Who was William Finn? Tony-winning composer of Falsettos dies at 73

The theatre world suffered a devastating loss with the death of award-winning composer and lyricist William Finn. The news of Finn’s death was reported on April 8 by several outlets via his literary agent, Ron Gwiazda, who confirmed the intrepid musician’s unfortunate demise. It has been reported by Deadline that while Finn was in a lengthy battle with an undisclosed illness, an official cause of death has not been released. He was 73.

Who was William Finn

Finn was best known for his work on the 1992 musical Falsettos and 2005’s The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. William made his mark on the industry as a two-time Tony Award winner for Best Book and Best Original Score, emanating from his work on the AIDS-themed Falsettos.

He was born in 1952 in Natick, Massachusetts, and raised in a conservative Jewish household. Interestingly, Finn’s most successful work came when he chose to tackle themes of sexual orientation, which required a lot of courage as he grew up in an era where his homosexual identity was more taboo and less openly understood and accepted, especially when compared to today’s climate.

Overall, Finn is credited with writing the lyrics or book for four Broadway musicals. While he began to see an uptick in recognition for his work in the 1990s, the written content was formed for a lot of his work in the 1970s, demonstrating that Finn was clearly ahead of his time.

1992’s Falsettos remains his magnum opus and was a blend of two separate storylines conceived by Finn. Its original Broadway run lasted 486 performances and closed in June 1993. It received a total of seven Tony nominations. Years later a revival of Finn’s work that starred Andrew Rannells and Christian Borle ran between October 2016 and January 2017 and received five nominations at the Tonys.

In 1998, Finn wrote A New Brain, which premiered Off Broadway. According to The New York Times, it was based on his sufferings arising out of arteriovenous malformation, which required a surgery in 1992.

He told The New York Times in 1998:

"The littlest things used to bother me. I'd stand at the elevator and curse it.”

Finn continued:

Trending

"I would curse the conversation at the elevator. Now I thought: 'Everything's wonderful. The elevator's taking its own time, and don't rush it.' Nothing irritated me. I was dancing around the city."

The effervescent composer also worked as a composer for television and movies. Finn is survived by his partner, Arthur Salvadore.

×

Was this article helpful?

Thank You for feedback