JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Tony Award-winning composer and lyricist William Finn died in Vermont on Monday from lung disease. He was 73 years old. Best known for "Falsettos" and "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee," Finn wrote highly idiosyncratic musicals with inventive wordplay. Jeff Lunden offers this appreciation.
JEFF LUNDEN, BYLINE: William Finn had been toiling in off-Broadway obscurity until 1981, when "March Of The Falsettos" got rave reviews. It told the story of a neurotic New Yorker named Marvin, who leaves his wife and son for a man.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "FOUR JEWS IN A ROOM BITCHING")
UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL GROUP #1: (As characters, singing) We're the mad, we're often mad, too often mad, we're very mad, but we're the mad experimenters. Call us four Jews itching for answers.
LUNDEN: Not yet 30, William Finn's career was launched.
JAMES LAPINE: He was sui generis and nobody like him, never met anybody like him.
LUNDEN: Director and writer James Lapine collaborated with Finn several times, including on "March Of The Falsettos" and its sequel, "Falsettoland," which dealt with the AIDS crisis. The shows were combined in 1992 into "Falsettos," and both men won Tony Awards.
LAPINE: He wrote very stream of consciousness, but he was a brilliant guy. And he shaped his material in an interesting way.
LUNDEN: William Finn said he shared a lot of characteristics with the sometimes abrasive character of Marvin.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
WILLIAM FINN: I didn't realize what a fart he was till I saw it on stage. And when I was writing him, I thought he was unbelievably charming, as I am. I'm not that easy.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "I NEVER WANTED TO LOVE YOU")
UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL ARTIST #1: (As Marvin, singing) I never wanted. I wanted. I never, never, never, never, never, never wanted to love you.
LUNDEN: William Finn brought himself into all of his writing, including his most popular show, "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee," which was about the love of language.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE")
UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL GROUP #2: (As characters, singing) At the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.
LUNDEN: Rachel Sheinkin, who won a Tony working on the show, says William Finn loved discovering emerging voices. The two taught in the musical theater writing program at NYU. When she last saw him in March, they talked about the students.
RACHEL SHEINKIN: He said, make them write about themselves. And that was really Bill's power as a teacher. He was able to draw out personal stories and personal voices and then to champion them.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HEART AND MUSIC")
UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL ARTIST #2: (As character, singing) But you got to have heart and music. You got to have heart and music. Heart and music get along.
LUNDEN: For NPR News, I'm Jeff Lunden in New York.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HEART AND MUSIC")
UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL GROUP #3: (As characters, singing) You got to have heart and music. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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