Chop chop chop chop chop I chopped it. And served his food: the asshole forced me. . . And still the bastard divorced me.
Infinite Joy
Infinite Joy is a tribute to William Finn performed at Joe's Pub in January 2001 as part of The Songbook Series. A live recording was made on RCA Victor on January 14th and 15th, 2001.
The show featured Liz Callaway, Carolee Carmello, Lewi Cleale, Stephen DeRosa, Wanda Houston, Norm Lewis, Mary Testa, Farah Alvin, James Sasser, and Kristin Woodbury singing well-known and not-so-well-known songs by William Finn. Finn himself even sings a few numbers! They are accompanied by Vadim Feichtner on piano.
| Song | Sung by | From |
| Mister, Make Me a Song | William Finn | written for Mandy Patinkin to sing on an album of Finn's music |
| How Marvin Eats His Breakfast | Stephen DeRosa with Farah Alvin, James Sasser, Kristin Woodbury | In Trousers |
| The Music Still Plays On | Wanda Houston | A New Brain |
| Republicans | William Finn | Written in response to the 2000 elections |
| I'd Rather Be Sailing | Liz Callaway | A New Brain |
| Hitchhiking Across America | Lewis Cleale with Farah Alvin, James Sasser, Kristin Woodbury | written for abandoned show about trying to find love |
| That's Enough For Me | Wanda Houston | Romance in Hard Times |
| And They're Off | Lewis Cleale with Farah Alvin, James Sasser, Kristin Woodbury | A New Brain |
| Anytime | Norm Lewis | cut from A New Brain (and later performed in Elegies) |
| The Baseball Game | Stephen DeRosa | Falsettoland |
| All Fall Down | Mary Testa | America Kicks Up It's Heels/ Romance in Hard Times |
| When the Earth Stopped Turning | Carolee Carmello | written after the death of Finn's mother |
| Set Those Sails | Mary Testa with Farah Alvin and Kristin Woodbury | In Trousers |
| I Have Found | Carolee Carmello | The Royal Family of Broadway |
| Infinite Joy | Liz Callaway | written on a vacation |
| Stupid Things I Won't Do | William Finn | The Royal Family of Broadway |
| Infinite Joy (Reprise) | Norm Lewis | written on a vacation |
Some pictures can be found here from the Carolee Carmello website.
More Infinite Joy: The Music of Bill Finn
More Infinite Joy: The Music of Bill Finn was performed at The Kaufman Center in New York on Monday, March 29, 2004 as part of the BROADWAY CLOSE UP series. The show featured Betty Buckley, Stephen De Rosa, Jerry Dixon, Raul Esparza, Janet Metz, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Gi-Hieh Lee, Sebastian Arcelus, Lisa Howard, Kate Wetherhead. Vadim Feichtner was again Music Director & played piano. William Finn himself sang a few songs!
The songs were:
| Song | Sung by | From |
| Mark's All Male Thanksgiving | William Finn | Elegies |
| How Marvin Eats His Breakfast | De Rosa, Arclus, Howard, Wetherhead | In Trousers |
| Chess Game/This Had Better Come to a Stop | Dixon, Esparza | March of the Falsettos |
| My Dogs | Ferguson | Elegies |
| All Fall Down | Metz | America Kicks Up It's Heels/ Romance in Hard Times |
| Republicans | William Finn | Written in response to the 2000 elections |
| Only One | Buckley | Elegies |
| Mister Choi and Madame G. | Dixon with Arcelus,Howard Wetherhead | Elegies |
| I'm Not that Smart | Ferguson | 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee |
| Hitchhiking Across America | Esparza with Arceus, Howard ,Wetherhead | written for abandoned show about trying to find love |
| Monica and Mark | Esparza, Ferguson, and Dixon | Elegies |
| Anytime | Metz | Elegies |
| The Baseball Game | De Rosa | Falsettoland |
| Let's Take a Stroll | Arcelus Wetherhead | The Royal Family of Broadway |
| Gloriously Imperfect | De Rosa | The Royal Family of Broadway |
| I Have Found | Howard | The Royal Family of Broadway |
| Stupid Things I Won't Do | William Finn | The Royal Family of Broadway |
| Joe Papp | Dixon with Esparza, Ferguson | Elegies |
| I'm Not That Pretty | Lee | co-written with Gi-Hieh Lee |
| Welcome to My Hole | De Rosa | The Adventures of Tom Thumb and Thumbelina |
| I'd Rather be Sailing | Dixon | A New Brain |
| And They're Off | Esparza with Arcelus, Howard Wetherhead | A New Brain |
| I'm Breaking Down | Metz | March of the Falsettos |
| 14 Dwight Ave | Buckley, Ferguson | Elegies |
| The Day the Earth Stopped Turning | Ferguson | Elegies |
| Infinite Joy | Buckley | Elegies |
| What More Can I Say? | Esparza | Falsettoland |
Below is a review by Paul, who also provided all the info about More Infinite Joy:
"Just got back from New York (I live in Vancouver). I booked a seat for this
William celebration last August and was not disappointed. The Merken Concert
Hall was sold out.
What a phenomenal event. Hosted by Mr. Finn, who sang three songs himself.
The event lasted three hours - two hours longer than promised.
Singing was out of this world. Hard to tell you the highlights, but Betty
Buckley's Infinite Joy the perfomers were all so good. Janet Metz, as
probably know, is currently off Broadway now in You're Perfect Now Change.
Jerry Dixon, Raul Esparza, Jesse Ferguson and Stephen DeRosa are all well
respected Broadway talents.
Even the back-up singers, especially Lisa Howard who gave a mind blowing
performance (brought the house down) of I Have Found, form The Royal Family.
A great, great, evening!"
