William Finn

William Finn (* 28 February 1952), Tony-winning American composer, especially of musicals.

Work

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, and loss. In spite of this, Finn's lyrics are usually hilarious, especially in his use of language games that are reminiscent of Edward Albee. The most similar musical composer to Finn is Stephen Sondheim.

Related Topics:
Autobiographical - Gay - Jew - Language game - Edward Albee - Stephen Sondheim

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Finn's greatest commercial success so far has been Falsettos, which 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.

Related Topics:
Falsettos - Broadway - James Lapine

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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.

Related Topics:
Librettist - James Lapine - Director - Graciela Daniele - Singers - Stephen Bogardus - Carolee Carmello - Stephen deRosa - Alison Fraser - Keith Byron Kirk - Norm Lewis - Michael Rupert - Mary Testa - Chip Zien

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