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Chicago Tribune
11-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
2025 Equity Jeff Awards: Paramount, Court and Goodman Theatres top the nominations
Paramount Theatre, which has had a difficult month after the City of Aurora cut its funding of the multi-venue organization causing layoffs and cancellations, got some good news with the arrival of the Chicago theater's long-established Joseph Jefferson Award nominations Monday morning Paramount scored 26 nominations in various categories, five more than both the Goodman and Court Theaters, which received 21 each. In terms of nominations for a single production, that honor went to 'Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812' at Writers Theatre. The production of a play with the most nominations went to Shattered Globe Theatre's revival of 'Lobby Hero' by Kenneth Lonergan. The number of Jeff Award nominations has ballooned in recent years. There are a total of 14 Actors Equity-affiliated productions nominated in the best play categories for both large and midsized theaters (19 if the 'short run' and solo performance categories are added), ranging from 'Primary Trust' at Goodman Theatre to 'A Case for the Existence of God' at Steep Theatre. Thirteen nominees were honored in the categories of musicals and revues, including 'Falsettos' by Court Theatre (with Timeline) and 'Always… Patsy Cline' at the Drury Lane Theatre. Other very strong shows with multiple nods included 'Translations' at Writers Theatre and 'A Raisin in the Sun' at Court. Steppenwolf did not have a strong showing, hardly atypical when it comes to the Jeffs, and several high-profile shows such as 'Betrayal' at the Goodman, 'Noises Off' at Steppenwolf and 'Sunny Afternoon' at Chicago Shakespeare were mostly overlooked. 'Cats,' staged as a circus-style attraction at Paramount, however, scored nine nominations. After a multi-year run at the Drury Lane, the Jeff Awards ceremony is moving back into Chicago this fall, with the annual celebration of work slated for Sept. 29 at the Harris Theater in Millennium Park. PRODUCTION – PLAY – LARGE 'The Audience' – Drury Lane Productions 'Berlin' – Court Theatre 'East Texas Hot Links' – Court Theatre 'Iraq, But Funny' – Lookingglass Theatre Company 'Jaja's African Hair Braiding' – Chicago Shakespeare Theater with Arena Stage, Berkeley Repertory Theatre and La Jolla Playhouse 'Prayer for the French Republic' – Northlight Theatre and Theater Wit 'Primary Trust' – Goodman Theatre 'A Raisin in the Sun' – Court Theatre 'Translations' – Writers Theatre PRODUCTION – PLAY – MIDSIZE 'Art' – Remy Bumppo Theatre Company 'A Case for the Existence of God' – Steep Theatre 'Ironbound' – Raven Theatre 'Lobby Hero' – Shattered Globe Theatre 'A Tale of Two Cities' – Shattered Globe Theatre PRODUCTION – MUSICAL – LARGE 'Cats' – Paramount Theatre 'The Color Purple' – Goodman Theatre 'The Little Mermaid' – Drury Lane Productions 'Falsettos' – Court Theatre and TimeLine Theatre Company 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat' – Marriott Theatre 'Million Dollar Quartet' – Paramount Theatre 'Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812' – Writers Theatre 'Titanic The Musical' – Marriott Theatre PRODUCTION – REVUE 'Always… Patsy Cline' – Drury Lane Productions 'Best Kept Secret: Tell Everyone' – The Second City e.t.c. 