Age: 65
male
Rob Marshall (born October 17, 1960) is an American theater director, film director and choreographer. He is a six-time Tony Award nominee, Academy Award nominee, Golden Globe nominee and four-time Emmy winner whose most noted work is the 2002 Academy Award Best Picture winner Chicago. Marshall was born in Madison, Wisconsin and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He debuted in the film industry with the Emmy Award-wining TV adaptation of the musical Annie by Charles Strouse and Martin Charnin. After that he went on to direct the much anticipated adaptation of the Kander and Ebb musical Chicago in 2002 for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director. His next feature film was the drama Memoirs of a Geisha based on the best-selling book of the same name by Arthur Golden starring Zhang Ziyi, Gong Li, Michelle Yeoh and Ken Watanabe. The film went on to win three Academy Awards and gross $162,242,962 at the worldwide box office. In 2009, Marshall directed Nine, an adaptation of the hit Broadway production with the same name starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard, Nicole Kidman, Sophia Loren and Penélope Cruz, who was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Marshall then went on to direct Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, the fourth chapter of Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean film series starring Johnny Depp, Ian McShane, Penélope Cruz and Geoffrey Rush, which is set to open on May 20, 2011. Description above from the Wikipedia article Rob Marshall, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Applause follows Margo Channing, a legendary but aging Broadway star whose reign atop the theatrical world faces an unexpected threat when an ambitious young understudy named Eve Harrington arrives in her life. As Margo navigates the pressures of maintaining her status, her relationships with her devoted husband, her best friend, and her theater company become increasingly complicated by Eve's calculated charm and ruthless ambition. The musical explores themes of vanity, ambition, friendship, and the passage of time through dazzling production numbers and intimate character moments. Set against the glittering backdrop of Broadway in the 1950s, the story captures both the glamour and the cutthroat nature of show business. Margo must confront her own insecurities and mortality while learning to distinguish between genuine connection and manipulation. The narrative builds to a climactic revelation that forces all characters to reassess their values and priorities. With its sophisticated wit, memorable songs, and exploration of female ambition and rivalry, Applause celebrates the transformative power of theater while examining the costs of fame and the importance of authenticity in a world built on illusion.
