William “Bill” Finn, the acclaimed writer and composer of the 1992 musical Falsettos and 2005’s The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, died Monday, April 7, following a lengthy illness. He was 73.

His death was confirmed to Deadline by his literary agent Ron Gwiazda.

Born February 28, 1952, in Natick, Massachusetts, and raised in a conservative Jewish household, Finn was a two-time Tony Award winner – Best Book and Best Original Score for the AIDS-themed Falsettos. He began crafting what would become his signature work even before the plague years began. In the late 1970s he wrote the one-act Off Off Broadway musical In Trousers, focusing on a gay man named Marvin coming to terms with his homosexuality.

In 1981, Finn wrote a sequel, March of the Falsettos, in which Marvin continues his journey of self-discovery but now with an extended family that includes his ex-wife Trina, son Jason, lover Whizzer Brown and a psychiatrist Mendel...