Source: Associated Press
Date: November 13, 2007
Byline: Julie Reed

William Finn Finds His Voice

NEW YORK (AP) — "Sit down and have a ball," instructs the first number in the revue "Make Me a Song: The Music of William Finn"_ easy advice to follow in this sweet, funny and moving show.

Finn, the lyricist and composer behind Tony Award winners "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" and "Falsettos," is a gifted songwriter and his intelligent and compassionate music is well-served by a stellar cast of four (Sandy Binion, D.B. Bonds, Adam Heller, Sally Wilfer) and a skilled singing musical director/pianist (Darren R. Cohen).

Some of his wittiest compositions are highlighted in the first few selections, performed by the whole company; among them "Billy's Law of Genetics," which holds that "bad traits will always predominate" and wonders, "Why is the smart son always the gay son?" and "Passover," which celebrates "the feast of no yeast."

Several numbers from "March of the Falsettos" and "Falsettoland" make up a "Falsettos Suite," and Finn's identity as both gay and Jewish is a common thread weaving many of these songs together. In "The Baseball Game," a small set of bleachers is rolled out on the bare stage and the cast, clad in sunglasses and hats, sings the hilarious opening line, set to a bouncy and percussive tune: "We're watching Jewish boys who can't play baseball play baseball."

The song is followed by the melancholy "Unlikely Lovers," in which two sets of couples vow to "be scared together." Director Rob Ruggiero (a frequent Finn collaborator) has arranged all the songs to contrast beautifully with each other. This is true for the suite and for the show itself as well — there is an effortless pattern and flow to the production at off-Broadway's New World Stages thanks to Ruggiero's polished direction.

All the voices blend in gorgeous harmony in the many group arrangements — especially in "Unlikely Lovers," "Change" and the charming "You're Even Better Than You Think You Are." The song was taken from a show called "Songs of Innocence and Experience," written for Finn's alma mater, Williams College, in Williamstown, Mass.

Each cast member is also given his or her moment to shine. Sally Wilfert's honeyed soprano is best showcased in "I Have Found" and the heartrending "Anytime (I Am There)," a dead mother's reassurance to the child she's left behind. Sandy Binion's brassier tone is wonderfully suited to "Only One," dedicated to an amalgam of Finn's teachers, and to the Kurt Weill-like "All Fall Down."

Adam Heller shows off his comic chops in "Republicans" (a running gag that never fails to lighten the mood), and turns in a passionate and agonizing performance in "When the Earth Stopped Turning," written after the death of Finn's beloved mother. D.B. Bonds shows his facility for storytelling with "Hitchhiking Across America" and "I Went Fishing With My Dad."

Finn also makes his presence felt visually throughout the show — as a glowing blue neon portrait hovering over the proceedings like a benevolent god. The set design, by Luke Hegel-Cantarella, is quite spare.

Other than the Finn picture, there are just a few chairs and stools, some bare light bulbs hanging in a group and a green showerlike curtain that is pulled back at different times. The focus is on the pianist, Cohen, whose Steinway grand is raised on a bright green circular platform on wheels, enabling the actors to rotate the piano at different times in the show. Costuming (by Alejo Vietti) is equally informal — striped shirts, jeans, and chinos predominate — contributing to the intimate, cabaretlike atmosphere.

Finn's songs are the best combination of "heart and music" — never overtly manipulative, just genuine expressions of emotion, simply told. The revue is just as honest, moving and eloquent as the man himself.