''Make Me a Song'' is a

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own duri ...

, with lyrics and music by

William Finn William Alan Finn (born February 28, 1952) is an American composer and lyricist. He is best known for his musicals, which include ''Falsettos'', for which he won the 1992 Tony Awards for Best Original Score and Best Book of a Musical, ''A New Br ...

, which was conceived by Rob Ruggiero in 2006. The revue includes songs from Finn's musicals ''

In Trousers ''In Trousers'' is a musical, which premiered Off-Broadway in 1979, with book, music and lyrics by William Finn. It is the first in a trilogy of musicals, followed by ''March of the Falsettos'' and then ''Falsettoland''. Concept The one-act musi ...

'', ''

Falsettos ''Falsettos'' is a sung-through musical with a book by William Finn and James Lapine, and music and lyrics by Finn. The musical consists of ''March of the Falsettos'' (1981) and ''Falsettoland'' (1990), the last two installments in a trio of on ...

'', ''

A New Brain ''A New Brain'' is a musical with music and lyrics by William Finn and book by Finn and James Lapine. Though many of Finn's previous musicals were to some extent autobiographical, ''A New Brain'' dealt directly with his own harrowing experience ...

'', '' Elegies: A Song Cycle'' and ''

Romance in Hard Times ''Romance in Hard Times'' is a musical by William Finn. It ran briefly Off-Broadway in 1989 at the Public Theater. Productions An earlier version of the same show, '' America Kicks Up Its Heels'', received two staged readings from Playwrights Hor ...

'', songs written for ''The Royal Family of Broadway'' and ''Songs of Innocence and Experience'', musicals that were never professionally produced, and other unpublished songs, notably the title song. There is no dialogue or plot connecting the songs.Jones, Kenneth
"Make Me a Song, Finn's Revue of 'Heart and Music', Opens in NYC"
''Playbill'', November 12, 2007, accessed February 11, 2018

Productions

''Make Me a Song'' premiered in April 2006 as a regional production at

Hartford Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

's TheaterWorks, where Rob Ruggiero, who conceived of and directed the show, served as associate artistic director. The cast featured four singers: Sandy Binion, Joe Cassidy, Adam Heller and Sally Wilfert, as well as an on-stage singing pianist, John DiPinto. A transfer to the

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

Zipper Theater was announced for April that year, but was cancelled because of scheduling issues. Instead, the off-Broadway production premiered on November 12, 2007, at

New World Stages New World Stages is a five-theater, Off-Broadway performing arts complex in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It is between 49th and 50th Streets beneath the plaza of the Worldwide Plaza complex at Eighth Avenue. ...

; the show was cut down to 90 minutes and played without an intermission. Binion, Heller and Wilfert reprised their roles in the updated production, joined by D. B. Bonds and Darren R. Cohen as the pianist. The off-Broadway run lasted 55 performances before closing on December 30, 2007. A London production ran from March 6 to April 6, 2008 at the New Players Theatre, directed by Andrew MacBean. The cast included

Louise Dearman Louise Dearman (born 13 March 1979) is a British actress and singer, perhaps best known for playing Glinda and Elphaba in the West End production of the musical ''Wicked.'' Notably, she is the only actress to have played both witches in any produ ...

Sally Ann Triplett Sally Ann Triplett (born 15 April 1962, London, England) is a British singer and actress. She participated in two editions of the Eurovision Song Contest and West End productions. Career Triplett first represented the United Kingdom in the Eu ...

Frances Ruffelle Frances Ruffelle (born 29 August 1965) is an English musical theatre actress and singer. She won a Tony Award in 1987, and represented the United Kingdom in the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest with the song " Lonely Symphony (We Will Be Free)", f ...

, Simon Thomas and

Ian "H" Watkins Ian Watkins (born 8 May 1976), known by his stage name as H, is a Welsh singer and actor. He is known as a member of the British pop group Steps. In 2020, he competed in the twelfth series of '' Dancing on Ice''. Career Steps In May 1997, W ...

