James Lapine
Template:Use mdy dates Template:Short description Template:Infobox person James Elliot Lapine (born January 10, 1949) is an American stage director, playwright, screenwriter, and librettist. He has won the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical three times, for Into the Woods, Falsettos, and Passion, as well as the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Sunday in the Park with George. He has frequently collaborated with Stephen Sondheim and William Finn.
Early life
Lapine was born on January 10, 1949, in Mansfield, Ohio, the son of Lillian (Feld) and David Sanford Lapine.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He graduated from Franklin and Marshall College in 1971.<ref>"Archives and Special Collections, Franklin and Marshall College, James Lapine Collection" Template:Webarchive FranklinandMarshall.library.com, accessed March 10, 2011</ref> Though he did not actively pursue theatre in childhood, Lapine did play Jack in an elementary school production of Jack and the Beanstalk.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Career
Lapine studied photography and graphic design at the California Institute of the Arts, where he received an MFA in 1973.<ref name=pbs>"Stars Over Broadway, James Lapine" pbs.com, accessed March 10, 2011</ref> He was a photographer, graphic designer, and architectural preservationist, and taught design at the Yale School of Drama.<ref name=pbs/> At Yale University he wrote an adaptation of and directed Gertrude Stein's Photograph, which was produced Off-Broadway at the Open Space in SoHo in 1977.<ref name=pbs/><ref>Secrest, p. 326</ref> He went on to write and direct Off-Broadway plays and musicals, directing composer William Finn's March of the Falsettos in 1981; the musical won the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Off-Broadway Play. Frank Rich, the New York Times theater critic, noted "Mr. Lapine's wildly resourceful staging".<ref>Rich, Frank. "Stage: March of the Falsettos,' A Musical Find" The New York Times, April 10, 1981</ref><ref>"'March of the Falsettos' Listing" Template:Webarchive Internet Off-Broadway DataBase, accessed March 10, 2011</ref>
In 1982, Lapine was introduced to Stephen Sondheim.<ref name="Secrest, pp.326-341">Secrest, pp. 326–341</ref> The pair developed Sunday in the Park with George: Lapine wrote the book and directed; Sondheim created the music and lyrics. The play was first produced Off-Broadway in 1983,<ref>Lawson, Carol. Summer's hottest ticket? How about Sondheim musical? The New York Times (abstract), June 17, 1983</ref><ref>"'Sunday in the Park with George' Listing" Template:Webarchive Internet Off-Broadway DataBase, accessed March 10, 2011</ref> and moved to Broadway in 1984.<ref name="Secrest, pp.326-341"/> Their next musical was Into the Woods, which premiered on Broadway in 1987,<ref>Rich, Frank. "Stage: 'Into the Woods,' From Sondheim" The New York Times, November 6, 1987</ref> for which Lapine won the Tony Award and the Drama Desk Award for Best Book of a Musical. They next collaborated on the musical Passion, for which Lapine wrote the book and directed. The musical ran on Broadway in 1994 and in the West End in 1996, receiving a nomination for the Olivier Award for Best New Musical, and winning the Tony Award for Best Musical and the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical, among other awards and nominations.<ref>Richards, David."Review/Theater; Sondheim Explores the Heart's Terrain" The New York Times (Books, The New York Times on the Web), May 10, 1994</ref><ref>"'Passion' Listing, 1994" InternetBroadwayDatabase.com, accessed March 10, 2011</ref><ref>"Olivier Awards, 1997 Template:Webarchive albemarle-london.com, accessed March 10, 2011</ref> Their last collaboration was the revue Sondheim on Sondheim. Presented on Broadway in 2010, it won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical Revue.<ref>Brantley, Ben. "Theater Review: 'Sondheim On Sondheim'" The New York Times, April 23, 2010</ref><ref>Gans, Andrew."'Red', 'Memphis', 'Bridge', 'Fences' and 'La Cage' Win Drama Desk Awards" Template:Webarchive Playbill.com, May 23, 2010</ref>
