Falsettos Revival in 2016!- Page 2

[Gothampc]

Posted: 2/5/15 at 9:34pm

"Faith Prince isn't Jewish, yet she had no trouble believably playing Trina."

Faith Prince doesn't scream shiksa like Megan Hilty does. Can you really see Marilyn Monroe playing a Jewish mother?

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 2/5/15 at 9:42pm

To me, the perfect cast for this would be:

Marvin- Christian Borle
Trina- Leslie Kritzer
Whizzer- Andrew Rannells
Mendel- Josh Grisetti
Charlotte- Sally Wilfert
Cordelia- Lisa Howard

[Sondheim_Geek]

Posted: 2/5/15 at 10:25pm

Not a world in which JB will be closed by then.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 2/5/15 at 11:32pm

Jeeezee, it took exactly one post to bring up Missy B's name for a new production.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 2/5/15 at 11:51pm

""Faith Prince isn't Jewish, yet she had no trouble believably playing Trina." "

Galavant, for what it's worth, just cast Faith Prince as a completely stereotypical Jewish mother.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 2/6/15 at 1:15am

Whatever it is about Falsettos that Means Something To People was completely lost on me. People I love and trust assured me one really needed to see the original three pieces of The Marvin Trilogy to understand the attachment they felt. All I saw was the Broadway mash-up and man, did it leave me cold. The show essentially climaxes with the act one breakdown number and has nowhere to go. I remember being appalled that a male character hits a woman in the show and it's never brought up again. And this was before it was trendy to call out violence against women like the 21st century NFL. I hope everybody here gets every dream cast they wish for but I read your lists and wonder why they would want to be in this show. And speaking of, why this show now?

[RagzJr]

Posted: 2/6/15 at 8:23am

"To me, the perfect cast for this would be:

Marvin- Christian Borle
Trina- Leslie Kritzer
Whizzer- Andrew Rannells
Mendel- Josh Grisetti
Charlotte- Sally Wilfert
Cordelia- Lisa Howard "

THIS! I actually had dream-cast this with half of the folks you chose. And, can I just say, I love that you've cast Sally Wilfert. Amen. I adore her (both professionally and personally) and think this would be the perfect piece for her. It's about time that gal got the spotlight she deserves.

[tazber]

Posted: 2/6/15 at 8:27am

I would love to see Malcolm Gets play Marvin.


Both he and Lisa Howard are William Finn regulars so hopefully they'll be cast in this.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 2/6/15 at 9:37am

"All I saw was the Broadway mash-up and man, did it leave me cold."

You are right. There's a lot of dysfunction in the show. I still believe it's a show that should remain off-Broadway. The intimacy is lost in a big house. Faith Prince created a beautiful moment with "Holding To The Ground" when it was at the Lortel. I wasn't a big Barbara Walsh fan and didn't think the show worked as well on Broadway.

Also, Falsettoland (Act 2) is very dated now. I doubt Finn will rewrite any of it, but it really needs an update.

I have my doubts this show will run very long, if it gets up at all. It's not Broadway material and needs an update. They need to at least cast a well known name in one or two of the roles to draw in the audience.

[LYLS3637]

Posted: 2/6/15 at 9:44am

Why do things need to be updated? Why can't they serve as a time capsule, for lack of a better term, of the period in which it was written?

[tazber]

Posted: 2/6/15 at 9:50am

I agree LYLS3637, especially this show.

The entire second act is about the early days of the AIDS crisis.

[Kad]

Posted: 2/6/15 at 10:20am

What's particularly dated about Falsettoland?

[Gothampc]

Posted: 2/6/15 at 10:30am

"What's particularly dated about Falsettoland?"

As Rent put it: people living with, not dying from, AIDS.

The first part (March of the Falsettos) was about relationships. Finn was pushed to create an "ending" to that show and he wrote Falsettoland. However, Falsettoland became less about relationships and more about social issues. The opening reads like a Democratic Party platform "Homosexuals, women and children..."

Everyone completely ignores Part 1 (In Trousers) which has some better songs and is in many ways superior to Falsettoland.

IMO, Falsettoland is the weakest of the trilogy because it moves away from the universal subject of relationships and tries to be a musical The Normal Heart.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 2/6/15 at 10:35am

"Why do things need to be updated? Why can't they serve as a time capsule, for lack of a better term, of the period in which it was written?"

