October 1, 2009, 4:34 pm

Lapine on ‘Sondheim on Sondheim’

By Dave Itzkoff

Sara Krulwich/The New York Times James Lapine, who conceived and will direct the revue “Sondheim on Sondheim,” slated for a Broadway production in the spring.

How do you cram the entire career of Stephen Sondheim into a single show? James Lapine might have the answer, having collaborated with Mr. Sondheim on musicals like “Sunday in the Park With George,” “Into the Woods” and “Passion.” Mr. Lapine is also responsible for conceiving and directing “Sondheim on Sondheim,” a Broadway revue of Mr. Sondheim’s work that was announced on Thursday but has been long in the making.

Even before an embryonic version of the show that was being prepared at the Alliance Theater of Atlanta was canceled in February due to funding concerns, Mr. Lapine said Thursday in a telephone interview that the project had been in the works for “a couple of years at least.” “The plan was for it always to come to New York,” Mr. Lapine said, “but we’re just doing it straight on now.”

Asked if the musical would provide a straightforward retrospective on the work of Mr. Sondheim, who turns 80 in March, Mr. Lapine said, “Oh, I hope not. It’s not ‘American Masters.’” He added: “It’s a kind of impressionistic view of him that’s put together with pieces of archival footage and interview footage. It’s a collage of his life, in which who he is and how he got there comes in to focus.”

“Sondheim on Sondheim,” which is to start previews at Studio 54 in March, is expected to feature an eight-person cast, including Barbara Cook, Vanessa Williams, Leslie Kritzer and Michael Arden. Mr. Lapine said these performers would not be playing characters in Mr. Sondheim’s life or roles from his shows. “We’re not trying to have them be other than who they are,” he said. “It’s about interpretation and emotional points in the show itself.”

The music used in the show, Mr. Lapine said, “pretty much crosses the board, and has pretty much something from almost every show, if not every show. And a lot of songs that people are not familiar with — songs that have been cut, songs that have been written for other shows that never got done, songs that he wrote early in his life.”

Through the archival footage as well as new interviews currently being filmed, Mr. Lapine said, Mr. Sondheim would serve as the host of the show and talk directly to the audience, using about 64 plasma screens (which may explain those aforementioned budgetary concerns).

“We hope the interview stuff isn’t this boring, ‘And now we’ll turn on the video…’,” Mr. Lapine said. “We have a lot of images from his life, his house, his collection of games.”

Asked if “Sondheim on Sondheim” would include any segments about its subject’s well-known love of crossword puzzles, Mr. Lapine said: “Would you like one? I could probably work something out. I guess I might as well just ask everybody what they want now and then I can just work it in.”