Make Me a Song (musical)


Make Me a Song is a musical revue, with lyrics and music by William Finn, which was conceived by Rob Ruggiero in 2006.
The revue includes songs from Finn's musicals In Trousers, Falsettos, A New Brain, Elegies: A Song Cycle and Romance in Hard Times, songs written for The Royal Family of Broadway and Songs of Innocence and Experience, musicals that were never professionally produced, and other unpublished songs, notably the title song. There is no dialogue or plot connecting the songs.

Productions

Make Me a Song premiered in April 2006 as a regional production at Hartford's TheaterWorks, where Rob Ruggiero, who conceived of and directed the show, served as associate artistic director. The cast featured four singers: Sandy Binion, Joe Cassidy, Adam Heller and Sally Wilfert, as well as an on-stage singing pianist, John DiPinto.
A transfer to the off-Broadway Zipper Theater was announced for April that year, but was cancelled because of scheduling issues. Instead, the off-Broadway production premiered on November 12, 2007, at New World Stages; the show was cut down to 90 minutes and played without an intermission. Binion, Heller and Wilfert reprised their roles in the updated production, joined by D. B. Bonds and Darren R. Cohen as the pianist. The off-Broadway run lasted 55 performances before closing on December 30, 2007.
A London production ran from March 6 to April 6, 2008, at the New Players Theatre, directed by Andrew MacBean. The cast included Louise Dearman, Sally Ann Triplett, Frances Ruffelle, Simon Thomas and Ian "H" Watkins.

Song list

  • "Make Me a Song" – Adam
  • "Heart and Music" – Company
  • "Hitchhiking Across America" – D. B.
  • "Republicans Part 1" – Adam
  • "Billy's Law of Genetics" – D. B. & Company
  • "Passover" – Sally
  • "Only One" – Sandy
  • "Republicans Part 2" – Adam
  • "I'd Rather Be Sailing/Set Those Sails" – D. B. & Sally
  • "Change" – Sandy & Company
  • "I Have Found" – Sally
  • "Republicans Part 3" – Adam
  • "You're Even Better Than You Think You Are" – Company
  • "Falsettos Suite: 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" – Company
  • "All Fall Down" – Sandy
  • "Republicans Part 4" – Adam
  • "Stupid Things I Won't Do" – Adam
  • "That's Enough for Me" – Sandy
  • "I Went Fishing With My Dad" – D.B.
  • "When the Earth Stopped Turning" – Adam
  • "Anytime " – Sally
  • "Song of Innocence and Experience" – Company
  • "Finale" – Company
Notes: "Heart and Music" and "Billy's Law of Genetics" were arranged by Jason Robert Brown; "Hitchhiking Across America" was arranged by Vadim Feichtner; "I'd Rather Be Sailing/Set Those Sails" was arranged by Darren Cohen and Carmel Dean; "Change" was arranged by Michael Morris; "You're Even Better Than You Think You Are" and "Falsettos Suite" were arranged by Michael Starobin, Carmel Dean and Michael Morris; and "I Went Fishing With My Dad" and "Song of Innocence and Experience" were arranged by Carmel Dean. All the other songs used the original arrangements.

Recording

An original cast recording of the off-Broadway cast was released on April 29, 2008, by Ghostlight Records. The double disc set includes live recordings of every song in the revue, liner notes written by theatre writer Steven Suskin, and a bonus track of William Finn singing "Mister, Make Me a Song," which was played from a recording to open the show before transitioning into Heller's live rendition.