In 1992, Lapine returned to working with William Finn, and wrote the book and directed the Broadway musical Falsettos. Lapine wrote the book and Finn composed the music for A New Brain, which premiered Off-Broadway in 1998.<ref>"'A New Brain', 1998" Template:Webarchive InternetOff-BroadwayDatabase.com, accessed March 10, 2011</ref> They later worked together on Finn's musical The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, which premiered Off-Broadway in 2005 and later moved to Broadway. The New York Times reviewer wrote of the Spelling Bee Broadway transfer that "Mr. Lapine has sharpened all the musical's elements without betraying its appealing modesty."<ref>Isherwood, Charles. "Theater Review: Six Misfits Test Wits On Bigger Platform" The New York Times, May 3, 2005</ref> The latest Finn-Lapine work is Little Miss Sunshine, which premiered in 2011 at the La Jolla Playhouse in California.<ref name="playbill.com">Jones, Kenneth. "Road Trip! Finn & Lapine's 'Little Miss Sunshine' Musical Begins World-Premiere Run in CA" Template:Webarchive Playbill.com, February 15, 2011</ref>
Lapine has also directed dramas, including Dirty Blonde, which ran Off-Broadway and then on Broadway in 2000. Conceived by Claudia Shear and Lapine and written by Shear with direction by Lapine, Ben Brantley called Lapine's direction "stylish and compassionate".<ref>Brantley, Ben."Theater Review: Smitten by a Goddess, but She's No Angel" The New York Times, January 11, 2000</ref> Lapine was nominated for the Tony Award and Drama Desk Award for Best Direction of a Play.<ref>"Complete List of 1999–2000 Tony Award Winners" Playbill.com, June 4, 2000</ref>
Lapine directed the 2012 Broadway revival of Annie.<ref>Gans, Andrew. "Broadway Revival of 'Annie' Finds Its Orphans" Playbill.com, May 15, 2012</ref> He wrote a stage adaption of the Moss Hart autobiography Act One, which premiered on Broadway at the Lincoln Center Vivian Beaumont Theater in April 2014.<ref>Hetrick, Adam and Gioia, Michael. "'Act One', Stage Adaptation of Moss Hart's Theatrical Memoir, Opens on Broadway April 17" Template:Webarchive Playbill.com, April 17, 2014</ref>
Lapine wrote the book for and directed the new musical Flying Over Sunset. A staged singing/reading was presented at the Vineyard Arts Project (Martha's Vineyard) in August 2015. The composer is Tom Kitt and lyrics are by Michael Korie.<ref>Nadler, Holly. 'Flying Over Sunset' lifts off at the Vineyard Arts Project" Martha's Vineyard Times, September 2, 2015</ref> The musical premiered on Broadway at the Vivian Beaumont Theater on November 11, 2021 in previews with the official opening scheduled for December 13.<ref name="new">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The production was originally scheduled to open on April 16, 2020, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Lincoln Center Pushes to Fall 2020 BroadwayWorld, March 20, 2020</ref><ref>Clement, Olivia. "Carmen Cusack, Harry Hadden-Paton, and Tony Yazbeck to Lead Cast of New Broadway Musical 'Flying Over Sunset'", Playbill, August 20, 2019</ref>
In 1991, Lapine directed his first film, Impromptu, which has a screenplay by his wife, Sarah Kernochan. The story revolves around the romance of George Sand and Chopin, and stars Judy Davis and Hugh Grant.<ref name=pbs/><ref>Maslin, Janet. "Review/Film: Chopin, George Sand, Liszt and Some Others" The New York Times, April 12, 1991</ref> He followed with Life With Mikey, with Michael J. Fox for Disney. In 1993, he directed Passion, starring the original Broadway cast, for television. He directed the film version of Anne Tyler's novel Earthly Possessions, starring Susan Sarandon and Stephen Dorff, for HBO in 1999.<ref>Tynan, William (March 22, 1999). "Earthly Possessions". Time.</ref><ref>"Earthly Possessions Listing" InternetMovieDatabase. Retrieved March 10, 2011.</ref> He wrote the screenplay for Disney's film version of Into the Woods (2014), directed by Rob Marshall. He wrote and directed the film Custody in 2016 with Viola Davis, Hayden Panettiere, and Catalina Sandino Moreno.<ref>Gans, Andrew. "Raul Esparza, Viola Davis, Dan Fogler Cast in James Lapine Film 'Custody' " Playbill.com, April 30, 2015</ref>
Lapine received the 2015 Mr. Abbott Award at a special gala on October 19, 2015. The award is presented by the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation "in recognition of a lifetime of exceptional achievement in the theatre."<ref>"James lapine Receives Lifetime Achievement Award" americantheatre.org, September 30, 2015</ref><ref>Simoes, Monica. "Pics! Bernadette Peters, Andrew Rannells, Stephen Sondheim and More Honor James Lapine" Playbill, October 20, 2015</ref> Lapine's book Putting It Together: How Stephen Sondheim and I Created Sunday in the Park with George was released on August 3, 2021,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and reviewed by Alan Cumming in a cover story in the New York Times Book Review on August 8, 2021.
