Bridgetown Portland Musical Theatre presents Make Me a Song: The Music of William Finn, its first Salem-specific musical theater production on stage April 24-27.
“Make Me a Song is a moving collection of some of William Finn’s earlier writing and the songs are a punch to the gut in so many ways. Finn’s writing is “to the point;” his lyrics are keen and his stories are unique and more than human…” said Bridgetown founder Rick Lewis.
“In 1983, I had the good fortune to be Bill Finn’s audition pianist for his Off-Broadway musical, America Kicks Up its Heels — I was a baby. This was right after his phenomenal success with March of the Falsettos. I was astounded at the lyrical and musical ideas that Finn came up with and they had a major impact on me, personally and musically.”
Rick wants to produce shows in Salem that aren’t being done in every community theater around the country. He also wants the shows to be about both the audience and the performer.
“I want to tell stories that are intelligent and human. Musical theater can be an important voice; it can make you think and re-think. It’s not all fluff. William Finn’s stories and songs show all the colors of life. And then, with his more contemporary shows like 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and Little Miss Sunshine, the thematic ideas are frothy and fun,” he said. “A musical revue gives the performers and audience the opportunity to explore a lot of characters and situations that otherwise wouldn’t happen in a single musical theatre piece. I find that exciting.”
Directed by Seth Renne, with music direction by Devon Desmond, the cast includes Mid-Valley performers Nehemiah Creel, Stephanie Gibbs, Lance Nuttman and Beth Sobo Turk, plus young performers Coleman Casebeer, Sage Gonzalez, Emily Irvin, Tyson Miller, Aven Thornhill, Theo Ueng and Neil Yeh-Crawford.
Make Me a Song: The Music of William Finn
When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 24 and Friday, April 25 and 2 p.m. Saturday, April 26 and Sunday, April 27
Where: The Verona Studio, Reed Opera House, 189 Liberty St NE