James Lapine News

Cindy Adams writes in today's New York Post that James Lapine will executive produce a documentary on Broadway legend Stephen Sondheim. The film, due out next year, will include 'material is on Sondheim's life, fresh interviews he's not given before, videos and new versions of his songs.'

A 25th anniversary production of the imaginative, fractured-fairy tale musical 'Into the Woods' by James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim will be staged at the theater where Sondheim was an apprentice in 1950, Westport Country Playhouse, in Westport, CT, through May 26. Directed by Mark Lamos, The Playhouse's artistic director, the musical will open the historic theater's 82nd season. It is co-produced with Baltimore's CENTERSTAGE.

Paul Gross, one of Canada's acclaimed actors, leads the cast of Are You There, McPhee? a world premiere by John Guare at McCarter Theatre Center. Directed by Sam Buntrock, the production runs tonight, May 4 through June 3, 2012. (Opening Night: Friday, May 11.)

Westport Country Playhouse will present "LGBT Night OUT," for members of the gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender communities and allies, beginning tonight, May 3, and continuing on selected Thursdays throughout the 2012 season.

Queen City Theatre Company (2010 Theatre Company of the Year) presents the regional premiere of the musical PASSION. This highly anticipated production marks the closing of the company's 5th season in Charlotte, NC and will run from tonight, May 3rd until May 19th at the Duke Energy Theatre.

Erin Cummings, star of TV's 'Spartacus' and 'Pan Am,' attended SILENCE! The Musical at P.S. 122 this past Friday, April 27th, joining a long list of luminaries who have turned up in the audience at the hit show over the past few months including Jodie Foster, Neil Simon, James Earl Jones, Kelly Ripa, Josh Groban, Lisa Lampanelli, Jonathan Demme, Matt Bomer (twice!), Joan Rivers, Chita Rivera, Jeremy Jordan, Stephen Schwartz, John Kander, James Lapine, Jonathan Groff, Justin Kirk, Corbin Bleu, Mario Cantone, David LaChapelle, Andrew Keenan-Bolger, TR Knight, Willie Garson, Seth Rudetsky, Steven Pasquale, John Rando, Telly Leung, Christian Campbell, John McDaniel, Eden Espinosa, Charlotte d'Amboise, Carol Woods, Anika Larsen, and Anthony Heald.

Friday evenings at Westport Country Playhouse will offer two special programs this season: $25 tickets to make theater more accessible for early-career and younger patrons; and childcare to enable parents to enjoy a night out.

Tony Award-winning director John Rando attended SILENCE! The Musical at P.S. 122 on April 19th, joining a long list of luminaries who have turned up in the audience at the hit show over the past few months including Jodie Foster, Neil Simon, James Earl Jones, Kelly Ripa, Josh Groban, Lisa Lampanelli, Jonathan Demme, Matt Bomer, Joan Rivers, Chita Rivera, Jeremy Jordan, Stephen Schwartz, John Kander, James Lapine, Jonathan Groff, Justin Kirk, Corbin Bleu, Mario Cantone, David LaChapelle, Andrew Keenan-Bolger, TR Knight, Willie Garson, Seth Rudetsky, Steven Pasquale, Telly Leung, Christian Campbell, John McDaniel, Eden Espinosa, Charlotte d'Amboise, Carol Woods, Anika Larsen, and Anthony Heald. See the photo below!

The tale of Little Orphan Annie will come to life at the Glendale Centre Theatre in Glendale, CA for 30 performances May 17 through June 30, 2012. Concurrent with Annie celebrating its 35th anniversary this year as America's most beloved musical, the Glendale Centre Theatre (GCT) also celebrates its 65 th year as the oldest, continuously operating theatre in the United States.

Today in 2005, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee opened at the Circle in the Square Theatre, where it ran for 1136 performances. The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is a one act musical comedy conceived by Rebecca Feldman with music and lyrics by William Finn, a book by Rachel Sheinkin and additional material by Jay Reiss. The show centers on a fictional spelling bee set in a geographically ambiguous Putnam Valley Middle School. Six quirky adolescents compete in the Bee, run by three equally-quirky grown-ups. The 2005 Broadway production, directed by James Lapine, was nominated for six Tony Awards, winning two, including Best Book. The show has spawned various other productions in the U.S., including a national tour with performances in Canada, and Australian productions.

Today in 2002, the first Broadway revival of Into the Woods opened at the Broadhurst Theatre, where it ran for 279 performances. Into the Woods is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. It debuted in San Diego at the Old Globe Theatre in 1986, and premiered on Broadway in 1987. Into the Woods won several Tony Awards, including Best Score, Best Book, and Best Actress in a Musical (Joanna Gleason), in a year dominated by The Phantom of the Opera. The main characters are taken from the stories of Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, Rapunzel, and Cinderella, tied together by a more original story involving a baker and his wife and their quest to begin a family, most likely taken from the original story of Rapunzel by the Brothers Grimm.