'Blue Eyed Soul Sung By Brown Eyed People' – Black Ensemble Theater 'That's What Friends Are For: Gladys, Dionne and Patti ' – Black Ensemble Theater 'This Too Shall Slap' – The Second City ENSEMBLE – PLAY 'The Antiquities' – Goodman Theatre with Playwrights Horizon and Vineyard Theatre 'Art' – Remy Bumppo Theatre Company 'Berlin' – Court Theatre 'East Texas Hot Links' – Court Theatre 'Jaja's African Hair Braiding' – Chicago Shakespeare Theater with Arena Stage, Berkeley Repertory Theatre and La Jolla Playhouse 'Noises Off' – Steppenwolf Theatre Company with Geffen Playhouse 'Peter and the Starcatcher' – Paramount Theatre 'Prayer for the French Republic' – Northlight Theatre and Theater Wit 'A Tale of Two Cities' – Shattered Globe Theatre 'Translations' – Writers Theatre ENSEMBLE – MUSICAL OR REVUE 'The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee' – Paramount Theatre '42 Balloons' – Chicago Shakespeare Theater 'Cats' – Paramount Theatre 'The Color Purple' – Goodman Theatre 'Falsettos' – Court Theatre and TimeLine Theatre Company 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat' – Marriott Theatre 'Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812' – Writers Theatre 'This Too Shall Slap' – The Second City 'Titanic The Musical' – Marriott Theatre 'Titanique' – Porchlight Music Theatre and Broadway in Chicago NEW WORK Ngozi Anyanwu – 'Leroy and Lucy' – Steppenwolf Theatre Company Atra Asdou – 'Iraq, But Funny' – Lookingglass Theatre Company Lisa Dillman – 'No Such Thing' – Rivendell Theatre Ensemble Keiko Green – 'Gorgeous' – Raven Theatre and Rivendell Theatre Ensemble Lauren Gunderson – 'Louisa May Alcott's Little Women' – Northlight Theatre Jordan Harrison – 'The Antiquities' – Goodman Theatre with Playwrights Horizon and Vineyard Theatre Mickle Maher – 'Berlin' – Court Theatre Sadieh Rifai – 'The Cave' – A Red Orchid Theatre DIRECTOR – PLAY – LARGE Braden Abraham – 'Translations' – Writers Theatre Charles Newell – 'Berlin' – Court Theatre Ron OJ Parson – 'Hymn' – Chicago Shakespeare Theater Ron OJ Parson – 'East Texas Hot Links' – Court Theatre Malkia Stampley – 'Primary Trust' – Goodman Theatre Jeremy Wechsler – 'Prayer for the French Republic' – Northlight Theatre and Theater Wit DIRECTOR – PLAY – MIDSIZE Mikael Burke – 'A Tale of Two Cities' – Shattered Globe Theatre Marti Lyons – 'Art' – Remy Bumppo Theatre Company Nate Santana – 'Lobby Hero' – Shattered Globe Theatre Steve Scott – 'Native Gardens' – Buffalo Theatre Ensemble Georgette Verdin – 'Ironbound' – Raven Theatre Robin Witt – 'A Case for the Existence of God' – Steep Theatre DIRECTOR – MUSICAL – LARGE Nick Bowling – 'Falsettos' – Court Theatre and TimeLine Theatre Company Lili-Anne Brown – 'The Color Purple' – Goodman Theatre Jim Corti and Creg Sclavi – 'Million Dollar Quartet' – Paramount Theatre Connor Gallagher – 'Titanic The Musical' – Marriott Theatre Amber Mak – 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat' – Marriott Theatre Katie Spelman – 'Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812' – Writers Theatre Trent Stork – 'Cats' – Paramount Theatre Trent Stork – 'Frozen' – Paramount Theatre Scott Weinstein – 'The Little Mermaid' – Drury Lane Productions DIRECTOR – REVUE Carisa Barreca – 'Best Kept Secret: Tell Everyone' – The Second City e.t.c. Daryl D. Brooks – 'That's What Friends Are For: Gladys, Dionne and Patti ' – Black Ensemble Theater Jen Ellison – 'This Too Shall Slap' – The Second City Jackie Taylor – 'Blue Eyed Soul Sung By Brown Eyed People' – Black Ensemble Theater Scott Weinstein – 'Always… Patsy Cline' – Drury Lane Productions PERFORMER IN A PRINCIPAL ROLE – PLAY Atra Asdou (Actor 5) – 'Iraq, But Funny' – Lookingglass Theatre Company Debo Balogun (Keith) – 'A Case for the Existence of God' – Steep Theatre Janet Ulrich Brooks (Queen Elizabeth II) – 'The Audience' – Drury Lane Productions Lucy Carapetyan (Darja) – 'Ironbound' – Raven Theatre Elliot Esquivel (Jeff) – 'Lobby Hero' – Shattered Globe Theatre Nate Faust (Ryan) – 'A Case for the Existence of God' – Steep Theatre Gregory Fenner (Booth) – 'Topdog/Underdog' – The Gift Theatre Chiké Johnson (Benny) – 'Hymn' – Chicago Shakespeare Theater James Vincent Meredith (Gil) – 'Hymn' – Chicago Shakespeare Theater Tyler Meredith (Louisa/Jo) – 'Louisa May Alcott's Little Women' – Northlight Theatre Seoyoung Park (Jane) – 'The Heart Sellers' – Northlight Theatre Namir Smallwood (Kenneth) – 'Primary Trust' – Goodman Theatre PERFORMER IN A PRINCIPAL ROLE – MUSICAL Devin DeSantis (Joseph) – 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat' – Marriott Theatre Samantha Gershman (Carole King) – 'Beautiful: The Carole King Musical' – Drury Lane Productions J. Harrison Ghee (The Lady Chablis) – 'Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil' – Goodman Theatre Danny Horn (Ray Davies) – 'Sunny Afternoon' – Chicago Shakespeare Theater Beth Stafford Laird (Anna) – 'Frozen' – Paramount Theatre Michelle Lauto (Jenna) – 'Waitress' – Paramount Theatre Brittney Mack (Celie) – 'The Color Purple' – Goodman Theatre Evan Tyrone Martin (Pierre) – 'Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812' – Writers Theatre Aurora Penepacker (Natasha) – 'Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812' – Writers Theatre Stephen Schellhardt (Marvin) – 'Falsettos' – Court Theatre and TimeLine Theatre Company SOLO PERFORMANCE Jean Claudio (Salvador) – 'Memorabilia' – Teatro Vista Jessie Fisher (Narrator) – 'Every Brilliant Thing' – Writers Theatre Vanessa Severo (Frida) – 'Frida … A Self Portrait' – Writers Theatre PERFORMER IN A REVUE Aja Alcazar (Patsy Cline) – 'Always… Patsy Cline' – Drury Lane Productions Tamara Batiest (Mature Patti) – 'That's What Friends Are For: Gladys, Dionne and Patti ' – Black Ensemble Theater Britt Edwards (Passion) – 'Blue Eyed Soul Sung By Brown Eyed People' – Black Ensemble Theater Claudia Martinez (Performer) – 'Best Kept Secret: Tell Everyone' – The Second City e.t.c. Bri Sudia (Louise Seger) – 'Always… Patsy Cline' – Drury Lane Productions PERFORMER IN A SUPPORTING ROLE – PLAY Kierra Bunch (Ruth Younger) – 'A Raisin in the Sun' – Court Theatre John Drea (Laurie) – 'Louisa May Alcott's Little Women' – Northlight Theatre Rae Gray (Elodie Benhamou) – 'Prayer for the French Republic' – Northlight Theatre and Theater Wit Erik Hellman (Lt. Yolland) – 'Translations' – Writers Theatre Casey Hoekstra (Owen) – 'Translations' – Writers Theatre Martasia Jones (Beneatha Younger) – 'A Raisin in the Sun' – Court Theatre Laura Leonardo Ownby (Louise Peaks) – 'The Outsider' – Buffalo Theatre Ensemble Nick Sandys (Black Stache) – 'Peter and the Starcatcher' – Paramount Theatre Adam Schulmerich (Bill) – 'Lobby Hero' – Shattered Globe Theatre AnJi White (Charlesetta Simpkins) – 'East Texas Hot Links' – Court Theatre Fred Zimmerman (Sam/Clay/Le Pousselet Bartender) – 'Primary Trust' – Goodman Theatre PERFORMER IN A SUPPORTING ROLE – MUSICAL Sarah Bockel (Trina) – 'Falsettos' – Court Theatre and TimeLine Theatre Company Joseph Anthony Byrd (Anatole) – 'Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812' – Writers Theatre Jackson Evans (Mendel) – 'Falsettos' – Court Theatre and TimeLine Theatre Company Nicole Michelle Haskins (Sofia) – 'The Color Purple' – Goodman Theatre Heidi Kettenring (John Dickinson) – '1776' – Marriott Theatre Alexandra Palkovic (Cynthia Weil) – 'Beautiful: The Carole King Musical' – Drury Lane Productions Lorenzo Rush, Jr. (Pharaoh) – 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat' – Marriott Theatre Sawyer Smith (Ursula) – 'The Little Mermaid' – Drury Lane Productions Elizabeth Stenholt (Olive Ostrovsky) – 'The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee' – Paramount Theatre Aerie Williams (Shug Avery) – 'The Color Purple' – Goodman Theatre SCENIC DESIGN – LARGE Andrew Boyce – 'Translations' – Writers Theatre Andrew Boyce – 'You Will Get Sick' – Steppenwolf Theatre Company Jeffrey D. Kmiec – 'Frozen' – Paramount Theatre Jeffrey D. Kmiec – 'Million Dollar Quartet' – Paramount Theatre Jack Magaw – 'East Texas Hot Links' – Court Theatre Courtney O'Neill – 'Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812' – Writers Theatre Christopher Oram – 'Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil' – Goodman Theatre SCENIC DESIGN – MIDSIZE José Manuel Díaz-Soto – 'Lobby Hero' – Shattered Globe Theatre Lauren M. Nichols – 'Memorabilia' – Teatro Vista Shayna Patel – 'Golden Leaf Ragtime Blues' – American Blues Theater Grant Sabin and Marcus Klein – 'The Last Wide Open' – American Blues Theater Mara Ishihara Zinky – 'Native Gardens' – Buffalo Theatre Ensemble COSTUME DESIGN – LARGE Raquel Adorno – 'Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812' – Writers Theatre Mara Blumenfeld – 'Frozen' – Paramount Theatre Sally Dolembo – 'Irving Berlin's White Christmas' – Marriott Theatre Theresa Ham – 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat' – Marriott Theatre Izumi Inaba – 'Cats' – Paramount Theatre Ryan Park and Zhang Yu – 'The Little Mermaid' – Drury Lane Productions Sully Ratke – 'Titanic The Musical' – Marriott Theatre COSTUME DESIGN – MIDSIZE Sally Dolembo – 'A Lie of the Mind' – Raven Theatre Uriel Gomez – 'Lobby Hero' – Shattered Globe Theatre Kristy Leigh Hall – 'Art' – Remy Bumppo Theatre Company Kotryna Hilko – 'A Tale of Two Cities' – Shattered Globe Theatre Lily Walls – 'Misery' – American Blues Theater SOUND DESIGN – LARGE Eric Backus – 'Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812' – Writers Theatre Eric Backus – 'Peter and the Starcatcher' – Paramount Theatre Michael Daly – 'Titanic The Musical' – Marriott Theatre Emily Hayman – 'Henry V' – Chicago Shakespeare Theater Willow James – 'You Will Get Sick' – Steppenwolf Theatre Company Mikaal Sulaiman – 'Bust' – Goodman Theatre with Alliance Theatre, Sonia Friedman Productions, Khaliah Neal and Thomas Swayne Connor Wang – 'Leroy and Lucy' – Steppenwolf Theatre Company SOUND DESIGN – MIDSIZE Angela Joy Baldasare – 'Six Men Dressed Like Joseph Stalin' – A Red Orchid Theatre Satya Chávez – 'Memorabilia' – Teatro Vista Joe Court – 'Misery' – American Blues Theater Michael Huey – 'Cygnus' – The Gift Theatre Michael Huey – 'Topdog/Underdog' – The Gift Theatre Christopher Kriz – 'A Tale of Two Cities' – Shattered Globe Theatre LIGHTING DESIGN – LARGE Rory Beaton – 'The Lord of the Rings – A Musical Tale' – Chicago Shakespeare Theater Lee Fiskness – 'The Da Vinci Code' – Drury Lane Productions Greg Hofmann – 'Cats' – Paramount Theatre Greg Hofmann – 'Frozen' – Paramount Theatre Yael Lubetzky – 'Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812' – Writers Theatre Ryan O'Gara – 'The Little Mermaid' – Drury Lane Productions LIGHTING DESIGN – MIDSIZE Ellie Fey – 'Lobby Hero' – Shattered Globe Theatre G. 'Max' Maxin IV – 'Topdog/Underdog' – The Gift Theatre Eric Watkins – 'Ironbound' – Raven Theatre Eric Watkins – 'A Tale of Two Cities' – Shattered Globe Theatre Levi J. Wilkins – 'Six Men Dressed Like Joseph Stalin' – A Red Orchid Theatre CHOREOGRAPHY Kasey Alfonso – 'Cats' – Paramount Theatre Breon Arzell – 'The Color Purple' – Goodman Theatre Linda Fortunato – 'Irving Berlin's White Christmas' – Marriott Theatre Amber Mak – 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat' – Marriott Theatre Alexzandra Sarmiento – '42 Balloons' – Chicago Shakespeare Theater ORIGINAL MUSIC IN A PLAY Christopher Kriz – 'A Tale of Two Cities' – Shattered Globe Theatre Rob Milburn and Michael Bodeen – 'Betrayal' – Goodman Theatre Kevin O'Donnell – 'Circus Quixote' – Lookingglass Theatre Company with The Actors Gymnasium Brandon Reed and Mike Przygoda – 'Primary Trust' – Goodman Theatre Richard Woodbury – 'Inherit the Wind' – Goodman Theatre MUSIC DIRECTION Kory Danielson – 'Cats' – Paramount Theatre Kory Danielson – 'Frozen' – Paramount Theatre Matt Deitchman – 'Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812' – Writers Theatre Jermaine Hill – 'The Color Purple' – Goodman Theatre Mason Moss – 'Sunny Afternoon' – Chicago Shakespeare Theater Ryan T. Nelson – 'Titanic The Musical' – Marriott