Make Me a Song: The Music of William Finn is a tribute in the form of a revue, typically performed by a small group of singers and a pianist. Showcasing more than twenty songs from the repertoire of writer and composer, William Finn, this is a compilation of Finn's finest. Selected by Rob Ruggiero, Make Me a Song includes distinctive, often hilarious and emotional songs from Finn's career, spanning more than 25 years.
Make Me a Song is constructed in three parts. The first section showcases Finn's range of styles and his storytelling abilities. The second part is a "Falsetto Suite," concentrating on songs from that series, and the final section culminates in four carefully selected songs that form what Rob Ruggiero calls "Finn's Cycle of Life." The following is the order of the songs as they are presented in performance:
"Heart and Music"
"Hitchhiking across America"
"Republicans, Part 1"
"Billy's Law-of-Genetics"
"Passover"
"Only One"
"Republicans, Part 2"
"I'd Rather Be Sailing / Set Those Sails"
"Change"
"I Have Found"
"Republicans, Part 3"
"You're Even Better Than You Think You Are"
"Falsettoland Suite: Four Jews in a Room Bitching"
"Falsettoland Suite: Tight-knit Family / Love Is Blind"
"Falsettoland Suite: Trina's Song / March of the Falsettos"
"Falsettoland Suite: Year of the Child"
"Falsettoland Suite: The Baseball Game"
"Falsettoland Suite: Something Bad Is Happening"
"Falsettoland Suite: Falsetto Coda"
"All Fall Down"
"Republicans, Part 4"
"Stupid Things I Won't Do"
"That's Enough for Me"
"I Went Fishing with My Dad"
"When the Earth Stopped Turning"
"Anytime (I Am There)"
"Song of Innocence and Experience"
"Bows / Heart and Music – Reprise"
Man 1
Characters range from a gay Democratic politician to a pessimistic cynic and a man who has recently lost a loved female from his life.
Gender: male
Vocal range top: F#4
Vocal range bottom: F2
Man 2
Characters range from a gay hitchhiker who recently discovered love, to a man who reminisces on good times fishing with his father.
Gender: male
Vocal range top: A4
Vocal range bottom: Bb2
Woman 1
Characters range from a Jewish woman relishing the thought of a Passover feast to a woman who longs to comfort a loved one far, far away.
Gender: female
Vocal range top: G3
Vocal range bottom: F3
Woman 2
Character range from a wishful Professor to a woman who has experienced severe financial woes throughout her life.
Gender: female
Vocal range top: G5
Vocal range bottom: G3
Pianist
Provides accompaniment for the show and joins in from time to time to comment on or aid in the storytelling.
Gender: male
Vocal range top: F4
Vocal range bottom: F2
Inspiration
Make Me a Song is a revue that features the music of Tony-winning composer, William Finn (A New Brain, Falsettos, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee). Two song cycles of the composer had been released previously (Infinite Joy and Elegies: A Song Cycle). However, Make Me a Song is the first to be conceived by someone other than Finn; it was put together by Rob Ruggiero, a Connecticut-based theatre director.
Ruggiero constructed the revue in three parts: the first part is sort of a pastiche of the various styles of Bill Finn's music and storytelling, the second part is the "Falsetto Suite" and the third part is the emotional center of the piece, including a section called "Finn's Cycle of Life."
Productions
Rob Ruggiero mounted the premiere of Make Me a Song at the Hartford theatre company, Theatreworks (where he served as associate artistic director), in the summer of 2006. The musical then moved to New York City for an Off-Broadway run at New World Stages, playing from October 30, 2007, to January 6, 2008, with 54 performances under its belt. Shortly thereafter, Make Me a Song moved across the pond to the New Players Theatre in London, where it ran from March 6, to April 6, 2008.
Trivia
- The licensing for Make Me a Song includes casting for the original production: two male singers, two female singers, and a pianist who also sang. However, in London, the musical expanded its casting to three male singers, three female singers and a pianist who was much less of a performer.
"The songwriter is notably irascible, but this songfest should leave him tickled. In a word, it's Finntastic. ...Equal parts hope, joy, spring and laughter is what we get in this uproarious and moving soundscape of the world as seen by William Finn."
– Variety
"A treat for fans of Finn's music or those just being introduced to the composer/lyricist. ...Includes joyous songs about love, humorous takes politics and songwriting, and touching remembrances of family and loved ones who have died. ...[Finn] marries intelligent, tender and witty lyrics with delightfully interesting melodies and beautiful harmonies. Mr. Ruggiero has chosen strong material that showcases the composer and his songs in an entertaining collection."
