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William Finn (born 28 February 1952) is an award-winning American composer and lyricist, especially of musicals.

Contents 1 Life 2 Work 3 Works 4 See also 5 External links

William Alan Finn was born in Boston, Massachusetts and grew up in Natick, Massachusetts with his father, his mother Barbara and siblings Michael and Nancy. He majored in music at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. He lives with his partner Arthur in New York City as an independent composer and writer and now serves as an "Adjunct Faculty Composer/Lyricist" at NYU.

Finn is a heavily autobiographical textwriter (he always writes his own lyrics); his topics are the gay and Jewish experience in contemporary America, and very often conflict, loyalty, family, belonging, sickness, healing, and loss.

Finn is especially well noted for his work on what was to become a trilogy of short musical shows off-broadway. In Trousers, March of the Falsettos, and Falsettoland all chronicle the lives of the character Marvin, his ex-wife Trina, his boyfriend Whizzer, his psychologist Mendel, and his son Jason. In Trousers shows Marvin confronting his homosexuality, and leaving Trina for Whizzer. March of the Falsettos follows Mendel as he falls in love with Trina, and Marvin grows closer to his estranged son. Falsettoland tells the story of Jason preparing for his Bar Mitzvah, as Whizzer succumbs to the then unknown disease AIDS, and Marvin grows to accept himself. The latter two shows were directed by James Lapine and starred Chip Zien (originally in the role of Marvin, but later as Mendel) and Michael Rupert.

With Lapine, William Finn would pen a musical loosely based on his near-death experience after brain surgery, exploring the role of music in his life and recovery. The musical's main character is a man who has what may be a terminal brain tumor. The show, called A New Brain, starred Malcolm Gets, Kristin Chenoweth, and Chip Zien and premiered at Lincoln Center. The UK premiere was at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2005.

Falsettos, the combination of the latter two parts of his Falsettos Trilogy, opened on Broadway at the John Golden Theater on April 29, 1992, and ran for 486 performances. It won the 1992 Tony Awards for Best Music and Lyrics and for Best Book, the latter shared with James Lapine. More recently, Finn scored another Broadway success with The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, for which he wrote both music and lyrics. The show won two Tony Awards in 2005; one for Best Book of a Musical, and another for the Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical, and toured the United States in 2006.

Two musical revues of Finn's music have been produced in the last decade. Infinite Joy, in which the composer played the piano and sang along with an all-star cast, contained several songs from shows that were unfinished, and some that were cut from previous shows. Elegies: A Song Cycle is a series of songs the composer wrote in memoriam of loved ones now gone, and in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks. A third musical revue, Make Me a Song, premiered at Hartford's Theaterworks in the summer of 2006 and is scheduled to open in the spring of 2007 off-Broadway.

He is currently working on the music and lyrics for a new show, The Royal Family of Broadway. The book is being written by Richard Greenberg. Jerry Zaks is slated to direct the piece. The Royal Family of Broadway is based on the play by George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber, which tells the story of a girl from a family of great Broadway actors who contemplates leaving show business and getting married.

Finn's most frequent collaborators include librettist James Lapine, director Graciela Daniele and singers Stephen Bogardus, Carolee Carmello, Stephen deRosa, Alison Fraser, Keith Byron Kirk, Norm Lewis, Michael Rupert, Mary Testa, and Chip Zien.

Works denoted with a double asterisk (**) were produced on Broadway.

• Music and lyrics for In Trousers (1979)
• Revised music and lyrics for In Trousers (1987)
• Music and lyrics for March of the Falsettos (1981)
• Music and lyrics for America Kicks Up Its Heels (1983)
• Lyrics for Dangerous Games (1989) **
• Music and lyrics for Romance in Hard Times (1989)
• Music and lyrics for Falsettoland (1990)
  • Drama Desk Awards for Outstanding Music and Outstanding Lyrics
• Music and lyrics (as well as book co-written with James Lapine) for Falsettos (1992, including March of the Falsettos and Falsettoland) **
  • Tony Award for Best Original Score, Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical
• Music and lyrics for the song "Scarlet Pimpernel" featured in the play The Sisters Rosensweig **
• Music and lyrics (as well as book co-written with James Lapine) for A New Brain (1998)
  • Drama Desk Nominations for Outstanding Music, Outstanding Lyrics, and Outstanding Book of a Musical
• Music and lyrics for the song "Painting" for Love's Fire (1998)
• Music and lyrics for Elegies (song cycle, 2003)
• Music and lyrics for The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (2004) **
  • Tony Nominations for Best Original Score, Drama Desk Nominations for Outstanding Music and Outstanding Lyrics

Other songs include "Mister, Make Me a Song", "Republicans", and "Hitchhiking Across America".

• List of notable brain tumor patients

• falsettos.net
• The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
• William Finn - Downstage Center interview at American Theatre Wing.org, December 2006
• William Finn at the Internet Broadway Database
• William Finn at the Internet Movie Database