NEW YORK: The Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation (SDCF) has announced that director and playwright James Lapine will be honored with the 2015 Mr. Abbott Award at a special gala on Oct. 19. The award, named for renowned director George Abbott (Damn Yankees!, Fiorello), is presented in recognition of a lifetime of exceptional achievement in the theatre.

“There is a great energy gathering around honoring James Lapine with the Mr. Abbott Award and that is a testament to who he is both as an artist and as a human being,” said SDCF board president Susan Schulman in a statement. “James continues to influence a vast cross-section of artists, whether he has worked with them directly or simply been, through his profound body of work, a model for theatremaking.”

Throughout his 40-year career, James Lapine has written and directed a number of Broadway musicals, most notably as the director and book writer for Stephen Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park with George, Into the Woods, and Passion. Lapine has also received three Tony Awards, five Drama Desks, a Peabody, the Pulitzer Prize, and an OBIE.

The gala, held at Manhattan’s Stage 48, will be hosted by Tony Award-nominee Andrew Rannells, with special performances from Bernadette Peters, Christine Ebersole, Christian Borle, and Marin Mazzie.