Tony Tuesday: Falsettos
Today we’re going back to 2017 for the revival performance of some 80s/90s musical theatre brilliance. Today’s TONY Tuesday is:
‘A Day in Falsettoland’ from Falsettos at the 2017 TONY Awards ceremony.
Falsettos is a sung-through musical that tells of Marvin who has left his wife Trina because he has fallen in love with someone else. The musical explores the impact that Marvin’s relationship with Whizzer has on his family and its dynamics with his ex-wife and son. Falsettos deals with matters of Jewish Identity, the roles that gender play in everyday life and what it was like to be gay in the 70s and 80s, as well as its positive portrayal of non-traditional family structures.
Composer William Finn first began his career with the one-act musical In Trousers, which premiered Off-Broadway in 1979, telling the story of Marvin, who although married to Trina, was struggling with his sexuality. Although the musical was largely unsuccessful, Finn followed In Trousers with another one-act musical March of the Falsettos, which explored Marvin having left Trina and embarking on his relationship with Whizzer. The latter musical proved far more successful having collaborated on the book with director James Lapine and in 1990, Finn premiered Falsettoland; the final one-act musical in his trio, which oversaw the bar mitzvah of Marvin’s son Jason and dealt with the impact of the AIDS epidemic. Falsettoland was received favourably and won the 1991 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Musical.
Finn and Lapine then decided to combine March of the Falsettos and Falsettoland into a two-act musical entitled Falsettos. This required a few rewrites to make the show’s transition run more smoothly as a cohesive structure, and also prioritised humour in a means to engage the audience and make light of the darker aspects.
The original Broadway production of Falsettos opened on Broadway on 29 April 1992. The show had a score by William Finn, with a book and direction by James Lapine. The show featured set design by Douglas Stein, costume design by Ann Hould-Ward and lighting design by Frances Aronson. The opening night cast included Michael Rupert as Marvin, Stephen Bogardus as Whizzer, Barbara Walsh as Trina, Chip Zien as Mendel, Jonathan Kaplan as Jason, Heather MacRae as Charlotte and Carolee Carmello as Cordelia. A lot of members of the original cast had been in previous productions of the three one-act musicals, Off-Broadway and regionally. Falsettos received enthusiastic reviews from public, critics, and also managed to turn a profit. The production was nominated for seven 1992 TONY awards, winning for best book and score. The production closed on 27 June 1992.
In 2015, Jordan Roth of Jujamcyn Theatre announced a planned revival of the show for the fall season of 2016 at one of their theatres under the direction of original director and book writer James Lapine. The production opened for previews on 29 September 2016. The cast included Christian Borle as Marvin, Andrew Rannells as Whizzer, Stephanie J. Block as Trina, Brand Uranowitz as Mendel, Tracie Thoms as Charlotte, Betsey Wolfe as Cordelia and Anthony Rosenthal as Jason. The revival production was also filmed and aired on PBS in late 2017. A North American tour of the Broadway revival, again helmed by James Lapine, was launched in February 2019. The tour starred Max Von Essen as Marvin, with Nick Adams as Whizzer, Eden Espinosa as Trina and Nick Blaemire as Mendel.
In 2019, it was announced that Selladoor would produce a production of Falsettos at The Other Palace Theatre. The production opened for previews on 30 August and closed on 23 November. The cast included Daniel Boys as Marvin, Oliver Saville as Whizzer, Laura Pitt-Pulford as Trina, Joel Montague as Mendel, Gemma Knight-Jones as Charlotte and Natasha J. Barnes as Cordelia. Although praised by critics, the show received criticism over its lack of Jewish presence and voices within the cast and creatives. Before the production opened, more than twenty Jewish actors, playwrights and industry creatives penned an open letter voicing their concerns, however, the production still went ahead.
Besties, if you haven’t listened to this amazing show, where have you been?!
Cast recordings available on various streaming sites, as well as the filmed version available on several theatre streaming platforms.
FACTS:
Music: William Finn
Lyrics: William Finn
Book: William Finn and James Lapine
Theatre: The John Golden Theatre and The Walter Kerr Theatre
Run: 29 April 1992 – 27 June 1993 (487 performances) and 27 October 2016 – 8 January 2017 (Around 80 performances)
TONYS:
(NOMINATED) Best Musical, Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical – Michael Rupert (1992), Christian Borle (2017), Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical – Jonathan Kaplan (1992), Andrew Rannells and Brandon Uranowitz (2017), Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical – Barbara Walsh (1992), Stephanie J. Block (2017), Best Direction of a Musical – James Lapine, Best Revival.
(WON) Best Original Score – William Finn (1992), Best Original Book – William Finn and James Lapine (1992).
