Finn & Lapine Still Singing High & Proud

by Jesse Antin

In 42nd Street Moon’s outstanding new production of “Falsettos,” the characters’ futures becomes our past, offering a retrospective that’s both satisfying and heartbreaking.

Set in 1979, the sung-through musical braids themes that still simmer: sexual identity, the chosen family, feminism, Judaism, and global pandemic. This production’s sparkling performances keep the conflicts fresh and relevant.

Director Dennis Lickteig drops clues that this New York Jewish family is wrestling with Time on our behalf: every one of them wears a wristwatch. Whose days are numbered? What do we know that they don’t?

Dad Marvin (William Giammona) has run out of time being straight: he explains off the bat that he has left his wife to be with a man. The range and power of Giammona’s silvery tenor give perfect voice to his journey. Marvin travels from traditional husband to conflicted dad to honest gay partner.

As the mom Trina, Ariela Morgenstern’s incandescent tone beautifully communicates her torment. Her family is disintegrating as she sings “I’m Breaking Down,” her show-stopping vaudeville solo. Morgenstern’s emasculation of a “banana-carrot surprise” is both terrifying and hilarious.

Marvin and Trina’s 10-year-old son Jason (Yuval Weissberg) has between zero and four skilled parents, depending on the moment. Young Weissberg sympathetically navigates pre-adolescence, rendering “the most beautiful thing” in—yes—a high falsetto rivaling the choir boys of Vienna.

Act One left me questioning. Their psychiatrist Mendel—expertly played, with laughs, by Gary Brintz—might be the worst therapist in New York City. Why is he seducing Trina, his client? Why is Marvin hitting Trina, and why is she forgiving him while he sings “I Want It All”?

Although in 2024 we have not yet dismantled the patriarchy, at times the gender norms of a half century ago look primitive.

Meanwhile, the charming lesbian couple next door Charlotte (Cindy Goldfield) and Cordelia (Monica Rose Slater) speak their minds: They are out and proud. Marvin and his lover Whizzer—played with charm and flair by Samuel Prince—share passionate kisses and kinky double entendres.

But while gay love and new style families were pioneering in 1981, gay life plays pm network-TV nowadays. With a half-century of hindsight, “Falsettos” reminds us that we’ve made progress, but the journey continues.

Neighbor Charlotte, a doctor, sings with alarm that “Something Bad Is Happening.” It’s heartbreaking to revisit the early days of the AIDS epidemic— tears flow in the audience for past and present victims of viral disease.

The surrealist number “March of the Falsettos” adds some mystery. The four male characters dance in transparent raincoats and sing at high pitch. Maybe they are all revolting against conventional male roles. Maybe they are using the voice we had as a child, making us vulnerable again.

The old-fashioned rules are up for grabs. There’s no single way to be a parent, a kid, or a lover. Relationships are complicated, and dangers lurk. The catchy songs and Moon’s appealing, talented cast take us on a joyride back to the future. It’s a touching trip in a musical time machine.

 

“Falsettos” –book by William Finn & James Lapine, music & lyrics by William Finn, directed by Dennis Lickteig, music directed by Dave Dobrusky, choreographed by Leslie Waggoner, by 42^nd Street Moon, San Francisco. Info: 42ndstreetmoon.org – to March 17, 2024.

Cast: Gary Brintz, Will Giammona, Cindy Goldfield, Ariela Morgenstern, Samuel Prince, Madelyn Simon, Monica Rose Slater, and Yuval Weissberg.

The Band: Dave Dobrusky, piano; Ken Brill, synthesizer; Terry Halvorson, woodwinds; and Kirk Duplantis, percussion.

Banner photo: Yuval Weissberg, Will Giammona, Gary Brintz, Samuel Prince, & Ariela Morgenstern. Photos: Ben Krantz Studio