Alex Timbers (born August 7, 1978) is an American writer and director best known for his work on stage and television. He has received numerous accolades including two Tony Awards, a Golden Globe Award, a Drama Desk Award, as well as nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award and a Grammy Award. Timbers received the Drama League Founder's Award for Excellence in Directing and the Jerome Robbins Award for Directing.[1]
Timbers grew up in New York City. When he was 15, he moved to Illinois and attended Lake Forest High School. He then went to Yale University[3] where he graduated magna cum laude. While at Yale, he was a member of the improvisational comedy group The Viola Question and president of the Yale Dramatic Association.[4]
Career
2003–2009: Early work
Between 2003 and 2015, Timbers served as the Artistic Director of the award-winning, experimental theater company Les Freres Corbusier.[5]Les Freres productions included Boozy: The Life, Death, and Subsequent Vilification of Le Corbusier and, More Importantly, Robert Moses, Dance Dance Revolution, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, Hell House, Heddatron, and Hoover Comes Alive!.[6] For Hell House, Timbers was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Theatrical Experience.
In 2003, Timbers conceived and directed the Les Freres show A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant, for which he and writer Kyle Jarrow won an Obie Award. Timbers also won two Garland Awards for the subsequent Los Angeles production, and his 2006 revival was heralded by The New York Times as the "Best Revival of the Year."[7][8]
Timbers served as the second assistant director on the Broadway premiere of Jersey Boys in 2005.[9]
For the Off-Broadway production of Gutenberg! The Musical!, Timbers was nominated for a 2007 Drama Desk Award for Best Director of a Musical.[10] His production of Dixie's Tupperware Party was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Solo Performance in 2008.[11]
In Fall 2010, Timbers directed The Pee-wee Herman Show on Broadway, which was subsequently filmed for HBO.
In March 2011, Timbers co-directed with Roger ReesPeter and the Starcatcher for Disney at New York Theatre Workshop.[16] The show opened to a positive review from Ben Brantley in The New York Times, and Timbers won the 2011 Obie Award for Direction.[17][18] The production was the fastest-selling show in New York Theatre Workshop's history and extended three times.[19] In March 2012, Timbers and Rees again co-directed Peter and the Starcatcher on Broadway. It was subsequently nominated for nine Tony Awards and won five.[20] The show spawned two national tours and a year-long return engagement Off-Broadway.[21]
In 2014, Timbers directed Here Lies Love at the National Theatre in London. Timbers, Byrne, and Fatboy Slim won the London Evening Standard Beyond Theatre Award "for pushing the boundaries of musicals."[26]
Also in 2014, Timbers directed the musical Rocky, based on the Oscar-winning film, on Broadway at the Winter Garden Theatre, for which he was nominated for Drama Desk Award and Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Director.[27] Two years earlier, he directed a pilot production of the show in Germany, which ran for five years in Hamburg and Stuttgart.
In 2016, Timbers directed an Off-Broadway revival of The Robber Bridegroom for Roundabout Theater Company, which won the 2016 Lucille Lortel Award for Best Revival.[28][29]
In 2016, Timbers directed the comedy Oh Hello! on Broadway, written by and starring comedians Nick Kroll and John Mulaney. The show opened to positive reviews, recouped its capitalization, and was filmed for Netflix.[30]
2018–present
In 2018, Timbers directed the out-of-town tryout of Beetlejuice at the National Theater in Washington DC. The next year, he directed the Broadway transfer of Beetlejuice at the Winter Garden Theater. The show was nominated for eight 2019 Tony Awards, including Best Musical.[21]
Also in 2018, Timbers directed the out-of-town tryout of Moulin Rouge! The Musical, based on the Oscar-winning film, at the Emerson Colonial Theater in Boston. In July 2019, the show transferred to Broadway at the Al Hirschfeld Theater.[21] The following year, the production was nominated for 14 Tony Awards including Best Musical. For his work on the production, Timbers was nominated for Best Director of a Musical and, for his work on the cast album, he was nominated for a 2020 Grammy Award.[31] The show also won Best Musical at the 2020 Outer Critics Circle Awards and the 2020 Drama League Awards, and Timbers won the 2020 Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Director of a Musical.[32]
In September 2019, Timbers served as Production Consultant on David Byrne's American Utopia at the Emerson Colonial Theater in Boston. The next month, the show opened on Broadway at the Hudson Theater.[21]American Utopia was called "the best live show of all time" by NME Magazine.[33] The show recouped and was named to many critics' year-end top ten lists.[34] The show was filmed for HBO and was nominated for six Emmy Awards.[35]
In Summer 2021, Beetlejuice made its international debut in South Korea at the Sejong Arts Center, staged and designed by the original Broadway creative team, in July 2021. It was nominated for 10 Korea Musical Awards, including Best Musical.[36]
In September 2021, Moulin Rouge! The Musical re-opened on Broadway and won 10 Tony Awards, including Best Musical. For his work on the production, Timbers won a 2021 Tony Award for Best Director of a Musical.[31]
That same month, American Utopia also re-opened on Broadway and received a 2021 Special Tony Award.[31]
On November 12, 2021, Moulin Rouge! The Musical began performances simultaneously in Melbourne at the Regent Theatre and in London's West End at the Piccadilly Theatre.[37] In May 2022, the Australian production opened in Sydney.[38] In April 2022, Timbers directed the first national tour of Moulin Rouge! The Musical, which opened in Chicago at the James M. Nederlander Theatre.[39][40] In October 2022, the German production of Moulin Rouge! The Musical opened in Cologne and in December 2022 the Korean production opened in Seoul, both directed by Timbers.[41] A Japanese production began performances in Tokyo in 2023[42] An eighth production in the Netherlands premieres in 2024.[43]
In April 2022, Beetlejuice re-opened on Broadway, now at the Marquis Theater.[44] In November 2022, Timbers directed the first national tour of Beetlejuice, which premiered at San Francisco's Golden Gate Theater.[45] The tour has consistently been among the top-grossing Broadway tours in various markets and recouped its investment in September 2023.[46] An additional production aboard Norwegian Cruise Lines began in 2023.[47]
In 2023, Timbers returned to Broadway with three shows: Here Lies Love at the Broadway Theater, Gutenberg! The Musical! at the James Earl Jones Theater, and he served as Creative Consultant for Alex Edelman: Just For Us at the Hudson Theater, which Timbers then subsequently directed as a special for HBO. [48]
Timbers' debut picture book, Broadway Bird, set in an all-animal version of Broadway, was published by Feiwel and Friends, an imprint of Macmillan, on May 24, 2022.[49]
