Falsettos

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 2:55pm

I finally bought the CD box set for FALSETTOS (MARCH OF THE FALSETTOS and FALSETTOLAND). I'm enjoying them both, especially FALSETTOLAND. However, what is the meaning of the term "Falsettos" (besides the number where they all sing in their falsetto voices -- what is the significance of this)? Is it a play on words (both the musical term, and a parsing of "False-etto")?

It's also an intimate, domestic musical -- how does it play in the theatre? Is the clownish aspect evident in the staging, or is it just my imaginatino?

Updated On: 3/13/05 at 02:55 PM

[Unknown User]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 3:15pm

Sigmund Freud would have a field day-

A falsetto is a high, childish or womanly voice used by someone who should be more mature and manly. It's by nature false and misleading.

It's usually staged as a dream (or nightmare, take your pick). The director can pack it full of omenous symbolism.

And what a wonderful show! Here in Chicago a theatre company is staging all of Finn's shows in Rep starting later this month. Can't wait to see a matinee/evening combo of "In Trousers" and "Falsetttos".

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 3:19pm

JoeKv, i'm sooooooooooooooooooooooooo inconceivably jealous!

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 4:42pm

My college did Falsettos a couple years ago, wish I were there to be part of it!

[misterchoi]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 5:32pm

it played wonderfully in a theatre-in-the-round where I recently saw it.

[commasplice]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 6:17pm

Joe, are you going to the Finn Festival? I'm very jealous - I'm not going to be back in Chicago til May.

[windtossed]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 6:28pm

To elaborate on JoeKv99's reply -- I think I read somewhere -- it might even have been in the cover of my March of the Falsettos CD, that the significance of the falsetto voice is to show that all of the men singing in it (Marvin, Whizzer and Mendel, and to some extent, Jason, even though Jason is singing in his normal range) have not yet grown up, Marvin, in particular. You can see this really clearly in the first part of the trilogy, In Trousers. Marvin is childish (as are Whizzer and Mendel), and it's showing through the falsetto voice.

Marvin essentially just doesn't know what he wants, even if he says he 'wants it all,' in March. In the last song, "Father to Son," I personally think that Marvin has started to grow up because of his loss of everyone that was close to him, significantly Jason, because he's singing in his normal range. He then reconciles with Jason and realizes that he can't have everything. And I'm sorry that I'm kind of incoherent. Did that make any sense?
Updated On: 3/13/05 at 06:28 PM

[Unknown User]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 6:35pm

You gots it Wind. Remember, "You'll be, Kid. A Man, kid. If nothing goes wrong."

Or should that be "A Man-kid." Hmmmmmmmmmmmm...

I love shows that make you think.

[windtossed]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 6:49pm

I think it's "... a man, kid." I don't feel like whipping out the libretto out though, so I might be wrong.

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 7:41pm

That's a great explanation. But why are the two parts named "March of theFalsettos," and "Falsettoland"?

[Glebb]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 7:47pm

Saw Falsettos on Broadway several years ago.
Loved the actress who played Trina.
I also remember her from Forbidden Broadway (back when the show was excellent). Can't remember her name and wonder what she is doing these days.

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 3/14/05 at 2:01am

BUMP

Does no one want to talk about this show anymore? What was it like on Broadway? I've never had the chance to see it, so I'm hoping to live vicariously through the rest of you!

[eslgr8]

Posted: 3/14/05 at 2:23am

Seeing Falsettos in 1992 with the original Broadway cast in Los Angeles was one of the most overwhelming experiences I've ever had in the theater. I was quite closeted and totally isolated from whatever the term "gay community" means. And I sat there trembling as I watched this gay man and his lover and his ex-wife and his son and the psychiatrist and the lesbians next door, but mostly Marvin and Whizzer and so envied what they had (despite the premature end to their love story) and there was a gay couple in the theater in front of me and... Well, it took a year or two for me to come out, and I never found my Whizzer, but the show remains for me a watershed experience (hope I'm using that term right). William Finn's very special musical talents shine in this show, and every performance of that superb cast (Michael Rupert, Stephen Bogardus, Chip Zien, Barbara Walsh, Carolee Carmello, Heather MacRae, and the actor who played the son, sorry I can't recall his name) live in my memory of that afternoon at the theater. I saw a very small theater production in West Hollywood a few years later (obviously I was out by then) and though it couldn't measure up to what I'd seen the first time, it was still a very special evening for me. And now, even more years later, I'm excited that a small Orange County theater (Costa Mesa Playhouse) is doing it for a month in June and I get to see it again. Don't know how good it'll be, but I expect that the music and the story will be enough to make it special once again. BlueWizard...love your icon. I was so lucky to see an early performance of DRS in San Diego last September. Norbert Leo is a star! By the way, there are other threads on Falsettos and William Finn here if you search for them. Oh, one more thing: Since Act 1 (March of the Falsettos) was written at the time it takes place (pre-AIDS) and Act 2 was written many years later, there is a special irony when you see them performed together because there is no irony in the first act's optimism, no foreshadowing of what is to come, because no one could have imagined it at that time.

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 3/14/05 at 2:59am

Thanks eslgr8 for your wonderful post (and thanks for the compliment on the icon -- I was likewise lucky to catch NRB on my recent short trip to NYC). It's moving to hear how this show has affected your life and others. I've had the two FALSETTOS albums in my stereo for days and I can't stop listening to them -- some of the melodies are challenging, but ultimately rewarding and delightful.

