James Lapine

b. 10 January 1949, Mansfield, Ohio, USA. After training as a graphic designer, Lapine worked in New York in various capacities with off-Broadway shows. This was from the late 70s and in 1981 he collaborated, as librettist, with composer-lyricist William Finn on a one-act musical, March Of The Falsettoes. Owing to the unexpected success of this story of a family man coming to terms with his homosexuality, Lapine collaborated with Stephen Sondheim on Sunday In The Park With George (1984), which brought Finn and Sondheim a joint Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Their next collaboration, Into The Woods (1987), was also very successful, winning a Tony Award for Best Book. In 1990 Lapine resumed his partnership with Finn, returning to the same premise with another one act musical, Falsettoland. Two years later, with the two plays now together as a single entity entitled Falsettoes, they opened it on Broadway and Lapine again won a Tony for Best Book. His third Tony came for another collaboration with Sondheim, Passion (1994). During the 90s, Lapine was also active in films, directing Impromptu (1991) and Life With Mikey (1993). In the theatre, he has directed both non-musical and musical productions. Among the former are a Broadway revival of The Diary Of Anne Frank (1997), Golden Child (1998), and Dirty Blonde (2000). The latter include a revival of Into The Woods (2002) and that same year Michel Legrand’s Amour.