Have you ever dreamed of winning a Tony Award? Did you ever practice your Tony acceptance speech in the bathroom mirror? Did you grow up watching the Tony Awards every year ? Do you have a collection of Tony Award shows on VHS tape that you refuse to throw out?This is the podcast for you. Every week actress and podcast host Ilana Levine interviews your favorite Tony Award winners and together they go down memory lane as guests share intimate and never before shared details about their Tony experience.You will hear their reactions as they listen to their Tony speech again and feel like you are reliving the experience with them. Tears are shed- laughs are shared and it is a rare glimpse into what it really is to sit in Radio City and hear your name called and all the emotion and relief that comes with that rare moment where fantasy and reality come together and the thing you have wished for your whole life has just come true and suddenly you have to walk down an aisle and step up on that stage and try to put into words how much this award means to you...
https://broadwaypodcastnetwork.com/podcast/and-the-tony-goes-to/
episode 20: James Lapine (Passion - 1994)
James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim wrote three shows together - Sunday In The Park with George , Into The Woods and Passion. In this episode of And The Award Goes To, Lapine shared what made working with Sondheim so incredible. He admits that when he first met Sondheim he was relatively new to the theater and he describes Sondheim as the person who schooled him in musical theater . "Working with Steve was fun. He is smart, fun, droll and keeps you on your toes but.. he is the most loyal friend you could have.”
The original workshop of Passion was just 60 audience members in a small theater and the intensity and daringness of the workshop was really embraced. Then Sondheim and Lapine got to work on bringing it to Broadway and at the first dress rehearsal they found that the audience was laughing at Fosca which was not their intention. They began to work on creating the show they wanted without dumbing it down and found a way to make Fosca a sympathetic character rather than a comedic one. Clearly they succeeded because the show won the Tony award for best musical, best book of a musical , best original score and Donna Murphy won the Tony for best actress.
This episode explores the relationship between the great James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim who together made American musical theater history.
Hosted by Ilana Levine, Produced by Alan Seales, part of the Broadway Podcast Network.
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