Theatre Otto Vogel – 'Falsettos' – Court Theatre and TimeLine Theatre Company PROJECTION DESIGN Anthony Churchill and Mike Tutaj – 'The Da Vinci Code' – Drury Lane Productions Michael Salvatore Commendatore – 'Iraq, But Funny' – Lookingglass Theatre Company Paul Deziel – 'Frozen' – Paramount Theatre Andrzej Goulding – '42 Balloons' – Chicago Shakespeare Theater George Reeve – 'The Lord of the Rings – A Musical Tale' – Chicago Shakespeare Theater ARTISTIC SPECIALIZATION Jason Robert Brown – original score – 'Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil' – Goodman Theatre Chicago Puppet Studio, designers Caitlin McLeod and Zachary Sun – puppet design – 'The Little Mermaid' – Drury Lane Productions Katie Cordts – wig, hair, and makeup design – 'Cats' – Paramount Theatre Sylvia Hernandez-DeStasi – circus choreography – 'Cats' – Paramount Theatre Sylvia Hernandez-DeStasi – circus and movement choreographer – 'Circus Quixote' – Lookingglass Theatre Company with The Actors Gymnasium Jesse Mooney-Bullock – puppet design – 'Frozen' – Paramount Theatre Grace Needlman – puppet design – 'Circus Quixote' – Lookingglass Theatre Company with The Actors Gymnasium Charlie Tymms – puppet design – 'The Lord of the Rings – A Musical Tale' – Chicago Shakespeare Theater SHORT RUN – DIRECTION Charles Newell – 'An Iliad' – Court Theatre SHORT RUN – PERFORMER Terry Guest (Nsaku) – 'The Comedians' – Raven Theatre Timothy Edward Kane (The Poet) – 'An Iliad' – Court Theatre Bill Larkin (Chauncy) – 'The Comedians' – Raven Theatre The 57th anniversary Equity Jeff Awards will be presented in a ceremony Sept. 29 at the Harris Theater; more information at
New York Times
08-04-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
The Loose Screws, Hot Flames and Infinite Joy of William Finn
When I met William Finn in 2005, at work on 'The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,' he was seated in his office in front of what looked like a trash heap but might have been a desk. On a couch nearby, one of his collaborators sank slowly beneath a rising tide of detritus; when she spoke, Finn kept overwhelming her too. Bearlike and blustery, garrulous and appetitive, he grabbed at every idea floating around the room, just as he grabbed at insane rhymes and jangly melodies in writing his sometimes hilarious, sometimes haunting (sometimes both) songs. The opportunistic lyrics were what first attracted me. By the time of 'Spelling Bee,' Finn, who died Monday at the age of 73, had already made a name for himself with the 'Falsettos' trilogy, his take on a family (and thus a society) shattered by disease and disaffection in the early years of AIDS. Yet despite the sadness of that story (the book is by Finn and James Lapine), the melodies are mostly jaunty and the words outrageously playful. In the show's opening number he rhymes 'four Jews' with 'loose screws.' As his later work kept digging deeper into dark themes, the rhymes got wilder, as if he were very hungry, and there was just one shrimp puff left on a plate at the other side of a party. In 'A New Brain,' a show about his own near-death experience from a stroke in 1992, it was not unusual for him to match chewy words like 'Thackeray' and 'whackery,' even though they made little sense together. What they made instead was a tickling kind of Gertrude Stein spark, followed by an existential whack. Your ear was delighted while your brain was befuddled, which was perhaps the point because, he seemed to ask, does anything in the world make sense? Listen to a selection of Finn's songs on Spotify: Forcing apparently incompatible things into messy proximity, if not alignment, was a Finn hallmark, and, I eventually came to think, his signal virtue. Almost all the liaisons in 'Falsettos' — a nebbish and an Adonis, an angry wife and her shrink — are misalliances, and yet through suffering and, yes, bitching, they form a kind of family in defiance of fate. Fate interested Finn deeply; he loved the way the teenage competitors in 'Spelling Bee' keep drawing words that showcase their weaknesses, like 'lugubrious' for the boy with 'a rare mucus disorder' and 'cystitis' for the lisper. 