Make Me A Song - The Music of William Finn

THE MUSIC OF
WILLIAM FINN

Conceived by
Rob Ruggiero
Directed by
Andrew MacBean

With
Louise Dearman
Frances Ruffelle
Gareth Snook
Simon Thomas
Sally Ann Triplett
Ian H Watkins

Musical Director
Matthew Brind
Production Designer
Ben M Rogers
Costume Designer
Claire Bilyard
Sound Designer
Gareth Owen for Orbital Sound

Gareth Snook, Simon Thomas, Frances Ruffelle and Ian H Watkins

New York Reviews

13/11/2007The New York Post

Few theater composers write songs that seem as nakedly confessional as William Finn's. The man behind the music of "March of the Falsettos," "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" and more is now getting the revue treatment via "Make Me a Song: The Music of William Finn," which opened last night at New World Stages.

The evening highlights both Finn's strengths and his weaknesses. Although his melodies aren't particularly memorable - I've seen nearly all of his works, but I'd be hard-pressed to hum a single tune - he's a wonderful lyricist, combining complex emotional depth and robust humor to superb effect. Look no further than the song "Passover," summed up as "This feast of no yeast."

Conceived and directed by Rob Ruggiero, the intimate revue takes the usual grab-bag approach, presenting two dozen numbers from throughout the composer's career.

Most will, no doubt, be unfamiliar to all but aficionados, with the exception being a beautifully performed suite of songs from the "Falsettos" trilogy, chronicling the lives of Marvin and his menage - his wife and son, his male lover and their shrink.

Not everything works. Finn's propensity for excessive self-reflection, for instance, is illustrated in "You're Even Better Than You Think You Are." The song "Republicans" consists of an increasingly tired series of musical one-liners. And songs like "Stupid Things I Won't Do," culled from a never-produced musical version of "The Royal Family," are ineffective when taken out of context.

But the hits far outweigh the misses, and they are well performed by the four-singer ensemble.

Each performer has individual strengths: D.B. Bonds brings a sweet directness to such numbers as "I Went Fishing With My Dad," Adam Heller conveys a Randy Newman-style acerbity in "Republicans," Sandy Binion infuses such ruminations as "All Fall Down" with a bitter edge, and Sandy Wilfert brings a touchingly plaintive quality to the evening's emotional showstopper, "Anytime (I Am There)."

The cabaret-style show is a decidedly no-frills affair, with the only visual touch being a neon portrait of the composer and the musical accompaniment provided by a sole pianist on a movable platform.

But despite its modesty, this is an evening dedicated musical theater fans will not want to miss.