Michael J. Bobbitt
Michael J. Bobbitt (SDC, DGA) Playwright, Director, Choreographer, Arts Leader
In addition to Bob Marley's Three Little Birds (which was nominated for The Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play or Musical by the Helen Hayes Awards) and Garfield, the Musical with Cattitude, he has co-adapted Jumanji (Nominated for Outstanding Play or Musical Adaptation by the Helen Hayes Awards). Other plays or musicals include, Caps for Sale, Blueberries for Sal, Bingo Long and the Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings, The Yellow Rose of Texas, Mirandy and Brother Wind, Redskins vs. the Rockettes, Say It Ain't So, The Stephen Schwartz Project, Gina Drew Mystery Stories; the curious case of where babies come from, Two Dads, and BLACKAFRICANAMERICANMINORITYOFCOLOR. For the Smithsonian's Discovery Theatre, he has revised How Old Is a Hero?, Black Diamond and Going the Distance. Additionally, he co-adapted Big, the musical into a Theatre for Young Audience version.
Michael J. Bobbitt is the Artistic Director of Adventure Theatre MTC, since 2007. He has commissioned a premiered over 50 new plays during his tenure at Adventure, working with such playwrights as Ken Ludwig, Renee Calarco, Norman Allen and Allison Gregory. Michael has directed, choreographed and performed at many theatres in the DC region, including Arena Stage, Ford's Theatre Society, Next Stop Theatre, The Shakespeare Theatre Company, Signature Theatre, Olney Theatre Center, Metro Stage, Rorshach Theatre Company, Studio Theatre, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Center Stage, Roundhouse Theatre, 1st Stage, The Music Center at Strathmore, The Kennedy Center, The Helen Hayes Awards and the Washington National Opera. He has been nominated for numerous Helen Hayes Awards.
His national and international credits include the NY Musical Theatre Festival, Mel Tillis 2001, La Jolla Playhouse, Children's Theatre of Charlotte, Jefferson Performing Arts Center, and 1996 Olympics. He studied creative writing and music at Susquehanna University and theater and dance at The Washington Ballet, The Dance Theatre of Harlem, The American Musical and Dramatic Academy and NY University's Tisch School of the Arts (Cap 21). As a writer, his work has been accepted in the 2006 NYC International Fringe Festival, The New York Musical Theatre Festival. His new musicals, Bob Marley's Three Little Birds and Caps for Sale appeared at the New Victory Theatre in NYC, toured Nationally and Three Little Birds received a Charles MacArthur Award Nomination for Outstanding New Play or Musical.
He is the recipient of the 2015 Excel Leadership Award from the Center for Nonprofit Advancement and the 2010 County Executive's Excellence in the Arts and Humanities – Emerging Leader Award and Maryland Theatre Guide's 2015 Person of the Year Award. His leadership training is from the Harvard Business School's Social Enterprise Initiative - Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management, The National Arts Strategies Chief Executive Program, the Coaching Initiative for Non Profit Leaders of Color - National Training Laboratories & Mosaica, Leadership Montgomery, Financial Reporting and Management Institute: Nonprofit Roundtable, Theatre Leadership Institute: American Alliance for Theatre and Education. He has served on grants panels for The National Endowment for the Arts, The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities and the Maryland State Arts Council. He has been a respondent for the Cohen New Works Festival at the University of Texas, The Junior Theatre Festival and the South Eastern Theatre Conference.
Michael has taught theater and dance at George Washington University, Catholic University, Montgomery College, Howard University, and the Washington Ballet. He is a member of the Dramatist Guild of America and the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.