at Playwrights Horizons at the time.“ I remember going away thinking, this is an overpowering talent that kind of just came out at you— probably partly because we were in a small living room. But I just thought, this man’ s got a really individual voice and a very strong talent. It was very clear from the very start. That was how I first met him.”
In Trousers subsequently had a 1978 run at Playwrights Horizons’ 74-seat upstairs theater, with Finn playing the role of Marvin. The next year, the piece was done at Playwrights’ larger, downstairs space.
Finn continued writing about the Marvin character, initially calling March of the Falsettos“ The Pettiness of Misogyny.” Then it became,“ Four Jews in a Room Bitching.” Bishop felt Finn needed support. Enter Lapine.“ He needed someone else to come in, organize him, and really make a show out of what was just a series of loosely connected songs,” says Bishop.“ That was what happened with March of the Falsettos.”
Finn not only had the support of Bishop,
but also Weitzman, then Director of the Musical Theater Program at Playwrights.“ It was a very exciting time for all of us who worked on the show,” says Bishop.“ Playwrights Horizons was still very young in its development as a theater. We weren ' t expecting anything that happened to happen. It was one of those times— especially when you ' re young, if you ' re lucky— where the world seemed ahead of all of us. And it certainly seemed ahead of Bill.”
Bishop took over as artistic director of Lincoln Center Theater in 1992, and Weitzman moved with him. They premiered A New Brain in 1998 and Elegies: A Song Cycle in 2003. Falsettos was revived in 2016 on Broadway and was nominated for five Tony ® Awards.“ Bill had great wit and great verbal dexterity, combined with a very strong melodic sense,” says Bishop.“ People think a lot of his songs are funny and verbally complicated. But, in fact, I think his best songs are his romantic, heartfelt ballads. I think that ' s where he really excelled, where he had this
48 // BERKSHIRE MAGAZINE July 2025