Robert Longbottom's guest appearances

Robert Longbottom

ATW - Downstage Center

Marlo Thomas

Michael Boyd

Eve Ensler

Patrick Stewart

Neil Patrick Harris

Sarah Ruhl

Kelli O'Hara

Joel Grey

Casey Nicholaw

Michael Berresse

Ken Davenport

Graciela Daniele

David Hyde

Simon Callow

Celia Keenan-Bolger

OwlTail

Guest host Ted Chapin, chairman of the board of the American Theatre Wing, talks with director Robert Longbottom about his current Broadway production of "Bye Bye Birdie" at The Roundabout, including the challenge of auditioning 1400 teenagers, as well as his new revival of "Dreamgirls", which like the story itself. starts its national climb to fame at New York's Apollo Theater, but only after a truly out of town tryout in South Korea.  Longbottom also talks about how he managed to get his Equity card at age 10, despite being raised in Maine; his years as a dancer in Broadway ensembles and national tours; developing the piece that ultimately became "Pageant" while on tour with "42nd Street"; the joy of both workshopping and rehearsing "Side Show" directly on Broadway stages, as opposed to rehearsal rooms; his work on plays including "Hay Fever" and "Mr. Roberts" (asking when first approached about the latter, "Who wrote music for it?"); and why he thinks the "revisal" of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Flower Drum Song" was such a success in Los Angeles but didn't work as well in New York. Original air date - November 23, 2009.

Robert Longbottom (#244) - November, 2009