Robert Casillas was born in San Mateo County but raised in San Francisco. After graduating high school he worked for the Pacific Telephone Directory Department which produced the Yellow Pages in California. He worked for the Directory Department for several years earning his way to management positions within the company.
Although he began his working life at a young age, he still carried with him his love of writing and acting that he developed while in high school. There he took acting, creative writing and expository writing. It set the foundation for creative endeavors he would continue to become a part of through the years. He found acting workshops and college courses that he attended in the evenings after his workday. While attending Canada College in Redwood City he auditioned for a play and soon found himself auditioning for many other community theaters in the Bay Area.
After performing in several plays he became aware of the various theaters that produce primarily musicals. He decided to prepare himself for auditioning for musicals at local theaters and began taking voice classes and eventually tap dance classes. This proved to benefit him and he landed roles in several musicals that he auditioned for at theaters in the San Francisco Peninsula. The experiences with the different theaters reignited his desire to write again and when he chose to write a play he found his way to the Playwright Center of San Francisco (PCSF). There he was able to see his first play titled Emotional Attachments performed in a staged reading at their theater.
The work Robert did in playwriting while performing in plays and musicals led to his interest in trying his hand at writing a musical. Though not a composer he found that he was adept at writing lyrics. He was able to find a collaborator and his musical titled Telegram was born. The title coming from his experience at seeing Singing Telegrams coming to his workplace to entertain recipients. He wrote the musical in a dramedy form with humor and drama in the storyline. It is a piece he hopes to soon have published and produced.
While at PCSF he volunteered to direct the plays of his fellow members work in their staged reading program. He found the experience to be fulfilling and utilized his acting skills as well as much of his knowledge of comedy earned from watching many of the old comedic films. Additionally, the PCSF produced an annual playwriting competition and Robert, having become a member of the Board of Directors, was involved in reviewing the plays submitted for the competition from playwrights both nationally and internationally. The role required analyzing each play and returning a critique to the majority of the playwrights. This experience provided great insight into what makes a play successful and the types of work from writers wanting to become playwrights.
After leaving the Playwright Center Robert was able to acquire jobs at theaters around the Bay Area in which he directed both plays and musicals. He produced and directed a staged reading program for a theater in Foster City for a time and then became involved in directing for a theater in Fremont. While he continued to write plays he was able to have a few of his short one-act plays produced in the staged reading programs. He later was able to see two of his one-acts included in the playwriting series at Notre Dame de Namur University in San Carlos, CA.
Robert found that his experience with theater and writing has led him to be involved in theater in the San Francisco Bay Area as actor, director, playwright, lyricist, and producer. Though his directing had taken him to different theaters around the Bay Area, he found that he wanted to commit more time to writing. He was able to connect with a theater in the South Bay near where he lived and the mutual respect for talent and people at the theater led him to a long-time experience with Santa Clara Players. While working with them he directed eight shows in eleven years (the pandemic years within that time). Primarily directing once a year at a theater that he enjoyed working for he was able to take more time to write.
Robert was working on an idea for a musical and found that the story required quite a bit of exposition to explain back-story elements. This gave him the idea that it might be best if he provided the entirety of the story in a novel. Once he started writing the novel the story kept expanding and he soon realized that his story was going to be in a multi-book series. Once he completed the first book he sought out a Literary Agent but like most new writers found how difficult it is to break through. He chose to turn to self-publishing and has found this route to be rewarding.
Robert has always been a goal setter and is quite entrepreneurial. He worked his way into management positions while working in corporate America. Somewhat late in life he returned to school and earned his Bachelor of Science in Business Management and followed that up by earning an MBA in Human Resources. He opened a retail business years ago but with a downward turn in the economy turned to trying his hand at an online business. He admits to not being a technology whiz but is not afraid to try new things. He gradually returned to his love for writing and found himself involved in writing plays and directing for community theatre.
Robert is happily married with his husband Joey and they live in Sunnyvale, California, a community north of San Jose. They recently adopted Darby, a rescue dog from a shelter, and are thrilled at what a blessing she’s been in their lives.