William Finn

William Finn was the composer and lyricist of Falsettos and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. His funny, neurotic, deeply personal songs turned everyday family life into musicals, and he won two Tony Awards for Falsettos.

Who was William Finn?

William Finn was born in Boston on February 28, 1952, and studied music at Williams College. He wrote both music and lyrics, and his most important collaborator was director and writer James Lapine, who co-wrote the book for Falsettos with him and directed several of his shows.

Finn's songs sound like people thinking out loud: fast, chatty, often hilarious, and suddenly heartbreaking. Many of his shows are sung-through, and they draw on his own life, including Jewish family dynamics and gay life in New York before and during the AIDS crisis. He taught for years in the graduate musical theatre writing program at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. He died on April 7, 2025, at age 73.

William Finn's shows in order

Finn's early musicals were written for small Off-Broadway stages: In Trousers (1979), March of the Falsettos (1981), America Kicks Up Its Heels (1983), Romance in Hard Times (1989), and Falsettoland (1990). In 1992 March of the Falsettos and Falsettoland were joined into Falsettos, his first Broadway show, which returned in a 2016 revival.

A brain condition diagnosed in 1992 inspired A New Brain (1998), staged at Lincoln Center. Elegies: A Song Cycle followed in 2003. The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee moved from Off-Broadway to Broadway in 2005 and became his longest-running show. Later came Little Miss Sunshine, first staged at La Jolla Playhouse in 2011, and The Royal Family of Broadway at Barrington Stage Company in 2018.

Legacy, awards, and where to start

Falsettos won Finn two Tony Awards in 1992, for Best Original Score and for Best Book of a Musical, shared with James Lapine. Spelling Bee earned him another score nomination, and its book writer, Rachel Sheinkin, won the Tony for Best Book. His work showed that a musical could be small, personal, and about ordinary families and still move a Broadway audience.

Start with Spelling Bee, a warm comedy that suits families and is a favorite of schools. Then listen to Falsettos, a funnier and sadder show for older audiences, and A New Brain if you want to hear his most autobiographical score.

William Finn: frequently asked questions

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