Arts Advocates: R. Michael Gros, M.F.A. ’81
R. Michael Gross
LEGACY BUILDER
Q&A with R. Michael Gros
For over 40 years, R. Michael Gros, M.F.A. ’81 has been a director, producer, artistic director, educator and arts advocate. He is a professor emeritus of Santa Barbara City College and has served as co-artistic director of PlayFest Santa Barbara and artistic director of PCPA Theaterfest. Recently, he made a bequest to support future UC Irvine drama students.
Q. What legacy has your M.F.A. from UC Irvine created in your own life?
RMG: My professional career could not have happened without my UC Irvine education. My preparation as a director was exceptional, but it also trained me to think critically about the place of the arts in our society, my own role within the field, and ultimately how I intend to give back.
Q. How was the late Robert Cohen, Claire Trevor Professor of Drama Emeritus, influential to you?
RMG: Robert remained a mentor, a friend, a colleague for nearly 50 years. He helped me and Jeff Meek ’83 develop PlayFest Santa Barbara, and he was the person I called for advice when I was getting disillusioned working in TV. He always encouraged my academic and professional endeavors unhesitatingly.
Q. Do you have a favorite anecdote about him?
RMG: Here’s how I met Bob — he was “Bob” my first year and later “Robert.” The weekend before school began, my friends said, “Hey, the department's going to have a softball game, so come on down.” My dad was a Little League coach, and I had played catcher for seven years and coached baseball as well, so I was very aggressive on the ball field. I hit a ground ball, and I'm booking it down to first base. Robert was playing first base, standing on the bag, and I knocked him on his can. Literally sent him flying. And at that moment I thought, “Oh, my God, I’m going to get kicked out of grad school before I've even had my first day.”
Q. What did he do?
RMG: Imagine, I'm standing up and I'm looking down at him. He's still laying there, mad. Then, he takes one deep breath, exhales slowly and says, “I was on the bag. That was a fair hit.” And I helped him up.
Q. Today’s students will never get to meet Robert Cohen, but is there one thing you’d want to pass on to them about him?
RMG: He was demanding. He was supportive. He was passionate. His legacy to all the students he personally trained was his side coaching. He interrupts and challenges you throughout a monologue, which can be incredibly annoying. But by the time you are done, your monologue is transformed. It was tremendously impactful, and a technique all of us who knew him still use.
Q. Looking at the decades since you graduated, what are you most proud of in terms of how arts education at UC Irvine has evolved?
RMG: When I graduated, we were sent out to go make art, go start your own theater company. Today, drama students are much more informed about professional societies, how to put together a cover letter, how to get a job. They are taught so many more aspects of show business. The arts side is about putting on a show, but if you don’t take care of the business, there will be no second show. Having a career in the arts means being able to do it again and again.
Q. You’ve established a planned gift that will support drama students. Why was it important to you to leave a legacy at UCI Arts with this gift that will champion future dramatic artists?
RMG: I didn’t have a lot of support from my family. Student loans and my teaching assistantship got me through school, but it was a $500 grant from the student body association that made my thesis project something completely different than it would have been. My gift will support a student’s professional development or creative research or project, and the amount may not be life-changing, but it might transform a student’s creative experience directing a show, as it did for me.
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