'It's like 'Survivor' for nerds,' he told me. He would know. Even his non-narrative revues and song cycles — especially the exquisite 'Elegies' — are about outcasts and sufferers who prevail while they can. They don't mope, they flame. At a baseball game, Marvin, the 'Falsettos' nebbish, tells Whizzer, his unfaithful lover, to 'sit in front of me / I wanna see the bald spot!' because 'it's the only physical imperfection that you've got.' In 'A New Brain,' the mother, angry at her son for being sick and gay, cleans his apartment by throwing away all his books. (Hence: Thackeray / whackery.) It is only after acknowledging and withstanding awfulness — shame, grief, mortality — that Finn permits a glimpse of happiness. In the title song of the revue 'Infinite Joy' he describes that emotion with the words 'Goodness is rewarded / Hope is guaranteed / Laughter builds strong bones.' Near the end of 'A New Brain,' he summarizes what we've just seen as 'Stories of coping / Of hope against hoping,' before having his stand-in, a composer who has been through the wringer, sing, 'I have so much spring within me.' It's a pun — the character originally wrote that song for a frog on a kiddie show. That's William Finn all over: turning a joke, like the one played on all of us, into joy. I'm not sure the phrase makes sense, but it's perfect anyway: He was hope against hoping.
New York Times
08-04-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
William Finn, Tony Winner for ‘Falsettos,' Is Dead at 73
William Finn, a witty, cerebral and psychologically perceptive musical theater writer who won two Tony Awards for 'Falsettos' and had an enduringly popular hit with 'The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,' died on Monday in Bennington, Vt. He was 73. His longtime partner, Arthur Salvadore, said the cause of death, in a hospital, was pulmonary fibrosis, following years in which Mr. Finn had contended with neurological issues. He had homes in Williamstown, Mass., and on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Mr. Finn was widely admired for his clever, complex lyrics and for the poignant honesty with which he explored character. He was gay and Jewish, and some of his most significant work concerned those communities; in the 1990s, with 'Falsettos,' he was among the first artists to musicalize the tragedy of the AIDS epidemic, and his musical 'A New Brain' was inspired by his own life-threatening experience with an arteriovenous malformation. 'In the pantheon of great composer-lyricists, Bill was idiosyncratically himself — there was nobody who sounded like him,' said André Bishop, the producing artistic director of Lincoln Center Theater. He presented seven of Mr. Finn's shows, starting at Playwrights Horizons in the late 1970s and continuing at Lincoln Center. 'He became known as this witty wordsmith who wrote lots of complicated songs dealing with things people didn't deal with in song in those days,' Mr. Bishop added, 'but what he really had was this huge heart — his shows are popular because his talent was beautiful and accessible and warm and heartfelt.' Mr. Finn played varying roles across his career, as a composer, a lyricist and sometime librettist. His songs often feature 'a wordy introspective urbanity,' as Stephen Holden wrote in The New York Times in 2003. In 'A New Brain,' Mr. Finn seemed to distill his passion for the art form, writing, 'Heart and music keep us all alive.' Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? Log in. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
