MAKE ME A SONG!

[EverybodyRise81]

Posted: 11/9/07 at 3:58pm

From The Blahg:

"Found amidst the Altar Boyz and Naked Boys (and whatever-the-hell-other Boys they got hangin' around New World Stages) is the new revue, Make Me a Song: The Music of William Finn...The show is a musical scrapbook which pastes together songs from A New Brain, Falsettos, and Elegies, among others. Like Elegies, this too is a song cycle, and though the production flows beautifully, the musical numbers are not woven together by a new storyline. In that way it's unlike Putting it Together, for instance, which seamlessly assembled a collection of songs by the great Stephen Sondheim to comment on the joys and trials of marriage and human relationships, young and old. Or Mamma Mia, which uses those classic Broadway melodies of ABBA to tell a timeless tale of promiscuity and spandex...Make Me a Song, however, is a treasure trunk of great work. Some might say 'gratuitous brilliance'. And most of Mr. Finn's songs are 3-act plays on their own.."

Check out the full enchilada on The Blahg.










The Bloggity Blahg-Blahg Updated On: 11/9/07 at 03:58 PM

[LimelightMike]

Posted: 11/9/07 at 4:03pm

A lot of the time, you'll find that 'song cycles' (a la, Jacques Brel...) don't have a 'story' to them. That's why they're not referred to as 'full-on musicals' or 'revues'.

If the strike takes shape, I'll book a pair to see this in a few weeks to make up for ROCK 'N' ROLL.

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 11/9/07 at 4:05pm

I LOVED this. Anyone who is a fan of William Finn, contemporary musical theatre, or even just a really well done revue should get themself to Make Me A Song immediately!

[nycdncr]

Posted: 11/10/07 at 1:27am

i'm in naked boys, and we share a hallway with the cast. i've heard snippets of the show, and it sounds great! i hope it does well...i love william finn's music.

[popular_elphie]

Posted: 11/10/07 at 1:36am

I'm hopefully going to see this tomorrow. So excited!

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 5:42pm

I know it opened last night... but I can't find the New York Times review???

[colleen_lee]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 5:44pm

I want to see this badly.

For the folks on here bitching because they can't see Wicked for the 87th time, here is your answer.

[folkyboy]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 5:45pm

does anyone have the song list?

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 5:47pm

I don't have the song list off- hand, but if you want to know if a particular Finn song is in the show, I can certainly answer.

I was really hoping for a positive review for this show in the Times... did they not review it? Will the review come out tomorrow?

[commasplice]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 5:51pm

I snagged this off Playbill (http://www.playbill.com/news/article/112641.html), so I assume it's correct, though I don't know about the order:

The songlist of Make Me a Song includes:
"Mister, Make Me a Song" (a song written for Mandy Patinkin for an intended Finn evening);
"Heart and Music" (from A New Brain);
"Hitchhiking Across America" (written for a proposed musical about thumbing it across the U.S.);
"Republicans" (recurring comic pieces, written "either during Reagan's last term or Bush Senior's only term," now laced throughout the show and sung by the Finn persona on stage, Adam Heller);
"Billy's Law of Genetics" (from A New Brain, with an arrangement by Jason Robert Brown);
Passover (written for Elegies: A Song Cycle);
"Only One" (inspired by teachers of Finn, about from Elegies);
"I'd Rather Be Sailing"/"Set Those Sails" (from A New Brain and In Trousers, respectively);
"Change" (from A New Brain);
"I Have Found" (from the unproduced musical, The Royal Family of Broadway);
"You're Even Better Than You Think You Are" (written for a show - Songs of Innocence and Experience - to honor a new theatre built on the campus of Finn's alma mater, Williams College);
"All Fall Down" (heard in both America Kicks Up Its Heels and Romance in Hard Times);
"Stupid Things I Won't Do" (from The Royal Family of Broadway, penned for Elaine Stritch, who appeared in a developmental reading);
"That's Enough for Me" (from Romance in Hard Times);
"I Went Fishing With My Dad" (written while Finn was penning Songs of Innocence and Experience);
"When the Earth Stopped Turning" (a personal song of loss);
"Anytime" (written at request of Finn's dying friend, Monica Andress, for her funeral).

The show's Falsettos suite includes "Four Jews in a Room Bitching," "A Tight-Knit Family," "Love Is Blind," "My Father Is a Homo," "Trina's Song," "March of the Falsettos," "The Year of the Child," "The Baseball Game," "Unlikely Lovers," "Falsettoland." The vocal arrangements for the suite are by Michael Starobin, Carmel Dean and Michael Morris.

And they're talking about making a cast album, so WOOHOO to that!

[Cape Twirl of Doom]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 5:54pm

I have an extra ticket for tonight's 8pm performance if anyone is interested. I'd rather it not go to waste.

[yellibean2]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 9:44pm

A cast album would be absolutely amazing - I probably won't be able to see it but I am such a huge fan of Finn's work and the show looks great.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 9:51pm

Do they have any sort of cheap ticket option?