His association with Stephen Sondheim began with the workshop of "Assassins." in 1989. In 1999, he appeared with Victor Garber in the workshop of "Wise Guys" (later retitled "Road Show"). His collaboration with Sondheim continued when Lane revised the original book for and starred in the Broadway debut of the composer's "The Frogs" at Lincoln Center in 2004. The Sondheim song, "Little Dream," in the film "The Birdcage," for which Lane received his first Golden Globe nomination"," was supposedly written especially for him. The film, an American remake of the classic French farce "La Cage aux Folles", was directed by Mike Nichols with a screenplay by Elaine May, and starred Robin Williams, Lane, and Gene Hackman, and went on to be a big success. This was followed by the dark comedy "Mouse Hunt", one of the first films to come out of the newly formed DreamWorks Studios, in which he co-starred with British comedian Lee Evans and Christopher Walken. It was also the feature film debut of Gore Verbinski, who later went on to direct "Pirates of the Caribbean".