William Finn, Class of 1974

“The history of American musicals in the 1980’s begins and ends with March of the Falsettos and Falsettoland.” So has said The New York Times, which called their combination in the production Falsettos “more powerful than any other American musical of its day.” All this acclaim for work with a voice outside the normal range that calls us to examine ancient ideas of family, community, and morality through the lens of contemporary challenges.  With profound melodic sense and lyrics that dazzle you have added to the store of the American musical not only the frolic of “The Baseball Game”  but the angst of “holding to the ground as the ground keeps shifting” and the AIDS victim’s bittersweet epiphany that “you gotta die sometime.” Only in your hands could this messiness of life be affirmed in such funny and tender ways.  Two Tony Awards, two Drama Desk Awards, and an Outer Critics Circle Award all attest to the fact that the American musical theater is the richer for your decision, made on the boards here in Williamstown, to devote your considerable talent and passion to the stage.