A New Brain

A New Brain was written and composed by William Finn, winner of two Tony awards for his musical Falsettos. Shortly after the successful Broadway opening of Falsettos, Finn suffered a brain seizure and was hospitalized. Several months later, he made a complete and miraculous recovery. In this show, he translates his life-threatening experiences into a life-affirming evening of quirky humor, song and dance. Finn’s alter-ego, character Gordon Schwinn, is a composer-lyricist who dreams of writing Broadway musicals while turning out tunes for children’s shows, in this case for a loathsome man-size frog named Mr. Bungee. Gordon has lost the ability to communicate through his music and is virtually dead to the world until he falls ill and is once again able to find his “voice.” The musical takes a journey through the realms of creativity, mortality, love and loss and shows how an individual’s brush wtih death inspired a new gratitude for life and its opportunities.