LACHMAN SET TO SOUND THE SONDHEIM ‘WHISTLE’

Ron Lachman is counting on his law practice to help his theater producing--and vice versa.

“I have a cast of 30 people who will someday have car accidents or need wills,� he said mischievously. “On the other hand, I had to put together contracts, partnership agreements. The problem with a lot of producers is that there’s not a melding of the businessman and the creative person. I happen to be both.�

The project that has attracted Lachman’s pocketbook and heart is Stephen Sondheim’s often-overlooked musical, “Anyone Can Whistle� (opening tonight at the Dupree Studio Theatre), which premiered on Broadway in 1964--and closed after nine performances.

“It was offbeat and kooky, and audiences obviously wanted something more traditional. Also, the show has some messages in it. It makes fun of the government. And it talks about who’s crazy and who’s not--which always makes people uncomfortable.�

Loosely, the plot concerns a town that’s going bankrupt, a wicked mayor and a phony miracle rock spurting rejuvenating water a la Lourdes.

“It’s got the elements of a circus,� said the locally born Lachman. “Four musicians, 30 performers--singers, dancers, actors, and combinations of all three. But we’ve got some of the best people in town.�

At 31, Lachman’s move to producing is fairly recent (his first effort, “Trouble in Tahiti,� played at the Skylight in March), prompted by a decision in 1982 to quit a lawyer’s office and become a theatrical producer in New York.

“People kept saying, ‘You’re from Hollywood and you want to produce theater? Well, I love theater. I love picking the shows, putting them together. And the other thing about theater: You can go every night and it’s your show, you helped create it.

“I’d gone to New York hoping to come in as an apprentice to someone. They’d get my legal services and legal mind at a low fee--and I could learn their business. Of course, there isn’t such a position. There’s producers . . . and there’s office boys/copywriters.

“I realized if I was going to be a producer, I was just going to have to do it--and if I was going to do it, New York was the wrong place--just to put on a show there costs 10 times as much as here.

“So I came back.�

It’s been two years since he first settled on the decision to do “Whistle� (because “It has a lot of audience appeal, it’s showy, it’s Sondheim--and it’s never been seen�), during which time he’s joined seasoned producer Josh Schiowitz, gone through a couple of prospective theaters, directors, actors--and raised his money (“the really hellish part�).

Now most of his work is done: “I really don’t have that much to do anymore. All the people I hired are doing their jobs. These are show people, you know. So there’s always ego, and drama--not enough time, not enough money.�

Regardless of the pressures, it’s clearly where Lachman wants to be. “I’ve closed my law office till the 15th,� he said happily. “I can do that since I work for myself. I don’t work 60-hour weeks, I’m not rich. But it’s a fine trade-off.�

Ultimately he hopes the law practice will fade, making room for some lofty goals: “There aren’t a lot of producers coming up, especially in theater. I’d like to be (the next) David Merrick.