William “Invoice” Finn, the acclaimed author and composer of the 1992 musical Falsettos and 2005’s The twenty fifth Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, died Monday, April 7, following a prolonged sickness. He was 73.
His demise was confirmed to Deadline by his literary agent Ron Gwiazda.
Born February 28, 1952, in Natick, Massachusetts, and raised in a conservative Jewish family, Finn was a two-time Tony Award winner – Greatest E-book and Greatest Authentic Rating for the AIDS-themed Falsettos. He started crafting what would change into his signature work even earlier than the plague years started. Within the late Nineteen Seventies he wrote the one-act Off Off Broadway musical In Trousers, specializing in a homosexual man named Marvin coming to phrases together with his homosexuality.
In 1981, Finn wrote a sequel, March of the Falsettos, by which Marvin continues his journey of self-discovery however now with an prolonged household that features his ex-wife Trina, son Jason, lover Whizzer Brown and a psychiatrist Mendel who falls in love with Trina. Lastly, in 1990’s Falsettoland, the AIDS disaster has hit the household, with Whizzer dying of the sickness simply as Jason is getting ready for his bar mitzvah.
In 1992, March of the Falsettos and Falsettoland have been joined as a full musical that opened to nice acclaim and recognition on Broadway. Directed by James Lapine, who co-wrote its e-book, Falsettos opened on the John Golden Theater on April 29, 1992, changing into a groundbreaking work within the theater’s canon of performs and musicals addressing AIDS. Falsettos was nominated for seven Tony Awards, with Finn’s rating and the e-book by Finn and Lapine successful their classes.
The unique Broadway manufacturing starred Michael Rupert as Marvin, Stephen Bogardus as Whizzer, Barbara Walsh as Trina, Chip Zien as Mendel and Jonathan Kaplan as Jason. A well-received 2016 Broadway revival acquired 5 Tony nominations and starred Christian Borle, Stephanie J. Block, Andrew Rannells, Brandon Uranowitz and Anthony Rosenthal.
Finn and Lapine reunited in 1998 to develop the musical that will be referred to as A New Mind, based mostly on Finn’s near-death expertise following mind surgical procedure. The musical was revived in a 2015 Metropolis Middle Encores! Off-Broadway manufacturing starring Jonathan Groff.
The composer and director would reteam once more in 2005 for the immensely in style The twenty fifth Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, a musical about elementary college college students competing within the titular contest. The twenty fifth Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee received two Tony Awards in 2005 (Greatest E-book of a Musical and, for Dan Fogler, Greatest Featured Actor in a Musical). It was nominated for Greatest Musical, Greatest Path for Lapine, Greatest Authentic Rating for Finn and Greatest Featured Actress in a Musical for Celia Keenan-Bolger.
Finn and Lapine developed a fourth musical, Little Miss Sunshine, based mostly on the 2006 movie, that premiered on the La Jolla Playhouse in California in 2011. The musical made its Off Broadway debut in 2013.
Finn is survived by life accomplice Arthur Salvadore.
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