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Walter Bobbie
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Walter Bobbie
Walter Bobbie Jr. (born November 18, 1945) is an American theatre director, choreographer, and occasional actor and dancer. Bobbie has directed both musicals and plays on Broadway and Off-Broadway, and was the Artistic Director of the New York City Center Encores! concert series. He directed the long-running Broadway revival of the musical Chicago. His most well-known acting roles were Nicely-Nicely Johnson in the 1992 Broadway revival of Guys and Dolls and Roger in the original Broadway cast of Grease.
Bobbie was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Raised in Lincoln Park, New Jersey, he graduated from Boonton High School in 1963. and attended the University of Scranton and did graduate work at The Catholic University of America. His family was Polish Roman Catholic, and his father was a coal miner. He spoke fluent Polish.
Bobbie explains what inspired him to work in theater: "My first Broadway show was How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, maybe in 1964. I came in to New York from college in Pennsylvania for the World's Fair...I remember sitting there — I practically had to be held down in my seat — and I had never seen anything like it. That day it was clear to me that I wanted to come back to New York, and theater was what I wanted to do. It was transforming."
As a performer, Bobbie played Roger in the original Broadway production of Grease in 1972. He was featured in the 1976 Broadway revival of Going Up and played Lord Oakleigh in the 1987 revival of Anything Goes. He also starred on Broadway as Nicely-Nicely Johnson in the 1992 revival of Guys and Dolls, for which he received a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical. He also was in the Off-Broadway productions of Company as Harry in 1980 and Assassins in 1989. Bobbie was in the 1995 concert production of Anyone Can Whistle at Carnegie Hall portraying Comptroller Schub. He most recently appeared on Broadway in 2018 in Saint Joan as Peter Cauchon/Bishop of Beauvais.
Bobbie directed the Rodgers and Hammerstein revue, A Grand Night for Singing, at Rainbow & Stars in 1992 and at the Roundabout Theatre in 1993 for which he received a Tony Award nomination for Best Book of a Musical - the only Broadway revue in history to be nominated for Best Book of a Musical since revues are generally not eligible for awards that require a narrative framework. The nomination for Best Book of a Musical was in recognition of the sequence of the songs since the show has no script and no spoken words. The show was also nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revue.
The New York Times review called the Rainbow & Stars production a "radiant new revue" and a "musical masterstroke" and reported of Bobbie's direction that he "has given its Broadway elaboration an impressive fluidity that whisks the performers through various groupings with a minimum of stiffness and posturing. In Mr. Bobbie's hands, the songs flow together in a sequence that treats them as lighthearted extensions of one another."
Bobbie next directed the Broadway productions of the stage musical Footloose in 1998, and co-wrote the book. He co-wrote and directed The Road to Hollywood, a new musical performed at the Goodspeed Opera House in 2002.
Bobbie directed the 2004 Roundabout Theater production of Twentieth Century with Alec Baldwin and Anne Heche, as well as the 2005 Sweet Charity revival with Christina Applegate, and then High Fidelity in 2006. Bobbie also directed the one-night-only 2005 concert of South Pacific, a benefit for Carnegie Hall, starring Reba McEntire and Brian Stokes Mitchell.
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Walter Bobbie
Walter Bobbie Jr. (born November 18, 1945) is an American theatre director, choreographer, and occasional actor and dancer. Bobbie has directed both musicals and plays on Broadway and Off-Broadway, and was the Artistic Director of the New York City Center Encores! concert series. He directed the long-running Broadway revival of the musical Chicago. His most well-known acting roles were Nicely-Nicely Johnson in the 1992 Broadway revival of Guys and Dolls and Roger in the original Broadway cast of Grease.
Bobbie was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Raised in Lincoln Park, New Jersey, he graduated from Boonton High School in 1963. and attended the University of Scranton and did graduate work at The Catholic University of America. His family was Polish Roman Catholic, and his father was a coal miner. He spoke fluent Polish.
Bobbie explains what inspired him to work in theater: "My first Broadway show was How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, maybe in 1964. I came in to New York from college in Pennsylvania for the World's Fair...I remember sitting there — I practically had to be held down in my seat — and I had never seen anything like it. That day it was clear to me that I wanted to come back to New York, and theater was what I wanted to do. It was transforming."
As a performer, Bobbie played Roger in the original Broadway production of Grease in 1972. He was featured in the 1976 Broadway revival of Going Up and played Lord Oakleigh in the 1987 revival of Anything Goes. He also starred on Broadway as Nicely-Nicely Johnson in the 1992 revival of Guys and Dolls, for which he received a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical. He also was in the Off-Broadway productions of Company as Harry in 1980 and Assassins in 1989. Bobbie was in the 1995 concert production of Anyone Can Whistle at Carnegie Hall portraying Comptroller Schub. He most recently appeared on Broadway in 2018 in Saint Joan as Peter Cauchon/Bishop of Beauvais.
Bobbie directed the Rodgers and Hammerstein revue, A Grand Night for Singing, at Rainbow & Stars in 1992 and at the Roundabout Theatre in 1993 for which he received a Tony Award nomination for Best Book of a Musical - the only Broadway revue in history to be nominated for Best Book of a Musical since revues are generally not eligible for awards that require a narrative framework. The nomination for Best Book of a Musical was in recognition of the sequence of the songs since the show has no script and no spoken words. The show was also nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revue.
The New York Times review called the Rainbow & Stars production a "radiant new revue" and a "musical masterstroke" and reported of Bobbie's direction that he "has given its Broadway elaboration an impressive fluidity that whisks the performers through various groupings with a minimum of stiffness and posturing. In Mr. Bobbie's hands, the songs flow together in a sequence that treats them as lighthearted extensions of one another."
Bobbie next directed the Broadway productions of the stage musical Footloose in 1998, and co-wrote the book. He co-wrote and directed The Road to Hollywood, a new musical performed at the Goodspeed Opera House in 2002.
Bobbie directed the 2004 Roundabout Theater production of Twentieth Century with Alec Baldwin and Anne Heche, as well as the 2005 Sweet Charity revival with Christina Applegate, and then High Fidelity in 2006. Bobbie also directed the one-night-only 2005 concert of South Pacific, a benefit for Carnegie Hall, starring Reba McEntire and Brian Stokes Mitchell.