Lapine was born on January 10, 1949, inMansfield, Ohio, the son of Lillian (Feld) and David Sanford Lapine.[1][2] He graduated fromFranklin and Marshall College in 1971.[3] Though he did not actively pursue theatre in childhood, Lapine did play Jack in an elementary school production ofJack and the Beanstalk.[4]
In 1982, Lapine was introduced to Stephen Sondheim.[9] The pair developedSunday in the Park with George: Lapine wrote the book and directed; Sondheim created the music and lyrics. The play was first producedOff-Broadway in 1983,[10][11] and moved toBroadway in 1984.[9] Their next musical wasInto the Woods, which premiered on Broadway in 1987,[12] for which Lapine won the Tony Award and theDrama Desk Award for Best Book of a Musical. They next collaborated on the musicalPassion, for which Lapine wrote the book and directed. The musical ran on Broadway in 1994 and in theWest End in 1996, receiving a nomination for theOlivier Award for Best New Musical, and winning theTony Award for Best Musical and theTony Award for Best Book of a Musical, among other awards and nominations.[13][14][15] Their last collaboration was the revueSondheim on Sondheim. Presented on Broadway in 2010, it won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical Revue.[16][17]
In 1992, Lapine returned to working with William Finn, and wrote the book and directed the Broadway musicalFalsettos. Lapine wrote the book and Finn composed the music forA New Brain, which premiered Off-Broadway in 1998.[18] They later worked together on Finn's musicalThe 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, which premieredOff-Broadway in 2005 and later moved to Broadway. TheNew York Times reviewer wrote of theSpelling Bee Broadway transfer that "Mr. Lapine has sharpened all the musical's elements without betraying its appealing modesty."[19] The latest Finn-Lapine work isLittle Miss Sunshine, which premiered in 2011 at theLa Jolla Playhouse in California.[20]
Lapine has also directed dramas, includingDirty Blonde, which ran Off-Broadway and then on Broadway in 2000. Conceived byClaudia Shear and Lapine and written by Shear with direction by Lapine,Ben Brantley called Lapine's direction "stylish and compassionate".[21] Lapine was nominated for the Tony Award and Drama Desk Award for Best Direction of a Play.[22]
Lapine directed the 2012 Broadway revival ofAnnie.[23] He wrote a stage adaption of theMoss Hart autobiographyAct One, which premiered on Broadway at the Lincoln CenterVivian Beaumont Theater in April 2014.[24]
Lapine wrote the book for and directed the new musicalFlying Over Sunset. A staged singing/reading was presented at the Vineyard Arts Project (Martha's Vineyard) in August 2015. The composer isTom Kitt and lyrics are byMichael Korie.[25] The musical premiered on Broadway at theVivian Beaumont Theater on November 11, 2021 in previews with the official opening scheduled for December 13.[26][27] The production was originally scheduled to open on April 16, 2020, but was postponed due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[28][29][30]
Lapine received the 2015 Mr. Abbott Award at a special gala on October 19, 2015. The award is presented by theStage Directors and Choreographers Foundation "in recognition of a lifetime of exceptional achievement in the theatre."[35][36] Lapine's bookPutting It Together: How Stephen Sondheim and I Created Sunday in the Park with George was released on August 3, 2021,[37] and reviewed byAlan Cumming in a cover story in theNew York Times Book Review on August 8, 2021.
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