For the Washington National Opera he directed and choreographed a new production of La Fille du régiment that that featured a cameo appearance by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and was included in the Oscar-nominated documentary RBG. He made his Broadway debut as the director and choreographer of the original Broadway production of Side Show, which earned four Tony Award nominations, including Best Musical.  

Other Broadway credits include Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Flower Drum Song, with a new book by the playwright David Henry Hwang. This production earned Longbottom a Tony Award nomination for his choreography, as well as Fred Astaire and Outer Critics Circle nominations. Other Broadway credits include The Scarlet Pimpernel, Bye Bye Birdie, and a new production of Dreamgirls that premiered at the Apollo Theatre. That engagement was followed by multiple national and international tours that included Seoul, Johannesburg, Shanghai and Tokyo. 

Longbottom conceived, directed, and choreographed the original Off-Broadway hit Pageant, which was nominated for four Outer Critics Circle Awards and a Drama Desk Award. His other credits include Disney’s On the Record, Carnival for the Kennedy Center, directing and choreographing The Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular from 1994 to 1999, Show Boat at Carnegie Hall, South Pacific at the Muny Opera, starring Howard Keel, Camelot at the Glimmerglass Festival, starring Nathan Gunn, and Into the Woods at Theatre Under The Stars in Houston.  

His non-musical credits include the plays Mister Roberts for the Kennedy Center and Hay Fever for the Old Globe. He is currently developing a new play, with music, about the lives of Castrati, written by the Pulitzer Prize/Tony Award winning playwright, Doug Wright, with musical supervision by Anthony Roth Costanzo.