Personal life
Lapine is married to American screenwriter and director Sarah Kernochan.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=tcm>"Sarah Kernochan biography" TCM.com, accessed March 10, 2011</ref> The couple's daughter is food writer Phoebe Lapine.<ref name=tcm/> James Lapine's niece,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Sarna Lapine, directed the 2016 concert version and the 2017 Broadway revival of Sunday in the Park with George.
Theater
- As a director, Lapine has worked on:
- Photograph by Gertrude Stein (1977)
- Twelve Dreams (1978; 1981; 1995) – 1981 Public Theater<ref name=":0">"'Twelve Dreams' Listing, 1981" Template:Webarchive InternetOff-BroadwayDatabase.com, accessed March 10, 2011</ref>
- Table Settings (1979; 1980) – Playwrights Horizons<ref name=":1">Eder, Richard. "'Table Settings,' a Comedy Of a Modern Jewish Family; The Cast" The New York Times, March 24, 1979</ref><ref name=":2">"'Table Settings' Listing, 1979" Template:Webarchive InternetOff-BroadwayDatabase.com, accessed March 10, 2011</ref><ref name=":3">"'Table Settings' Listing, 1980" Template:Webarchive InternetOff-BroadwayDatabase.com, accessed March 10, 2011</ref>
- March of the Falsettos (1981) – composed by William Finn
- A Midsummer Night's Dream<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> (1982) – written by William Shakespeare
- Sunday in the Park with George (1984) – composed by Stephen Sondheim
- Merrily We Roll Along (1981, La Jolla Playhouse) – composed by Stephen Sondheim
- Into the Woods (1987; 1997; 2002) – composed by Stephen Sondheim
- The Winter's Tale (1989) – written by William Shakespeare
- Falsettoland (1990) – composed by William Finn
- Falsettos (1992; 2016) – composed by William Finn
- Passion (1994) – composed by Stephen Sondheim
- Luck, Pluck, and Virtue (1995) – La Jolla Playhouse and Atlantic Theatre Company<ref name="canby">Canby, Vincent. "Theater Review: A Morality Tale About Everybody's Fall Guy" The New York Times, April 5, 1995</ref>
- Golden Child (1996; 1998) – written by David Henry Hwang
- The Diary of Anne Frank (1997) – written by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, revised by Wendy Kesselman
- Der Glöckner von Notre Dame (1999, original Berlin version) – composed by Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz
- Dirty Blonde (2000) – written by Claudia Shear
- Amour (2002) – composed by Michel Legrand
- Fran's Bed (2003; 2005) – Long Wharf Theatre;<ref name=":4">Klein, Alvin. "Theater Review: She's Taken to Her Bed, But No One's Sure Why" The New York Times, November 9, 2003</ref> Playwrights Horizons<ref name=":5">"'Fran's Bed' Listing, 2005" Template:Webarchive InternetOff-BroadwayDatabase.com, accessed March 10, 2011</ref>
- Modern Orthodox (2004)
- The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (2005) – composed by William Finn
- King Lear (2007) – written by William Shakespeare
- Sondheim on Sondheim (2010) – musical revue of Stephen Sondheim work
- Little Miss Sunshine (2011, La Jolla Playhouse; 2013) – composed by William Finn<ref name="playbill.com"/>
- Annie (2012) – Music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Martin Charnin, and book by Thomas Meehan
- Act One (2014) – Broadway, Lincoln Center
