Robert Longbottom News

As previously announced, Tony-Award-nominated actress, Emily Skinner, will head up an all star cast for a newly conceptualized production of Into The Woods at Theatre Under The Stars this holiday season. The production, which is being directed and choreographed by Tony Award Nominee Robert Longbottom, will run in Houston from December 6 - 18, 2016 at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts. TUTS has just announced complete casting for the production.

Tony Award-nominated actress Emily Skinner will head up an all-star cast for a newly conceptualized production of INTO THE WOODS at Theatre Under The Stars this holiday season -- and BroadwayWorld brings you a first look at the trailer below!

Despite it's bombastic and highly visible ensemble of cheery papas, THE DAUGHTER OF THE REGIMENT is a showcase for its two stars, Oropesa and Brownlee.

As previously announced, Tony-Award-nominated actress, Emily Skinner, will head up an all star cast for a newly conceptualized production of Into The Woods at Theatre Under The Stars this holiday season. The production, which is being directed and choreographed by Tony Award Nominee Robert Longbottom, will run in Houston from December 6 - 18, 2016 at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts. TUTS has just announced complete casting for the production.

Tony® Award-Winning Costume Designer Ann Hould-Ward is returning to Houston for the first time in over 20 years to revisit her original designs for INTO THE WOODS for the new, re-imagined production of the iconic Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine show.

Washington National Opera (WNO) continues its 2016–2017 season with a new production of Gaetano Donizetti's mashup of slapstick comedy and charming romance—The Daughter of the Regiment, November 12–20, 2016, in the Kennedy Center Opera House. The cast is led by superstar tenor Lawrence Brownlee as the hero Tonio and fast-rising soprano Lisette Oropesa, who starred as Susanna earlier this season in WNO's The Marriage of Figaro, as Marie. While the opera is best known for the vocal acrobatics required of its singers, the high-comedy antics of the non-singing role of The Duchess of Krakenthorp often steal the show. On opening night, November 12, 2016, the role of The Duchess will be performed by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in her official Washington National Opera stage debut. The brand-new WNO production is directed by acclaimed Broadway director and choreographer Robert Longbottom, and the WNO Orchestra is led by rising conductor Christopher Allen, both in their WNO debuts.

In a monumental move, Tony Award nominee Robert Longbottom will serve as director and choreographer for a newly conceptualized production of Into The Woods at Theatre Under The Stars this holiday season.

The Guys Are Dolls, the Beauty Is Bawdy, But PAGEANT Lacks Legs. The cast in Arizona Broadway Theatre's current production of the spoof does its level best ~ true troupers!

Hottest Articles on BroadwayWorld.com from this weekend Sunday, July 3, 2016 - Sunday, July 3, 2016.

Nearly 20 years ago Broadway fell in love with the spellbinding Emily Skinner and Alice Ripley as Daisy and Violet Hilton; conjoined twins and unlikely starlets in the moody and romantic original 1997 production of SIDE SHOW by Bill Russell and Dreamgirls composer Henry Krieger, directed by Robert Longbottom.  Skinner and Ripley have enjoyed Broadway success and acclaim, each in their own right, as well as thriving concert and recording careers. The ladies will talk work, play, friendship, family and the phenomenon that led to their remarkable joint Tony Nomination.

PAGEANT, when it originally opened in 1991, was almost ground breaking. The idea of doing a musical parody of a beauty pageant performed by men in drag was fresh… and a little bit crazy in all the good ways. However, twenty five years later, in 2016, the concept creaks in a world where we have RuPaul's Drag Race and traditional beauty pageants have been relegated to cable channels few people watch.

On Monday night over 400 guests including current and past New York City high school students, and the performing arts professional mentors who have participated in TDF's Open Doors, the theatre arts mentoring program that TDF founded in 1998 with playwright Wendy Wasserstein, attended this year's graduation at The Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College (524 West 59th Street, NYC).  

