Robert Longbottom
Director of Bye Bye Birdie and Dreamgirls.
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 & Hammerstein’s Flower Drum Song was such a success in Los Angeles but didn’t work as well in New York.
Original airdate – November 23, 2009.
Running time – 1:00:42.
For more information, to listen online, or to download the episode go to Downstage Center’s Robert Longbottom program page.
You can also download directly the Robert Longbottom program (mp3).
Posted on Monday, November 23rd, 2009 at 10:10 am
by
American Theatre Wing
Filed under:
Audio,
Director,
Downstage Center.
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