What's the point? If it doesn't have some universal meaning to it or doesn't speak to a new generation, why do it? If the musical were more like Hair where you could get into the feeling of the 60s, then ok. But Falsettoland doesn't allow for that. We should just do it because "This was the way it was in the 80s?"

[Kad]

Posted: 2/6/15 at 10:35am

I think relationships are still very much the center of Falsettoland- there's actually very little critique about how the early days of HIV/AIDS were handled.

I mean, the event of the show is Jason's bar mitzvah, not the characters assembling to fight the yet-unnamed disease.

Updated On: 2/6/15 at 10:35 AM

[Gothampc]

Posted: 2/6/15 at 10:41am

"there's actually very little critique about how the early days of HIV/AIDS were handled."

Yes there is, that's the only reason the role of the woman doctor exists. All those lines about Nancy Reagan. And all that warning "Something bad is happening" There was already a doctor in the show, a second one wasn't needed.

I also think Whizzer's music in Falsettoland really stinks. In "March" you have the awesome "Only Games I Play." It's a universal song, and I'm surprised it hasn't been recorded more. You come back for Act 2 and all you get is the death song from Whizzer, which is a bit creepy. It's a huge letdown.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 2/6/15 at 10:44am

***spoiler alert*** don't read this if you haven't seen the show****


"I mean, the event of the show is Jason's bar mitzvah, not the characters assembling to fight the yet-unnamed disease."

But Jason doesn't get a bar mitzvah. He so selflessly does it at Whizzer's hospital bed. They spend all that time on the bar mitzvah only to make it about AIDS.

[Kad]

Posted: 2/6/15 at 10:48am

He does it at Whizzer's bedside because of the relationship of Whizzer to the family. Jesus, Goth. How terrible of Finn to write a show in 1990 about gay men and women that features AIDS. And even more egregiously explores how AIDS brought people together.

Updated On: 2/6/15 at 10:48 AM

[Gothampc]

Posted: 2/6/15 at 10:49am

To be honest, I'd rather see In Trousers and March of the Falsettos joined together, with only "Holding To The Ground" and "What More Can I Say" brought over.

[kidmanboy]

Posted: 2/6/15 at 10:49am

"But Jason doesn't get a bar mitzvah. He so selflessly does it at Whizzer's hospital bed. They spend all that time on the bar mitzvah only to make it about AIDS"

This, to me, is exaclty WHY this show isn't JUST about AIDS. This show is about family and relationships dealing with and overcoming tragedy. The family improvising the bar mitzvah at the hospital is a story of coping, of making do with and appreciating who and what we have...I actually find the themes of the second act to be much more universal than the very specific neuroses of the first act.

[Kad]

Posted: 2/6/15 at 10:51am

I've never seen In Trousers - how many people can say they have?- but I do enjoy the cast recording, and have read the published libretto, which is very much at odds with what's on the recording.

Despite featuring some of Finn's best songs - "Love Me for What I Am," "I Am Wearing a Hat," "Set Those Sails," to name a few - the show is almost totally incoherent.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 2/6/15 at 10:53am

Kad, when people are close to certain stories, they can't step back and cast a critical eye on it. This has been the trouble with this show. Gay people can't step back and see its flaws. I think In Trousers and March are decent musicals, but Falsettos doesn't rise to the level of the other two. It's "tears and schmaltz" without any redeeming value.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 2/6/15 at 10:57am

"there's actually very little critique about how the early days of HIV/AIDS were handled."

I was involved with AIDS activism and saw the show with a God's Love We Deliver mainstay and we both hated the way AIDS is handled in the show.

[Kad]

Posted: 2/6/15 at 10:57am

What did you hate about it?

[Gothampc]

Posted: 2/6/15 at 10:59am

"the show is almost totally incoherent."

I agree partially with that. It's a non-linear story that never really gelled. But the music is far better than Falsettoland. It has universal themes such as lonliness in the song "Another Sleepless Night" self-esteem "Love Me For What I Am" and how life doesn't turn out the way we want it "How The Body Falls Apart"

Updated On: 2/6/15 at 10:59 AM