Over 400 guests including current and past New York City high school students, and the performing arts professional mentors who have participated in TDF's Open Doors, the theatre arts mentoring program that TDF founded in 1998 with playwright Wendy Wasserstein, will attend this year's graduation at 5:30pm on Monday, June 6 at The Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College (524 West 59th Street, NYC).

On Monday night 5/23, Alvin Ing performed at The Duplex Theatre in GOT A LOT OF LIVIN' TO DO - written, produced and directed by Lainie Sakakura, filled the house with tears and laughter as Mr. Ing shared his story throughout the night.

Now playing at the La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, the new McCoy/Rigby Entertainment production of the Tony Award-winning 1981 Broadway musical DREAMGIRLS is pretty much a faithful carbon-copy of the recent 2009 national touring production---which happens to also be directed and choreographed by Robert Longbottom. La Mirada's offering---which continues through April 17---repurposes almost all of the visual and technical aspects of that tour, from the use of moving LED screens that set up different scenes and environments to William Ivey Long's lavishly exquisite costumes. It even taps that tour's original Effie played by the extraordinary Moya Angela, who has since matured wonderfully into the role. When your lead actress incites a boisterous standing ovation after slaying with an incredible performance of the musical's iconic 'And I Am Telling You (I'm Not Going)'---even as the show is still in the midst of that act one ending---you know you've got something great here.

LA MIRADA THEATRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS & MC COY RIGBY ENTERTAINMENT present the fourth show of their 2015-2016 season, an all-new spectacular DREAMGIRLS, book and lyrics by Tom Eyen, music by Henry Krieger, musical direction by Dennis Castellano and directed & choreographed by Robert Longbottom.  DREAMGIRLS will preview on Friday, March 25, 2016 (with a press opening on Saturday, March 26) and run through Sunday, April 17, 2016 at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, 14900 La Mirada Blvd in La Mirada. Additionally, DREAMGIRLS will perform Friday, May 6 through Sunday, May 8 at Valley Performing Arts Center in Northridge.

LA MIRADA THEATRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS & MC COY RIGBY ENTERTAINMENT present the fourth show of their 2015-2016 season, an all-new spectacular DREAMGIRLS, book and lyrics by Tom Eyen, music by Henry Krieger, musical direction by Dennis Castellano and directed & choreographed by Robert Longbottom.  DREAMGIRLS opened on Saturday, March 26 and will run through Sunday, April 17, 2016 at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, 14900 La Mirada Blvd in La Mirada.

If you decide to attend Circuit Playhouse's production of PAGEANT in the next few weeks, and if you find yourself blushing at some of the eyebrow-raising humor, there's no need for alarm: Pink cheeks will blend right in, as the stage, many of the dresses and gowns, and much of the make-up are redolent with that color. However, the musical tends more toward the 'purple' at times, with innuendo, knowing looks, and pregnant pauses. Nonetheless, Robert Longbottom's lightweight little satire (with Book and Lyrics by Bill Russell and Frank Kelly and Music by Albert Evans) is a relatively harmless (and highly enjoyable) outing.

It looks like Kristin Chenoweth may be returning to Broadway sooner than we thought!  I recently had the opportunity to talk to the Kristin about a variety of topics. She filled me in about her next big project, I Am Anne Hutchinson, and shared some insights into the expectations of Hollywood, specifically for women. Of course we also talked about her plans for the future, which include a return to Broadway in the near future in Tammy Faye Bakker - The Musical!

SAN FRANCISCO, July 20, 2015 – The Merola Opera Program's Summer Festival concludes with its 2015 artists performing in the Merola Grand Finale tonight, August 22 at 7:30 pm at the War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco. Conductor Antony Walker will lead the orchestra and 2015 Merola Apprentice Stage Director Mo Zhou will stage the program, featuring works by Gounod, Bellini, Tchaikovsky, Jake Heggie, Nikolai, Verdi, Rossini, Humperdinck, Mascagni, and Offenbach. The performance is a culmination of the 12-week Merola Opera training program, and all 23 of the 2015 Merola singers will perform, under the coaching and direction of their fellow artists. A special artists' reception follows the Grand Finale (tickets sold separately).