- Mrs. Miller Does Her Thing (2016) – Signature Theatre (Virginia)<ref name=":6">"Mrs Miller Does Her Thing' media gallery, cast, and creative team, 2016" Sigtheatre.org, accessed March 6, 2016</ref>
- Flying Over Sunset (2021)
- Writer, musicals
He has written the libretti for the following musicals:
- Sunday in the Park with George – 1984
- Into the Woods – 1987
- Falsettoland – 1990
- Falsettos – 1992
- Passion – 1994
- Der Glöckner von Notre Dame – 1999 (original Berlin version)
- A New Brain (Off-Broadway) – 1999
- Little Miss Sunshine – 2011
- Flying Over Sunset – 2021
- Writer, plays
- Table Settings – 1979 and 1980 at Playwrights Horizons<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" />
- Twelve Dreams – 1978; 1981 Public Theater<ref name=":0" />
- Luck, Pluck, and Virtue – 1995, La Jolla Playhouse and Atlantic Theatre Company, both starring Neil Patrick Harris<ref name="canby" />
- The Moment When – 2000, Playwrights Horizons, featuring Mark Ruffalo and Phyllis Newman<ref>Weber, Bruce. As Life Fatefully Unspools at a Yada-Yada Cocktail Party" The New York Times, March 22, 2000</ref>
- Fran's Bed – 2003, Long Wharf Theatre, starring Mia Farrow;<ref name=":4" /> 2005 Playwrights Horizons<ref name=":5" />
- Act One – 2014, Broadway, Lincoln Center
- Mrs. Miller Does Her Thing – 2016, Signature Theatre (Virginia), featuring Debra Monk<ref name=":6" />
Film
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Impromptu | Director | |
| 1993 | Life with Mikey | Director | |
| 1999 | Earthly Possessions | Director | TV movie |
| 2013 | Six by Sondheim | Director | TV documentary |
| 2014 | Into the Woods | Screenplay | |
| 2016 | Custody | Director, screenplay | |
| 2022 | In the Company of Rose | Director, Cinematographer | Documentary |
Published works
- Putting It Together: How Stephen Sondheim and I Created Sunday in the Park with George (2021) Template:ISBN
Awards and nominations
Notes
References
- Haagensen, Erik J. (1994). "The Passion of James Lapine". Showmusic: The Musical Theatre Magazine. pp. 11–16.
- Secrest, Meryle (1999). Stephen Sondheim: A Life, Random House. Template:ISBN
External links
- Template:IBDB name
- Template:IMDb name
- Template:Iobdb name
- TonyAwards.com Interview with James Lapine
- Official Site of James Lapine
- James Lapine Papers. Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
Template:Navboxes Template:James Lapine Template:Authority control
- 1949 births
- 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights
- 20th-century American male writers
- 21st-century American dramatists and playwrights
- 21st-century American male writers
- American male dramatists and playwrights
- American male screenwriters
- American musical theatre directors
- American musical theatre librettists
- Broadway theatre directors
- California Institute of the Arts alumni
- Drama Desk Award winners
- Film directors from Connecticut
- Film directors from New York (state)
- Film directors from Ohio
- Franklin & Marshall College alumni
- Living people
- People from Mansfield, Ohio
- Pulitzer Prize for Drama winners
- Screenwriters from Connecticut
- Screenwriters from New York (state)
- Screenwriters from Ohio
- Tony Award winners
- Yaddo alumni
- Yale University faculty