| This study is the documentation of the career of James Lapine as a contemporary playwright, librettist, and director. It is intended as an extension of existing critical understanding of Lapine's intriguing theatre. Lapine's fifteen theatre productions from his directorial debut in 1977 through to 1995, have been examined in order to establish the significance of his work in new directions in the American theatre. The productions are as follows: Photograph, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Merrily We Roll Along (revival), The Winter's Tale, with Lapine as director: Table Settings . Twelve Dreams (two mountings), Luck, Pluck & Virtue (two mountings), with Lapine as playwright-director; Sunday in the Park with George, Into the Woods, Passion, with Lapine as librettist-director in collaboration with Stephen Sondheim; and March of the Falsettos, Falsettoland, Falsettos, with Lapine as librettist-director in collaboration with William Finn.;The study begins with a presentation of Lapine's biographical background, including his initial career in graphic design and his subsequent work in the theatre. Throughout the study, research materials obtained from published sources have been supplemented by interviews in the quest for a greater understanding of Lapine's development of each theatre work. In addition to Lapine, the interview subjects were nineteen associates with whom he has worked on a recurring basis: composers William Finn, Allen Shawn, and Stephen Sondheim; actors Stephen Bogardus, Barbara Bryne, Heather MacRae, Marin Mazzie, Donna Murphy, Bernadette Peters, John Rubinstein, Barbara Walsh, and Chip Zien; designers Heidi Ettinger, Martin Pakledinaz, Dan Moses Schreier, and Tony Straiges; Lincoln Center Theater's artistic director Andre Bishop, and past director of musical theater, Ira Weitzman; and president of Jujamcyn Theaters, Rocco Landesman. |
