Originally produced on Broadway in
1992 based on the book by James
Lapine and William Finn, music and lyrics
by Finn, "Falsettos" is back on stage of the Walter Kerr Theater. The
first production was nominated for the Tony Award in seven categories and won
two of them: Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score. The 2016 revival,
produced by Lincoln Center Theater, has a good chance to score again with
its brilliant cast and direction by James Lapine.
photo by Joan Marcus
The story is set in 1979 and 1981 and
features a New York "modern family" of the time – Marvin (Christian
Borle), his ex-wife Trina (Stephanie J. Block), his lover Whizzer (Andrew
Rannells), and his son Jason (Anthony Rosenthal): "very Jewish, very
middle-class". Marvin and Trina, and later their 10-year old son, all see the
same psychiatrist, Mendel, whom Trina marries after divorcing her gay
husband. A lesbian couple next-door, Dr. Charlotte (Tracie Thoms) and Cordelia
(Betsy Wolfe) join the company in the second act to help move the family drama
to a much large scale.
"Falsettos" is a wild mix
of campy silliness and painful reality. Lapine and Finn take the audience on a
rollercoaster ride full of unexpected twists and loops. The journey starts with
“Four Jews in a Room Bitching” with the four male stars of the show dressed in
colorful, “biblical times” outfits. With their canes, wigs and beards they
break the ice as though with napalm. So much so that I hear the “noise” of this
blast long after Trina collects their costumes in a laundry basket and the
company moves onto singing about the unusual circumstances of their family
life.
Marvin wants to have it all: a family
and a lover. Young Jason seems frustrated by the family dynamic and only wants
to play chess. Trina is “breaking down” in her solo number in the kitchen,
tying to channel the annoyance at her ex and romantic feelings to her psychiatrist
into cooking. Stephanie J. Block swings the knife like a maniac, playing the
housewife’s nervous meltdown on the edge of hilarious and terrifying.
Camp reaches its peak in the number
“March of the Falsettos” towards the end of the first act. The four male
characters of the play are dressed in white tennis outfits with neon-orange
stripes and matching sneakers. The outfits are complete with sunglasses and
hats topped with little propellers. The number is sung mostly in hi-pitch
voices accompanied by “robot arms” choreography. Oh, and everything is
happening under the florescent light.
The set designer, David Rockwell,
honored the minimalism of the original production but executed it in his own
way. As members of the audience enter, they see a grey cube in the middle of
the stage consisting of modules a-la 3D Tetris. Performers use these modules as
chars, tables, and entryways, resembling the way characters are trying to build
a house and a family. Some impressive constructions were created out of these
grey blocks, the only real pieces of furniture being the setting of a hospital
room.
The first act seems like a coherent
story by itself and that is no coincidence. Music, lyrics and the book were
written by William Finn as a one-act musical “March of the Falsettos” and
premiered in 1981 at the off-Broadway Playwrights Horizons theater. A 1979
one-act musical by Finn, “Trousers”, was the first in a trilogy centered on the
immediate and extended family of Marvin. The series was completed in 1990 with
“Falsettoland”, with music and lyrics by Finn and book by Lapine, which became
a second act of the Broadway “Falsettos”.
“Falsettos” looks much like a creation
of its time – camp and AIDS were probably the most common associations with
gays in the end of the 80s/beginning of the 90s. But, not only does it gives a
historic prospective to those who weren’t around at that time, it’s also an
incredibly heartwarming story of a family who tries to stay together through it
all.
“Falsettos” opened
on October 27th and will run until January 8th at the
Walter Kerr Theater. Tickets are available by phone at Ticketmaster
(800-982-2787) and at the box office. For information, tickets and more visit http://www.lct.org/shows/falsettos/
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