Tag Archives: James Lapine

Mar 23

Time to shut the door. Just- no more.: “Into the Woods” at Emerson Colonial Theatre

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(L to R) Stephanie J. Block and Sebastian Arcelus
Credit: Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade

Presented by Emerson Colonial Theatre
A New York City Center Encores Production
Music & Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book by James Lapine
Directed by Lear deBessonet
Music directed by John Bell
Choreographed by Lorin Latarro
Music Supervisor: Rob Berman
Puppet design by James Ortiz

March 21 – April 2, 2023
Emerson Colonial Theatre
106 Boylston Street
Boston, MA 02116
Playbill

Review by Kitty Drexel

BOSTON, Mass. — The Broadway production of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Tony-winning musical Into the Woods is on tour and is now performing at the Emerson Colonial Theatre through April 2. Broadway stars reprising their roles are Montego Glover as The Witch, Stephanie J. Block as The Baker’s Wife, Sebastian Arcelus as The Baker and Gavin Creel as Cinderella’s Prince/Wolf. Lear deBessonet directs this New York City Center Encores Production. John Bell music directs; Lorin Latarro choreographs; the puppet design is by James Ortiz. 

Boston audiences saw Into the Woods grace the regional stage via the Lyric Stage Company’s 2014 production. It was directed by our own Spiro Veloudos and music directed by Catherine Stornetta. It coincided with the release of the Disney movie in movie theatres that year. The 2023 touring production has the same magic and pizzaz but on a much larger scale.  Continue reading →

Sep 05

Geeks Review Books: “Putting It Together: How Stephen Sondheim and I Created ‘Sunday in the Park with George'”

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Putting It Together: How Stephen Sondheim and I Created “Sunday in the Park with George”
By James Lapine
Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux
https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374200091
Hardcover/e-Book
$40.00
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ISBN: 9780374200091
416 Pages

Review by Kitty Drexel

BOSTON, Mass. — The world is on fire right now: Texas has nearly outlawed abortion access. The women and girls of Afghanistan are being systematically stripped of their human rights as the world watches. There is still a pandemic and not nearly enough people are getting vaccinated. People in Louisiana don’t have electric power. The West Coast is experiencing a severe drought. The people of Haiti are still recovering from a devastating earthquake on August 14. But, we’re still expected to behave like everything is okay. Things aren’t okay. 

I made a promise to post a book review in exchange for a copy of Putting It Together: How Stephen Sondheim and I Created “Sunday in the Park with George.”  It was difficult to read this book. It isn’t the book’s fault that extenuating circumstances made focus of any kind difficult. August was a difficult month. The book itself is great. 

Putting It Together: How Stephen Sondheim and I Created “Sunday in the Park with George” is a book by writer and director James Lapine on the genesis and exegesis of creating the famous musical with Stephen Sondheim about the paining “Un dimanche après-midi à l’Ile de la Grande Jatte” by Georges Seurat.  Continue reading →

Sep 23

Dabs of Drama on a White Stage: “Sunday in the Park with George”

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The cast; Photo: Paul Marotta

The cast; Photo: Paul Marotta

Presented by the Huntington Theatre Company
Music & lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book by James Lapine
Directed by Peter DuBois
Music directed by Eric Stern
Choreographed by Daniel Pelzig
Orchestrations and new chromolume music by Michael Starobin

Sept. 9 – Oct. 16, 2016
BU THEATRE/ AVENUE OF THE ARTS
264 Huntington Avenue
Boston MA 02115
Huntington on Facebook

Review by Kitty Drexel

(Boston, MA) Sunday in the Park with George (SitPwG) is a Sondheim/Lapine musical not frequently performed. That’s probably because it’s not nearly exciting as his more popular shows. Yet, It behooves the hundreds of area artists to go see it for their own personal education. Theatre advocates and appreciators should attend because it simply gorgeous across the board. The Huntington gives us a fine production. Continue reading →

Jan 26

Manni on “Sondheim on Sondheim”

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Photo credit: Mark S. Howard

Photo credit: Mark S. Howard

Presented by Lyric Stage Company of Boston
Music & Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Conceived by James Lapine

Directed by Spiro Veloudos
Musical Direction by Jonathan Goldberg
Choreography by Ilyse Robbins

January 15-February 21, 2016
Lyric Stage on Facebook

Review by Travis Manni

(Boston, MA) Stephen Sondheim is a widely cherished American lyricist and composer of countless musicals. His resume is both expansive and impressive, so a man named James Lapine decided to create a biographical show that incorporated musical numbers interspersed with videos of Sondheim talking about his life and influences, and it was ok I guess. Continue reading →

May 16

Right is Better Than Nice: INTO THE WOODS

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Photo by Mark S. Howard. The cast; kicking ass and taking names in The Woods.

 

Presented by Lyric Stage Company of Boston
Music & lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book by James Lapine
Directed & staged by Spiro Veloudos
Music directed by Catherine Stornetta

May 9 – June 15, 2014
140 Clarendon Street
Boston, MA 02116
The Lyric on Facebook

Review by Kitty Drexel

(Boston) Into the Woods is a tough nut to crack. On the one hand, it’s a classic and butts will fill seats faster than Satan fills a church on Sunday. On the other, it’s a classic and everyone who loves this show will have an opinion that they swear it’s the only legit one because they saw that Broadway performance that one time… on DVD. The Lyric Stage Co’s production is good but not good enough to silence the naysayers (the lines to the bathrooms were all atwitter with sarcasm). The audience community of Boston is protective of their favorite shows. This one falls under the blanket of shows that the community will fight for to the death (of their subscription). Continue reading →

Mar 14

Moonbox Productions presents A NEW BRAIN

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Moonbox Productions presents
William Finn and James Lapine’s
Hilarious, Engaging and Uplifting Musical
A NEW BRAIN

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Directed by Allison Choat
Music Direction by Dan Rodriguez

March 15 – April 6, 2013
BCA Plaza Theatre
530 Tremont Street
Boston, MA
Moonbox Production’s Facebook Page

 A musical based on the actual life experience of composer William Finn. This engaging and fast-paced musical by the author of Falsettos and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee recounts the life-changing experience of fictional composer, Gordon Schwinn.  Barely enduring a frustrating job working on a children’s TV show, Gordon suffers a sudden life-threatening brain disorder which sends him into emergency surgery.  The tumultuous, comical and surreal ordeal that engulfs Gordon and those closest to him — his mother, partner and publicist — teaches everyone, especially Gordon, something profound about what is truly important in life, and in love.

Approximate Running Time: 1 hour, 45 minutes with no intermission. Continue reading →

Dec 03

Book Review: “The Director’s Voice, Volume 2”

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The Director’s Voice: Volume 2
edited by Jason Loewith
TCG Books (Theare Communications Group)
Cover design by Mark Melnick
$22.00
www.tcg.org

Forward by Arthur Bartow, “The Director’s Voice”

Introduction by Jason Loewith, dramaturg, producer, playwright, director and Executive Director of the National New Play Network.

Includes interviews with Ping Chong, Anne Bogart, Julie Taymor, Mary Zimmerman, Michael Kahn and James Lapine, and many others.

Review by Kitty Drexel

Jason Loewith is filling some rather large shoes by editing and compiling the follow-up to Arthur Bartow’s “The Director’s Voice.” Loewith assures his audience that this second book is not a sequel but a continuation of the conversation started by the first. In it, he seeks to guide readers to a greater understanding of the director’s role as theater maker, actor ameliorator and money spender. Continue reading →