I previously did a search for other FALSETTO threads, but the discussions were short and one turned into a rather strange argument; so I'm hoping to resurrect this as a topic for discussion! Can someone comment on the vaudeville/clownish elements in the music, ie. the fast-paced, quirky progression of the music? I find that it gives a unique flavour to this idiosyncratic musical. How did the production design reflect this tone of the piece?

Updated On: 3/14/05 at 02:59 AM

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 3/14/05 at 8:40am

I'm listening to it right now. It is one of my favorite shows, and seeing it live was so moving and incredible. William Finn is a true genius.

[eslgr8]

Posted: 3/14/05 at 10:40am

I don't recall that the show was particularly clownish, more or less straightforward in its staging, plain black set with props (chairs, tables, bleachers for the baseball scene). Good resources with pictures from the show are the following websites you might want to check out are the Falsettos website (link below) and

http://www.jrockingr.com/ (Michael Rupert's Website)
FALSETTOS WEBSITE

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 3/14/05 at 11:19am

I think the name Falsettoland was just an extension of March of the Falsettos as a sequel. It brings back the characters from March of the Falsettos and introduces new characters and presents a broader picture of everyone's lives rather than simply focusing on Marvin.

I saw Falsettos on Broadway with my father on Broadway (and later on tour with my entire family) and it remains one of the top three most emotional theatrical experiences I've witnessed. I can never bring myself to attend a regional production because I just don't think it could ever live up to the amazing staging and performances I had previously seen and I don't want to taint those memories. I might see In Trousers in Chicago since it is rarely produced, but that's all I wish to see in the Finn-a-thon. I saw a video of A New Brain at the Lincoln Center Library and performed the show in Houston, so I'm kind of burned out on it for a while. And after hearing Elegies on CD, I don't think I'll get any more out of it seeing it live.

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 3/15/05 at 3:01am

I found the explanation of the "falsetto" reference.

"In a 1993 interview Finn explained the musical allusion in the play's title by saying that the falsetto is a voice outside the normal range and that he "was writing about people outside the normal range of people [he] grew up with in Massachusetts.""

From
http://www.glbtq.com/arts/finn_w.html

I'm listening to the recording right now: "This is where we take a stand....welcome to Falsettoland."

[eslgr8]

Posted: 3/15/05 at 3:16am

I just realized who BlueWizard is. I like that picture of you with the pointy hair!

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 3/15/05 at 3:25am

Thanks! I've been thinking about using a real picture of me as my avatar, but I'm just too shy. And who can take away the magic that is Norbert?

But you realized "who" I am? Have we met?

Listening to FALSETTOLAND at 3:30 in the morning is contagious.

Updated On: 3/15/05 at 03:25 AM

[eslgr8]

Posted: 3/15/05 at 10:58am

No, never met'ya. But you've got self-pix in the fan photos section. Anyway, glad you like Falsettos so much, as do I! (PS: It's unfortunate that they didn't record the Broadway version of the combined two acts. The two CDs currently available are of the original productions. Apparently there are lyric changes in Act 1, and a great song from In Trousers "I'm Breaking Down" was added to Act 2. It would be nice to have had the "complete" version of Falsettos. As it is, I can't complain because the 2-CD set is a pretty good representation of what I saw on that special afternoon in L.A. in 92.)

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 3/15/05 at 1:55pm

Blue Wizard...

Did you see FALSETTOS when it was done in Toronto 2 years ago by Scorborough Music Theatre? It was an excellent production, one of the best I have ever seen done by that group.

When I first saw it on Broadway in 1992, I hoped that it would be picked up and done by community groups. Even though it ran only a year on Broadway it was economically produced and turned a profit so it was Hit in all senses of the word.

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 3/16/05 at 12:44am

No, I didn't get to see that production! I find it very hard to find information on what other shows are being produced around the city.

FALSETTOS seems like a very difficult show for a community group to do -- the harmonies and lyrics are as difficult to master as Sondheim's. How do theatre troupes rise to the challenge?

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 3/16/05 at 1:42am

The cast at Scarborough were all totally committed to playing the parts. The actor playing Marvin campaigned to get the role (he lost his brother to AIDS and dedicated his performance to his memory); The young man playing Whizzer (younger than usually cast but perfect for the part) had an outstanding voice and stage presence. He nailed "You Gotta Die Sometime" with intense passion, far better than Stephen Bogardus on the OCR (or when I saw him on Broadway.) The cast was so involved in the show that at the end of each performance when they comfort Marvn after Whizzer dies, the tears and sniffles were genuine. (I went back to see the show twice more after the opening...closing night was especially emotional.) SMT usually does more adventurous shows in their mid-season slot (February.) Last year it was ASSASSINS. This year was GOODBYE GIRL. Next year its NIGHT MUSIC. Their spring show in May this year is LA CAGE AUX FOLLES.

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 3/16/05 at 2:00am

Ah yes, I've heard of them recently! A friend of mine, Tessa, is in LA CAGE in May. Can't wait to see the show.

Sad I missed FALSETTOS. If you have any future recommendations Frontrowcentre, please don't hesitate to post them!

Updated On: 3/16/05 at 02:00 AM