“Falsettos” Continues Its March—at 42nd St. Moon
Finn & Lapine’s Revolutionary Musical Still Charms
by Lynne Stevens
The Jewish American tradition is rich with humor, melodrama, and heart. “Falsettos,” the enduring musical by William Finn and James Lapine bursts with energy and tells the truth about a 1980s New York Jewish family at the cusp of changing times. This peppy non-stop musical is mostly sung-through, starting with “Four Jews in a Room Bitching,” setting the show’s witty, comic tone.
Scenic Designer Isaac Fine has the cast do double duty, shifting psychiatrist’s couch, stools, and furniture. The Manhattan skyline silhouette provides backdrop for this tale of family destruction and reconstruction.
Self-centered Dad Marvin (commanding William Giammona) is hardly a loving family man. A “nebbish,” his selfishness makes him easy to dislike. Marvin leaves his loving wife for a man. In contrast, Marvin’s new lover Whizzer (flirty Samuel Prince) is liked by everyone. Whizzer befriends Marvin’s bright loner son Jason (exasperated Madelyn Simon), enthusiastically coaching him at baseball. But Whizzer laughs at monogamy, flaunting his sex appeal, much to Marvin’s distress.
Even loving families can mess you up. Evidently, 80s New York Jewish families relied heavily on psychotherapy to fix their neuroses—thanks to Sigmund Freud.
Anxious Mom Trina (clever Ariela Morgenstern) falls for the family psychiatrist Mendel (earnest Gary Brintz). Their union is blissful until Marvin becomes jealous, still yearning after his tight-knit Jewish family. Everyone expends a great deal of energy and frustration over planning Jason’s Bar Mitzvah. His parents are fighting so much that Jason doesn’t want to do it at all. It’s about becoming a man. And perhaps about all these men becoming men.
In “Love Is Blind,” they sing: “Love can tell a million stories / Love’s unkind / Spiteful in a million ways.” You cannot help with whom you fall in love. Maybe “falsettos” means faking it—being false to our natures. Do we sing low when we want to sing high? A puzzle worth pondering.
Marvin, Whizzer, Mendel, and Jason dance robotically to “March of the Falsettos,” thanks to imaginative Choreographer Leslie Waggoner. Dressed in Costume Designer Stephanie Dittbern’s clear, clever rain-suits, they create a spectacle. Are they finding new roles as men?
While Trina sings “I’m Breaking Down,” she furiously chops phallic carrots and bananas. Morgenstern is all over the stage. She writhes and dances, going bananas acting out her anguish at her husband’s rejection. I had a hard time understanding some of Morgenstern’s lyrics as Trina; but that didn’t stop me from enjoying her enthusiastic acting and singing.
In the early 80s, AIDS is rising. “Something Bad is Happening” sings Dr. Charlotte (veteran actor Cindy Goldfield), one of the “two lesbians next door.” Her partner Cordelia (comic Monica Rose Slater), a lighthearted caterer, creates kosher nibbles for Jason’s Bar Mitzvah. The lesbians become a crucial part of this new, extended family.
As AIDS marches on, threatening the friends, the lyrics curse Ronald Reagan for not evening mentioning AIDS. The Great Communicator remained silent on this one.
The steadfast cast of seven belts out its collective heart, creating an entertaining and enlightening evening for today’s families.
“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 42nd 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: Ariela Morgenstern, Will Giammona, Madelyn Simon, Gary Brintz, Monica Rose Slater, Cindy Goldfield. Photos: Ben Krantz Studio