Review by Ron Fassler . . .
William Finn was a composer and lyricist of remarkable versatility. His death in April of 2025, at age seventy-three, was especially sad because he was still working at the time. Though he had been besieged by ill health, nothing could stop him from expressing his creativity. Finn had an easy-to-imitate gruff voice and a glowering presence, and the top-quality troupe of actor-singers who gathered to pay tribute to him at the Kaufman Music Center’s Merkin Hall on Monday night did some hilarious impressions of him while entertaining us with songs and anecdotes. Titled Finn Land, the concert was hosted by the Center’s director of musical theatre, Sean Hartley. These “Broadway Up Close” concerts have been a mainstay for nearly thirty years, and Hartley’s fondness for Finn’s prodigious output was evident. Most of the performers had personal connections to Finn, and some allowed their feelings about his loss to permeate their chosen songs. Nothing wrong with that.
Finn’s most famous compositions are his two off-Broadway musicals March of the Falsettos (1981) and Falsettoland (1990). The two plus-sized one-acts were then merged into Falsettos, which premiered on Broadway in 1992 and won Tonys for Finn’s score and James Lapine’s book. Among those representing songs from the score were Christian Borle, who starred in the 2016 Broadway revival as its central character, Marvin (Lapine repeated his direction). Heather MacRae and Carolee Carmello, cast members from the 1990 version, joined Borle and Colin Hanlon in “Unlikely Lovers,” a Falsettos’ quartet of unparalleled heart from. And Mary Testa performing “Order” from Jocks, a song from one of Finn’s earliest musicals, was a special treat. Testa was in the original cast of In Trousers (1979), the first Finn musical to feature the character of Marvin. It was that sort of evening.
Throughout the show, Vadim Feichtner, one of the many students Finn mentored throughout his tenure as a teacher at NYU, provided the piano accompaniment. His top-drawer musicianship was on display throughout the more than dozen songs on the program. He even sang a bit himself, performing “I Do I Do I Do” from Finn’s Elegies, which was well represented by five numbers. Other standouts included Michael Winther’s rendition of “And They’re Off” from A New Brain (1998), Demond Green’s “I’d Rather Be Sailing” (also from A New Brain), and especially “Practice the Piano” from Finn’s final work, Once Every Hundred Years: A Song Cycle, a pandemic musical he wrote during the Covid crisis with another mentee, Danny Ursetti. Jeff Blumenkrantz, a wonderful songwriter himself, positively killed with his rendition.
Of course, it was a couple of old pros who remain forever young like Liz Callaway and Barbara Walsh who provided tremendous depth of emotion in their songs. Walsh sang “Holding to the Ground,” Trina’s marvelous solo from Falsettos that helped earn her a Tony nomination as Best Featured Actress in a Musical. Callaway sang “Infinite Joy” to close out the night, a song that is among Finn’s most personal:
I see the world through your eyes
I taste lemon on my lips
I marvel at the sailing ships
Of well-dressed girls and boys
And life
Life
Has infinite joys.
Sally Wilfert was another significant contributor, singing two songs. And Matthew Scott and Zachary Noah Piser (currently starring in Maybe Happy Ending) lent fine renditions of songs from Songs of Innocence and Experience and Once Every Hundred Years, respectively. A choral trio consisting of Niko Charney, Meredith Layne Hungerford, and Kate Murray lent fine assistance to a trio of songs.
All in all, Finn Land offered an evening of song in loving tribute to a composer/lyricist worth remembering by people who knew him best. If you’re unfamiliar with his work, look up William Finn and give a listen. You’ll be a better person for it.
Finn Land was presented as part of the “Broadway Up Close” series at Kaufman Music Center’s Merkin Hall, 129 W 67th Street, NYC. For information on future programing, please click here.
Photos courtesy of Kaufman Music Center.
Headline photo: Christian Borle and Sally Wilfert.
