Claybourne Elder, Brynn O'Malley, Debra Monk, and More Will Help Honor James Lapine

Several Broadway performers will help honor Tony and Pulitzer Prize winner James Lapine, who is set to receive the Signature Theatre's Stephen Sondheim Award, to be presented at a ceremony at the Embassy of Italy on April 15. The Sondheim Award Gala benefits the Virginia-based theater's artistic, education, and community programs.

The evening will feature performances by Tony and Emmy winner Debra Monk (Curtains), as well as Brynn O'Malley, Claybourne Elder, and Donna Migliaccio, who all starred in Signature's recent production of Sunday in the Park With George. The evening will also feature performances by Christopher Bloch, Austin Colby, Erin Driscoll, Susan Derry, Emily Dey, William Diggle, Maria Egler, Jimmy Mavrikes, Bob McDonald, Amy McWilliams, Angela Miller, Christopher Mueller, Gannon O’Brien, Paul Scanlan, Stephanie Waters, and Bayla Whitten.

Lapine's collaboration with Sondheim began in 1984 when they penned Sunday in the Park With George and continued with Into the Woods in 1987 and Passion in 1994. Along with writing the book, Lapine also directed all three productions, which were subsequently taped for television broadcast and home video release. Lapine created the 2010 revue Sondheim on Sondheim, as well as coproduced and directed the Emmy-nominated HBO documentary Six by Sondheim.

The Stephen Sondheim Award was created in 2010 to recognize the importance of Sondheim's work to Signature and to theater in general. Past recipients include Sondheim musical veterans Angela Lansbury, Bernadette Peters, Patti LuPone, director Harold Prince, and orchestrator Jonathan Tunick.