Song List

*"Make Me a Song" – Adam (written for

Mandy Patinkin Mandel Bruce Patinkin (; born November 30, 1952) is an American actor and singer, known for his work in musical theatre, television and film. He is a critically acclaimed Broadway performer, having received three Tony Award nominations, winning ...

for a proposed concert of Finn's songs, but never performed) *"Heart and Music" (from ''

'') – Company *"Hitchhiking Across America" – D. B. (written for an unfinished musical) *"Republicans Part 1" (previously unpublished song written in the 80's or 90's) – Adam *"Billy's Law of Genetics" (new arrangement of "Gordo's Law of Genetics" from ''A New Brain'') – D. B. & Company *"Passover" (from '' Elegies: A Song Cycle'') – Sally *"Only One" (from ''Elegies'') – Sandy *"Republicans Part 2" – Adam *"I'd Rather Be Sailing/Set Those Sails" (from ''A New Brain'' and ''

'' respectively) – D. B. & Sally *"Change" (from ''A New Brain'') – Sandy & Company *"I Have Found" (written for ''The Royal Family of Broadway'') – Sally *"Republicans Part 3" – Adam *"You're Even Better Than You Think You Are" (written for ''Songs of Innocence and Experience'') – Company *"Falsettos Suite: Four Jews in a Room Bitching/A Tight-Knit Family/Love Is Blind/My Father Is a Homo/Trina's Song/March of the Falsettos/The Year of the Child/The Baseball Game/Unlikely Lovers/Falsettoland" (new arrangement of songs from ''

'') – Company *"All Fall Down" (from ''

'') – Sandy *"Republicans Part 4" – Adam *"Stupid Things I Won't Do" (written for ''The Royal Family of Broadway'') – Adam *"That's Enough for Me" (from ''Romance in Hard Times'') – Sandy *"I Went Fishing With My Dad" (written while writing ''Songs of Innocence and Experience'') – D.B. *"When the Earth Stopped Turning" (from ''Elegies'') – Adam *"Anytime (I Am There)" (from '' Infinite Joy'') – Sally *"Song of Innocence and Experience" (written for ''Songs of Innocence and Experience'') – Company *"Finale" – Company ''Notes:'' "Heart and Music" and "Billy's Law of Genetics" were arranged by

Jason Robert Brown Jason Robert Brown (born June 20, 1970) is an American musical theatre composer, lyricist, and playwright. Brown's music sensibility fuses pop-rock stylings with theatrical lyrics. He is the recipient of three Tony Awards for his work on ''Parad ...

; "Hitchhiking Across America" was arranged by Vadim Feichtner; "I'd Rather Be Sailing/Set Those Sails" was arranged by Darren Cohen and Carmel Dean; "Change" was arranged by Michael Morris; "You're Even Better Than You Think You Are" and "Falsettos Suite" were arranged by

Michael Starobin Michael Starobin (born January 25, 1956) is an orchestrator, conductor, composer, arranger, and musical director, primarily for the stage, film and television. He won Tony Awards for the orchestrations of '' Assassins'' (2004) and ''Next to No ...

, Carmel Dean and Michael Morris; and "I Went Fishing With My Dad" and "Song of Innocence and Experience" were arranged by Carmel Dean. All the other songs used the original arrangements.

Recording

An original cast recording of the off-Broadway cast was released on April 29, 2008, by

Ghostlight Records Sh-K-Boom Records is an independent record label and producer of recorded and live entertainment, which was founded in 2000 by Kurt Deutsch with the mission of bridging the gap between pop music and theater. In 2004 Sh-K-Boom created their second ...

. The double disc set includes live recordings of every song in the revue, liner notes written by theatre writer

Steven Suskin Steven Suskin is an American theater critic and historian of musical theater. He is a member emeritus of the New York Drama Critics' Circle The New York Drama Critics' Circle is made up of 22 drama critics from daily newspapers, magazines and wi ...

, and a bonus track of William Finn singing "Mister, Make Me a Song," which was played from a recording to open the show before transitioning into Heller's live rendition. Suskin, Steven.
"On the Record: Finn's ''Make Me a Song'', Plus Studio Discs of ''South Pacific'' and ''Kiss Me, Kate''"
''Playbill'', April 28, 2008, accessed February 12, 2018

Awards and nominations

References

{{William Finn Off-Broadway musicals Revues 2007 musicals Musicals by William Finn