Happy birthday to Tony-winning director Walter Bobbie, born Nov. 18, 1945, in Scranton, Pa. After studies at University of Scranton and Catholic University in D.C., he made his Off-Broadway debut as a standby performer in Dames at Sea (1969). Two years later, he made his Broadway debut in Frank Merriwell (1971), which closed on opening night. The rest of the decade, he worked steadily but in shows with similarly short runs. He returned Off-Broadway in the one-night musical Drat! (1971), then to Broadway in the seven-performance Grass Harp (1971), eight-performance Tricks (1973), 49-performance Going Up (1976), and 21-performance A History of American Film. In between those shows, he had gigs in Grease and I Love My Wife.
In the 1980s, he landed roles in Arthur Miller’s only musical, Up from Paradise (1983), and the Lincoln Center revival of Anything Goes. His acting breakthrough came in 1992, as Nicely-Nicely in the revival of Guys and Dolls, which earned him a Drama Desk nomination. He then turned his focus to directing (and script writing) with the R&H revue Grand Night for Singing (1993) and stage adaptation of Footloose (1998), both of which earned him a Tony nomination for best book. Below is Bobbie and the Guys and Dolls revival company singing “Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat” at the 1992 Tonys.
His next breakthrough came while artistic director of the New York City Center Encores! concert series, where he directed a revival of Chicago (1996), which transferred to Broadway (and continues to run), earning him Tony and Drama Desk awards for best direction of a musical. Below is Bebe Neuwirth and Ann Reinking with the Chicago revival cast in “All That Jazz / Hot Honey Rag” at the 1997 Tonys.
In recent years, Bobbie has co-written and directed The Road to Hollywood at Goodspeed Opera House (2002) and directed Broadway’s Sweet Charity revival (2005), High Fidelity (2006), White Christmas (2009), and Bright Star (2016), as well as Off-Broadway’s The Landing (2013). Below is the trailer for the stage adaptation of Irving Berlin’s White Christmas.