Make Me A Song: The Music of William Finn

A Sunday night delight! Not so much a musical as it was a musical review. The evening consisted of a single 90 minute act of non-stop singing by 4 super talented actors - Sandy Binion, DB Bonds, Adam Heller, Sally Wilfert - all accompanied by Darren R. Cohen on the Piano.

The musical selection was broad - from all aspects of William Finn's repertoire - which included, of course, a Falsetto's Suite, but interestingly enough, nothing from Spelling Bee. Surprisingly, (to me anyway) William Finn wrote quite a few songs for shows that never quite happened. I was also intrigued at the fact that most of his melodies are fluffy and rhyme filled but have deceptively deep lyrics and meaning. The man behind the curtain put a lot of thought into what he was writing. It struck me when leaving that i somehow wished i had heard more of his songs in the shows he intended. One thing's for sure - I will definitely go see Falsettos the next time it comes around.

Following along the program, the audience was able to read a little blurb about each song - it's origin or meaning or little known fact or two. My favorites included Change (a double entendre about "coins for the poor" and "a desire to improve life"); Stupid Things I Won't Do (it was written for Elaine Stritch); and Mister, Make Me A Song (unbenounced to Mandy Patinkin, it was written for him).

Set Those Sails for the New World Stages and enjoy the Music of William Finn. He's always on stage watching over you!