– Talkin' Broadway
"A carefully constructed... production that gives Finn's rich material its due. ...Nobody on Broadway writes with so much unabashed passion. ...What truly distinguishes this revue is the chance to hear some lesser-known Finn songs. Yes, some of the composer's best known songs are missing from the revue, but it's the mark of this composer's output that everything here is worthy of inclusion."
– TheaterMania
"William Finn is the Walt Whitman of show tunes: a stubbornly unique composer and lyricist whose vibrant, idiosyncratic voice – always personal but rarely merely so – finds potential for transcendence amid the haphazard zigs and zags of the everyday. ...Witty, wistful, jaunty, sad, neurotic and brave all at once: Such are the contradictory impulses that animate Finn's work. He contains multitudes and, in his own offbeat way, he's one of the musical-theater greats."
– TimeOut New York
"Make Me a Song is funny, touching and full of tunes that will be stuck in your head the next morning. But as light-hearted as the show is, it examines life as it is, not just as we'd like it to be."
– Isthmus
Inspiration
Make Me a Song is a revue that features the music of Tony-winning composer, William Finn (A New Brain, Falsettos, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee). Two song cycles of the composer had been released previously (Infinite Joy and Elegies: A Song Cycle). However, Make Me a Song is the first to be conceived by someone other than Finn; it was put together by Rob Ruggiero, a Connecticut-based theatre director.
Ruggiero constructed the revue in three parts: the first part is sort of a pastiche of the various styles of Bill Finn's music and storytelling, the second part is the "Falsetto Suite" and the third part is the emotional center of the piece, including a section called "Finn's Cycle of Life."
Productions
Rob Ruggiero mounted the premiere of Make Me a Song at the Hartford theatre company, Theatreworks (where he served as associate artistic director), in the summer of 2006. The musical then moved to New York City for an Off-Broadway run at New World Stages, playing from October 30, 2007, to January 6, 2008, with 54 performances under its belt. Shortly thereafter, Make Me a Song moved across the pond to the New Players Theatre in London, where it ran from March 6, to April 6, 2008.
Trivia
- The licensing for Make Me a Song includes casting for the original production: two male singers, two female singers, and a pianist who also sang. However, in London, the musical expanded its casting to three male singers, three female singers and a pianist who was much less of a performer.
"The songwriter is notably irascible, but this songfest should leave him tickled. In a word, it's Finntastic. ...Equal parts hope, joy, spring and laughter is what we get in this uproarious and moving soundscape of the world as seen by William Finn."
– Variety
"A treat for fans of Finn's music or those just being introduced to the composer/lyricist. ...Includes joyous songs about love, humorous takes politics and songwriting, and touching remembrances of family and loved ones who have died. ...[Finn] marries intelligent, tender and witty lyrics with delightfully interesting melodies and beautiful harmonies. Mr. Ruggiero has chosen strong material that showcases the composer and his songs in an entertaining collection."
– Talkin' Broadway
"A carefully constructed... production that gives Finn's rich material its due. ...Nobody on Broadway writes with so much unabashed passion. ...What truly distinguishes this revue is the chance to hear some lesser-known Finn songs. Yes, some of the composer's best known songs are missing from the revue, but it's the mark of this composer's output that everything here is worthy of inclusion."
– TheaterMania
"William Finn is the Walt Whitman of show tunes: a stubbornly unique composer and lyricist whose vibrant, idiosyncratic voice – always personal but rarely merely so – finds potential for transcendence amid the haphazard zigs and zags of the everyday. ...Witty, wistful, jaunty, sad, neurotic and brave all at once: Such are the contradictory impulses that animate Finn's work. He contains multitudes and, in his own offbeat way, he's one of the musical-theater greats."
– TimeOut New York
"Make Me a Song is funny, touching and full of tunes that will be stuck in your head the next morning. But as light-hearted as the show is, it examines life as it is, not just as we'd like it to be."
– Isthmus
Billing
Requirements
Video Warning
The videotaping or other video or audio recording of this production is strictly prohibitedIncluded Materials
| Resource | Quantity |
|---|---|
| LIBRETTO/VOCAL BOOK | 10 |
| PIANO VOCAL SCORE | 2 |
