Lonny Price has always been ambitious. As a thirteen year old growing up in New Jersey, Price wrote a letter to Stephen Sondheim, thanking the composer/lyricist for nourishing him and inspiring his interest in musical theater.

Today, that seed of inspiration has grown into an impressive and acclaimed body of work as an actor, producer, writer and director. Price sat down with me during a break in rehearsals for his current directing/producing project, SONDHEIM: The Birthday Concert, a two-night extravaganza honoring the 80th birthday of the man to whom he wrote that first letter 38 years ago. He recalled it as if it were yesterday:

"Steve wrote back," said Price. "The mistake," he added with a grin, "was putting his return address on it."

So Price kept writing. And started phoning. And Sondheim kept answering.

"I don't think he liked getting the calls," Price admitted, "But he never said to stop calling." This was happening while Sondheim and director Hal Prince were producing many of the most revered works in the history of musical theater, including Company, Follies, and A Little Night Music. 

Price's correspondence with Sondheim became a working relationship when he was hired, while still in high school, as a production assistant on Pacific Overtures in 1975. Although the job may not have been glamorous, it gave Price a chance to witness the process of putting together a Broadway musical, demonstrated by some of the industry's greatest talents.

"They were at the top of their form," Price said. 

The next time Price worked on a Sondheim musical, he was no longer fetching coffee or running errands. In 1981, with performing arts high school just a few years behind him, Price made his Broadway debut as Charley Kringas in Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along.  Although Merrily only ran for 16 performances, it marked a major step in Price's acting career, which went on to include film, television, and originating another role on Broadway: as Hallie in Athol Fugard's seminal MASTER HAROLD...And the Boys.

But acting wasn't all Price was interested in. He found success as a director, producer, and writer, often taking on more than one role at a time. 2001's A Class Act exemplifies this spirit. Price directed, starred in, and co-wrote the book for this musical about composer Edward Kleban. A Class Act was nominated for five Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Price, along with his co-writer Linda Kline, was nominated in the Best Book of a Musical category.

SONDHEIM: The Birthday Concert is another such hyphenated effort. Although Price is not performing any numbers from Merrily this week, he did take on the role of producer, and has written transitions - with host David Hyde Pierce - that will tie together numbers in the two-hour show. As the director, he is tasked with double duty: directing the stage show while simultaneously directing the television broadcast, which will air on PBS' Great Performances sometime this fall. I asked him how he approaches directing for two different media at the same time.

"We're putting the stage first. We want to illustrate the intent of the song, and support the orchestration," Price told me. "The TV part is about covering the stage show." In order to cover it, multiple cameras will be recording both performances on March 15 and 16. That footage will be put together to make up the broadcast show.

Tickets to the event have been sold out for quite a while, so the PBS airing will be the only chance for many to see some major musical theater talent share the stage. In addition to emcee Pierce, the performers include Bernadette Peters, Patti LuPone, Mandy Patinkin, and Elaine Stritch. Assembling such a cast, for any other occasion, would have been a huge feat.

"Nobody said no," Price said. "We are all united in our appreciation. This is my favorite music in the world."

Price was only eleven when his grandmother took him to the original production of Sondheim's Company. It wasn't the show they'd set out to see, but their first choice, Applause (A musical version of All About Eve) was sold out. The ticketing agent recommended Company, a meditation on married life and dating, complete with pot smoking and an onstage sex scene, because he'd heard it was "good for kids."

"I don't know, but it was good for this kid," He said. Price felt a "crazy connection" to the material. "The music! It felt like the music of my soul." It's this connection that seems to be sustaining Price through the busy process of putting the concert together.

Price has been working on this project in some capacity since last June, but the show has been in full rehearsal mode for less than five days. Many performers have only had a single rehearsal. And no one seems harried. Busy, yes. But there is a palpable sense of purpose in the rehearsal room as details are ironed out. There are numbers to be re-staged, script changes to be copied, and, of course, coffees to be fetched. But everyone is in high spirits, and they all seem to be singing, humming, or whistling a Sondheim tune.

"Everyone feels beholden," Price said. "You can approach this music at every age, and your appreciation grows. You bring your life to it."

Price hopes that audience members will feel the same way. "As cheesy as it sounds," he said, "I hope there's a kid out there that is moved in the same way that I was."

And what about the guest of honor? What does Price want him to take away from the evening?

"I hope Steve has a good time. This is a gift to say, 'Thank you for inspiring me.'"