Producer J.J. Abrams, best known for the television series “Lost” and “Alias” and movies like “Star Trek” and “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” through his company Bad Robot Productions, has announced the formation of a theatrical production division.
The new producing arm, named Bad Robot Live, has been developing plays, musicals and immersive events under the leadership of vice president of theater and creative development Elizabeth Rothman, who previously served as director of play development for Manhattan Theatre Club.
Bad Robot Live has also announced an exclusive three-year partnership with Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG). The deal provides ATG with partnership opportunities on Bad Robot Live’s slate of theater projects; in return, Bad Robot Live will be able to work with the more established producers of ATG Productions. Creative Artists Agency, which represents Bad Robot, helped broker the new arrangement.
One of the first projects produced under the partnership — a collaboration with producer Wessex Grove — will be Liz Kingsman’s “One Woman Show,” expected to arrive in the U.S. in 2023. For its run at ATG’s Ambassadors Theatre in London’s West End (also produced by Bad Robot Live, ATG and Wessex Grove), the solo show was recently nominated for an Olivier Award.
Abrams is no stranger to producing live theater. He was an individual producer on Broadway’s “The Play That Goes Wrong” as well as “Derren Brown: Secret.”