Check out what's playing in Cleveland and Akron for the month of May!

Today we are talking to one of the biggest new stars on Broadway who first burst onto the scene in HAIRSPRAY but has since carved out a place in the great pantheon of theatre history in creating the iconic lead role of Elder Price in the Broadway hit of the decade, THE BOOK OF MORMON, Andrew Rannells. One among many on the incredibly impressive list of performers at Monday night's NY Pops JOURNEY ON gala at Carnegie Hall celebrating the music and lyrics of Lynn Ahrens & Stephen Flaherty, Rannells joins many of the other accomplished Broadway/Hollywood crossover stars of modern Broadway as well as those who predominantly tread the boards. Illustrating his journey with the edgy and ribald musical smash THE BOOK OF MORMOM from workshop to Broadway, the Tony Awards and beyond, Rannells paints the picture of the show's road to success and imparts his effervescent enthusiasm and all too apparent joy to be appearing in such a crowd-pleasing and joyous experience eight times a week. Additionally, Rannells shares his thoughts on the upcoming national tour starring Gavin Creel and whether or not there will be a MORMON film version sooner rather than later. Plus, Rannells gives also us the first look at his 21st century parenting and adoption-themed NBC pilot, THE NEW NORMAL, and outlines the finer points of the story, his character and the themes of the hotly anticipated new single-camera comedy series coming from the creator of GLEE, Ryan Murphy. That, his favorite Ahrens & Flaherty songs, favorite shows, future acting plans, what is currently on his iPod - all of that and much, much more!

After a multi-city coast-to-coast search that spanned nine months and over 5,000 auditions, ANNIE has found its Annie! Eleven-year-old Lilla Crawford will play the title role in the new production of the classic Tony Award®-winning Broadway musical, opening Fall, 2012 at a Nederlander theatre to be announced. The announcement was made on this morning's TODAY show on NBC.

Playwrights Horizons has announced initial details for its 2012 special online Auction in connection with its annual Spring Gala.

Today we are talking to a Broadway superstar beloved from the time of her breakthrough performance in the original cast of Stephen Sondheim's PASSION nearly twenty years ago all the way to two tremendous revivals in the early 00s - KISS ME, KATE and MAN OF LA MANCHA - to her most recent trio of roles on Broadway, first appearing in the straight drama ENRON, then as the troubled lead character of Diana in the Pulitzer Prize-winning NEXT TO NORMAL, and, most recently, as the tortured Margaret White in the long-awaited New York return of CARRIE - the one and only Marin Mazzie. Recalling many memories of working on the original productions of such seminal musicals as INTO THE WOODS, PASSION, RAGTIME, SPAMALOT and NEXT TO NORMAL with some of Broadway's best and brightest talents, Mazzie expresses her sincere appreciation for the unforgettable shows she has been associated with and opens up about her experiences as both an originator of a role, as in the cases of PASSION and RAGTIME, and also as a replacement star and the challenges that that position poses for a performer. Additionally, Mazzie shares her enthusiasm for the words and music of the Tony Award-winning RAGTIME creators Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, whom she will be saluting alongside a starry assortment of notables on Monday at the NY Pops JOURNEY ON Gala at Carnegie Hall. Plus, Mazzie clues us in on all aspects of her journey with the recent New York reworking and reappraisal of CARRIE and gives us first news on recording the cast album, which is set for a Fall release, as well as news on her second duets album with husband, Jason Danieley and solo album thoughts. All of that and much, much more!

After a multi-city coast-to-coast search that spanned nine months and over 5,000 auditions, ANNIE has found its Annie! Eleven-year-old Lilla Crawford will play the title role in the new production of the classic Tony Award®-winning Broadway musical, opening Fall, 2012 at a Nederlander theatre to be announced. The production will be directed by three-time Tony Award® winner James Lapine and choreographed by Tony Award winner Andy Blankenbuehler.

The producers of the Off-Broadway smash SILENCE! The Musical, launched an exciting new website today, April 26th. At the newly revamped and redesigned SilenceTheMusical.com, visitors will now find loads of reviews and updated news about the show, in addition to constantly changing interactive features. There's a direct link to the SilenceTheMusicalNYC YouTube Channel, as well as to their Facebook page and Twitter feed. Click here to check it out.

Spend an unforgettable evening commemorating the life and works of Tony Award-winning composer-lyricist Stephen Sondheim, as PlayhouseSquare and Great Lakes Theater present the musical SONDHEIM ON SONDHEIM, May 16 - July 8 at the Hanna Theatre at PlayhouseSquare. The production is a part of both the KeyBank Broadway Series at PlayhouseSquare and the 50th Anniversary Season of Great Lakes Theater.

Tune in to NBC's "Today" show on Friday, April 27 at 9:30 AM (ET) to find out who will be playing the title role in the eagerly anticipated new production of the Tony Award-winning classic musical, opening in Fall, 2012 on Broadway at a Nederlander theatre to be announced.