cast,” Emily said. “It’s fun to say to the kids, as they leave class, ‘I’ll see you are rehearsal tonight' ’”
Reasons for choosing Ashland University for college
Emily said she chose AU as a college “because, first, it was the least expensive of the private colleges I looked at, and second, it was far enough from home (an hour’s drive) that I would stay on campus, yet could easily get home if I had to.
“It was also,” she added, “the only college I looked at where someone was around to answer every question I had.”
Nate chose Ashland because of its proximity to his home in Mansfield.
“But another factor was the fact that the science facilities at the university had been completely rebuilt just before I arrived,” he said. “That was a strong factor in me deciding to go to school there.”
'Shrek the Musical' performances by Mohican Community Theatre
Mohican Community Theatre will perform "Shrek the Musical" in five performances at the Ohio Theatre in downtown Loudonville.
Performances are Saturday, June 18 at 7 p.m., Sunday, June 19 at 2 p.m., Friday, June 24 at 7 p.m., Saturday, June 25 at 7 p.m., and Sunday, June 26 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for seniors, $10 for students, and free for children four and under (as long as space is available.) All seats are reserved seating only. Presale tickets are available online at http://www.theohiotheatre.com.
Emily noted that the timing of the "Shrek" performances is very important to her.
“I will celebrate my birthday, and also our first anniversary, on the nights of some 'Shrek' performances,” she said.
This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: THIS WEEK'S PERSONALITIES: Roblins bring AU theater skills to musical
