Composer William Finn will receive his own individual marquee dimming June 17.
Finn was previously included in the first group marquee light dimming June 10, which saw all 41 Broadway theatres dimming their lights for one minute in honor of Marshall Brickman, Richard Chamberlain, Finn, Athol Fugard, Helen Gallagher, Gene Hackman, Quincy Jones, Linda Lavin, Merle Louise, Ken Page, Joan Plowright, Tony Roberts, Charles Strouse, and Lynne Taylor-Corbett.
The June 10 ceremony was the first in a newly announced initiative for quarterly group dimming ceremonies, a setup established in response to earlier controversies over individual ceremonies, with certain community members being remembered while others were overlooked. Finn is the first to receive his own individual dimming in this new initiative.
As detailed by the Broadway in Memoriam Committee, select theatres will dim for Finn, including The Hayes Theater, The Broadhurst Theatre, The Gershwin Theatre, The Walter Kerr Theatre, The Circle in the Square Theatre and The Vivian Beaumont Theater. The lights will be dimmed June 17 at 6:45 PM in his honor.
Group dimming ceremonies are now scheduled for the second Tuesday of September, December, March, and June. The honor is one of the most prestigious the industry bestows. Formerly coordinated by The Broadway League, ceremonies in recent years have been given for Stephen Sondheim and Chita Rivera, among others. Controversies accompanied dimming ceremonies at only some Broadway theatres for Gavin Creel, Hinton Battle, and Adrian Bailey, among others. Online outrage prompted the Broadway League to upgrade Creel, Battle, and Bailey's ceremonies to encompass all 41 Broadway houses.
It should be noted that these new group memorials do not preclude a more traditional solo affair, said the Broadway In Memoriam Committee. The Committee added that they "reserved the right to honor single individuals" with their own ceremony should they be deemed to have had "a profoundly significant and lasting impact on Broadway." The group event also does not prevent individual theatre owners from planning their own tributes at their own theatres.
Finn was a Tony Award-winning writer best known for Falsettos and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. He passed away on April 7, 2025, at the age of 73. Read his full obituary here.
