Story/Teller Arts: Putting It Together with James Lapine and Anna Deavere Smith

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Tuesday, 7:00 pm EDT April 12, 2022

Online via Zoom & at
The Center for Fiction*

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This event will take place as scheduled.

In-person* tickets include a $20 bookstore voucher, redeemable toward the featured event book on the night of the event. All registrants will receive a link to livestream the event.

The Center for Fiction welcomes two of the most influential American theatre-makers, James Lapine and Anna Deavere Smith, for a conversation on craft and collaboration. James Lapine (Sunday in the Park with George, Into the Woods), three-time Tony award winning librettist, director, playwright, and screenwriter chronicles a two-year odyssey of creation in his book, Putting It Together: How Stephen Sondheim and I Created “Sunday in the Park with George,” with a treasure trove of conversations between Lapine, Sondheim, and the production team, personal photographs, sketches, script notes, and sheet music. Obie-Winning playwright and actress Anna Deavere Smith (Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992, Fires in the Mirror) pioneered the art form of “verbatim theatre,” and has used theatre and film to reveal the effects of inequality and discord on American communities.

Lapine and Smith will join us to discuss a new theatrical collaboration, Putting it Together, and the art of interview-based storytelling. A book signing with Lapine will follow the event.

*Proof of vaccination is required to attend this event in person. Mask wearing is also required throughout the building. Accepted vaccination proofs include:

  • CDC vaccination card (or an image of it)
  • Excelsior Pass or Excelsior Pass Plus (or a printout of it)
  • A record of vaccination from the healthcare provider who administered your vaccine

Anyone 5 and older is required to show proof of two vaccine doses or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Anyone 18 and older must also present a government issued photo ID.

If you remain unvaccinated because of a disability or sincerely held religious belief, please contact us at [email protected] for assistance or to request a reasonable accommodation.

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In Conversation

  • James Lapine preferred author photo, courtesy of the author (2) (1) - Eliana Cohen-Orth

    James Lapine

    James Lapine

    James Lapine is a preeminent director, playwright, screenwriter, and librettist. He is the recipient of three Tony Awards for Best Book of a Musical (Passion, Falsettos, Into the Woods), as well as nine Tony Award nominations, five Drama Desk Awards, a Pulitzer Prize in Drama, and a Peabody Award, among other honors. He has also been inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame and is a recipient of the Mr. Abbott Award for lifetime achievement in theater.

  • Headshot for 2018 - Eliana Cohen-Orth

    Anna Deavere Smith

    Anna Deavere Smith

    Anna Deavere Smith is an actress, teacher, playwright, and the creator of the acclaimed On the Road series of one-woman plays, which are based on her interviews with diverse voices from communities in crisis. A recipient of the National Humanities Medal from President Obama and two Obie Awards, her work also been nominated for a Pulitzer and two Tonys. On screen, she has appeared in many films and television shows, including Philadelphia, The West Wing, Black-ish, and Nurse Jackie. She is University Professor in the department of Art & Public Policy at NYU, where she also directs the Institute on the Arts and Civic Dialogue. In 2019, she was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Featured Book

  1. . 
    9780374200091_FC - Eliana Cohen-Orth

    Putting It Together: How Stephen Sondheim and I Created "Sunday in the Park with George"

    By James Lapine

    Published by FSG

    PURCHASE

    A behind-the-scenes look at the making of the iconic musical Sunday in the Park with George, Putting It Together chronicles the two-year odyssey of creating the iconic Broadway musical Sunday in the Park with George. In 1984, James Lapine, then a fledgling playwright and director, met Stephen Sondheim, already a legendary Broadway composer, and the two decided to turn Georges Seurat’s masterwork Sunday on the Island of La Grand Jatte into a musical.

    Through Lapine’s recollections, conversations between Lapine, Sondheim, and the original cast and crew of the production, and a treasure trove of personal photographs, sketches, script notes, and sheet music from the making of the show, the two Broadway icons lift the curtain on their beloved musical. Putting It Together delves deep into the making of Sunday in the Park with George and the story of how a Broadway icon went off-Broadway with a neophyte nineteen years his junior to create a Pulitzer Prize– and Tony Award–winning smash hit.

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