Video: Darryl Maximilian Robinson As Drake In 'Loiter Squad'! at The Excaliber Shakespeare Company Los Angeles Archival Project

HIS NAME WAS DRAKE!

Chicago-born and Los Angeles-based stage performer and play director Darryl Maximilian Robinson is not noted for his forays into rap music or hip-hop culture. Indeed, an experienced, classically-trained, Shakespearean actor and musical theatre vet ( examples of which can be found at his You Tube channel ), providing a comedic portrayal of one of the world's most popular rappers would be one of the farthest things from his mind as a role choice. But 10 years ago, Mr. Robinson's mind was changed.

Chicago and St. Louis, Missouri theatre acolytes are far more familiar with Darryl Maximilian Robinson in the 1980s performing his critically-praised role of Sir Richard Drury Kemp-Kean in his original one-man show of Shakespeare and time-travel comedy 'A Bit of the Bard' ( at such venues the Windy City's Red Lion Pub and Wisconsin's Bristol Renaissance Faire ) or his well-received direction and performance as King Henry II in the Excaliber Productions, Ltd. 1992-1993 revival of James Goldman's 'The Lion In Winter' ( the first documented staging of the play with a multiracial cast ) at the fondly remembered Wabash Triangle Cafe ( just outside of University City ) or for his performance as Sam Semela in his Excaliber Shakespeare Company of Chicago revival staging of South African playwright Athol Fugard's 'Master Harold And The Boys' at the much-missed Heartland Cafe Studio Theatre in Rogers Park ( for which he received both a 1997 Chicago Joseph Jefferson Citation Award for Outstanding Actor In A Principal Role In A Play and a 1997 Chicago Black Theatre Alliance Award nomination as Best Leading Actor In A Play ).

And Los Angeles playgoers are far more likely to recall Mr. Robinson "spitting" the lyrics of Gilbert and Sullivan during his critically-praised performance as Major-General Stanley in a 2014 135th Anniversary revival staging of 'The Pirates of Penzance' produced by The San Pedro Theatre Club ( which, for the record, is the only club Mr. Robinson has willingly frequented in the last decade ) than any public recitation he may have made of 'I'm On One.' Mr. Robinson will more likely be noted for his 2010 LA stage debut as the old Shakespearean actor Henry Albertson in a 50th Anniversary revival of Tom Jones' and Harvey Schmidt's 'The Fantasticks' produced by The Tribe Productions at The Complex Theatre as part of the first-ever Hollywood Fringe Festival or his well-received portrayal of the debonair, but aging leading man Ernest in Tad Mosel's classic one-act of Life In The Theatre 'Impromptu' presented as part of a bill of works entitled 'Just 4 Fun' at North Hollywood, California's Lincoln Stegman Theatre ( for which Mr. Robinson won a 2015 / 2016 Los Angeles ELATE Season Ticket Holder Award nomination as Best Actor ).

Ever being in a professional acting situation where ( as a older performer ) he would be asked to mimic or lampoon a highly-talented, much-younger, cultural icon was not something Darryl Maximilian Robinson expected. But the Hollywood professional acting community is quite different from the one Mr. Robinson trained in and has come to know and work in. And "when papa needs a new pair of shoes," sometimes an actor simply takes the work that's offered. Which is how on Wednesday December 7, 2011, Darryl Maximilian Robinson found himself in a small green-screen studio space in Burbank, CA., in front of a tv director and a rap group calling itself "The Odd Future" being specifically instructed on how to make fun of the acclaimed and popular rapper Drake for an upcoming episode of a new live-action / animated comedy series that would air on Adult Swim of The Cartoon Network called 'Loiter Squad.'

And after that recorded "green screen" session veteran and award-winning Chicago And Los Angeles stage actor and play director Darryl Maximilian Robinson made his national television debut On May 6, 2012 in Adult Swim's "Loiter Squad," Episode 1.7 with a comedic cameo appearance as Drake!

And though he has yet to play a major or significant television or film role on-screen, veteran and award-winning stage actor and play director Darryl Maximilian Robinson ( The Founder of the multiracial, non-Equity professional chamber theatre The Excaliber Shakespeare Company of Chicago and the ESC Los Angeles Archival Project ) has made multiple appearances as A Guest Actor on the Los Angeles-based internet performing arts interview television show 'The Actor's Choice' with veteran entertainment journalist and host Ron Brewington where he frequently discusses his work around the country in The Theatre and The Performing Arts.

For those who might enjoy a comedic and brief entertainment blast from the past, a Fan Copy of Darryl Maximilian Robinson as Drake is available for viewing on You Tube.

Ages: Family Friendly 10 and Older.