Broadway musicals aren't always about song and dance. One of the best proponents of material that's quirky and idiosyncratic is composer and lyricist William Finn, whose earliest shows — eventually combined into the award-winning Falsettos — were about being gay in New York City. He's also created pieces like A New Brain (about a man contemplating surgery for a brain tumor) and the commercially successful show, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. —-
His work is on view at UC's College Conservatory of Music this weekend in a show called Make Me a Song, a revue of material drawn from many of his shows and other compositions. It's performed by a cast of five in the Cohen Family Studio Theater in the CCM complex at UC. Admission is free, but you need to call in advance to reserve one or two seats: 513-556-4183.
It's worth noting that Lisa Howard, a CCM 1997 musical theater grad now working regularly in New York City (she was in the original cast of Spelling Bee) recently released a CD of Finn's music, Songs of Innocence and Experience.
