March of the Falsettos
Encyclopedia
March of the Falsettos is a musical
with a book, lyrics, and music by William Finn
.
A sequel to In Trousers
, the one-acter continues the story of Marvin and his journey in search of self-understanding, inner peace, and a life with a "happily ever after" ending. His extended family consists of ex-wife Trina, son Jason, gay
lover Whizzer Brown, and psychiatrist
Mendel, who complicates matters by becoming involved with Trina. By the end of the piece, Marvin is still unsettled, but he at least knows he has salvaged his relationship with his son.
Directed by James Lapine
, the production opened on May 20, 1981 at Playwrights Horizons
in New York City
, where it ran for four months. It transferred to the Westside Theatre
and continued for 268 performances. The cast included Michael Rupert
, Alison Fraser
, James Kushner
, Stephen Bogardus
, and Chip Zien
. An original cast recording was released by DRG Records.
Finn completed his Marvin trilogy
with Falsettoland
, which eventually became, with March of the Falsettos, the two-act Broadway
musical Falsettos
.
Trina, on Marvin’s recommendation, pays a visit to Mendel where she wearily wonders how her life has turned out this way. Mendel, who is instantly attracted to her, tries to console her, telling her that Love is Blind. Meanwhile, Marvin and Whizzer comment on their relationship: the two have very little in common, apart from the fact that they both love fighting and are insanely attracted to each other. Both worry that The Thrill of First Love is wearing off.
The cast presents an interlude: Marvin at the Psychiatrist, a Three-Part Mini-Opera. In part one, Mendel asks Marvin about his relationship with Whizzer and Marvin weighs the pros and cons of the relationship, ultimately concluding that he does love Whizzer. In part two, Mendel shifts the topic to Trina, and the session becomes one where Mendel, obviously aroused, interrogates Marvin about his ex-wife's bedroom habits. In part three, Marvin and Jason provide counterpoint on their strained relationship.
Jason, who is 10, is very worried that because, as he puts it, "My Father's a Homo", that he'll turn out to be one too, and is very afraid of turning out like his father. Because he is worried, he acts up, and Everyone tells Jason to See a Psychiatrist immediately. It is only after Whizzer softly adds his voice to that of his parents that Jason agrees to see Mendel.
It is very clear that Marvin is trying to pigeon-hole Whizzer into the role of homemaker, and they fight. Meanwhile, Trina complains to Mendel how her role in the family dynamic is being phased out as Whizzer becomes increasingly prominent in Marvin and Jason's lives as Marvin continues to insist that all participants get along together as one extended family. All agree that "This Had Better Come To A Stop".
Jason is acting up again, and Trina phones Mendel frantically to "Please Come To Our House" for dinner and therapy. Mendel arrives and immediately charms Trina. He and Jason settle down for Jason's Therapy, in which Jason frets about his future and Mendel, in a very round-about way, encourages him to simply relax and enjoy life. After several such dinner/sessions, Jason asks Mendel what his intentions are towards Trina, and Mendel makes A Marriage Proposal. Clumsy and neurotic though he may be, he's sincere and Trina accepts him, to Marvin's fury. He is losing his Tight-Knit Family (Reprise), and also his therapist.
In Trina's Song, the titular singer reflects on her situation. She is tired of the man's world she lives in, and even though she knows that Mendel is the same kind of man Marvin is, slightly childish and neurotic, he loves her and she could do a lot worse. She may not be exactly happy, but he's hers. In contrast, the four men sing a hymn to masculinity in all its aspects, the three adults singing in a falsetto to match Jason's unbroken voice, in the March of the Falsettos.
Marvin teaches Whizzer to play chess, but bitterness and ill-feeling boil over The Chess Game until the fight to end all fights breaks out between the two and they break up. Meanwhile, Trina and Mendel move in together and start Making a Home. As he packs, Whizzer reflects on "The Games I Play" with his own heart, and finally comes to the conclusion that he does not love Marvin.
Trina and Mendel send out wedding invitations, and Marvin goes crazy. He confronts Trina and incoherently accuses her of trying to ruin his life, finally breaking down in rage and slapping her. Shocked by his actions, both reflect that "I Never Wanted To Love You", a sentiment Whizzer repeats to Marvin and Marvin repeats to Jason and Whizzer.
Marvin is finished with Whizzer, and his relationship with Trina is in tatters, but Marvin can at least salvage his relationship with Jason, who has just discovered women to his immense relief. Marvin sits down Jason for a talk Father to Son and tells him that he loves him, and no matter what kind of man Jason turns out to be, Marvin will always be there for him.
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
with a book, lyrics, and music by William Finn
William Finn
William Alan Finn is an American composer and lyricist of musicals. His musical Falsettos received the 1992 Tony Awards for Best Music and Lyrics and for Best Book.-Biography:...
.
A sequel to In Trousers
In Trousers
In Trousers is a musical, first produced in 1979, with a book, lyrics, and music by William Finn.The one-acter centers on Marvin, who has an unnamed wife and a son, Jason...
, the one-acter continues the story of Marvin and his journey in search of self-understanding, inner peace, and a life with a "happily ever after" ending. His extended family consists of ex-wife Trina, son Jason, gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
lover Whizzer Brown, and psychiatrist
Psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...
Mendel, who complicates matters by becoming involved with Trina. By the end of the piece, Marvin is still unsettled, but he at least knows he has salvaged his relationship with his son.
Directed by James Lapine
James Lapine
James Lapine is an American stage director and librettist. He has won the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical three times, for Into the Woods, Falsettos, and Passion. He has frequently collaborated with Stephen Sondheim and William Finn.-Biography:Lapine was born in Mansfield, Ohio and graduated...
, the production opened on May 20, 1981 at Playwrights Horizons
Playwrights Horizons
Playwrights Horizons is a not-for-profit Off-Broadway theater located in New York City dedicated to the support and development of contemporary American playwrights, composers, and lyricists, and to the production of their new work....
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, where it ran for four months. It transferred to the Westside Theatre
Westside Theatre
__notoc__The Westside Theatre is an off-Broadway venue located at 407 West 43rd Street between Ninth and Tenth Avenues in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. The building houses two auditoriums: the Upstairs theater, which seats 299, and the Downstairs theater, which...
and continued for 268 performances. The cast included Michael Rupert
Michael Rupert
Michael John Rupert is an American actor, singer, director and composer.Rupert made his Broadway debut in 1968 in Kander and Ebb's The Happy Time where he received his first Tony nomination...
, Alison Fraser
Alison Fraser
Alison Fraser is an American actress and singer who has appeared in concert at such venues as Carnegie Hall, The White House, Town Hall, The Brooklyn Botanic Garden, The Tisch Center for the Arts, The Folger Shakespeare Library, The Wilma, The Emelin, Joe's Pub and Symphony space.Fraser is a two...
, James Kushner
James Kushner
James Kushner is an American actor, principally known for having originated the role of Jason in the original off-Broadway production of the William Finn/James Lapine one-act musical March of the Falsettos. He also appeared in the HBO production of Lapine's television drama Table Settings.As of...
, Stephen Bogardus
Stephen Bogardus
-Biography:Born in Norfolk, Virginia, Bogardus graduated from Choate Rosemary Hall in 1972 and Princeton University in 1976, where he was a member of the Princeton Nassoons and the Princeton Triangle Club.-Career:...
, and Chip Zien
Chip Zien
Chip Zien is an American actor. He is best known for playing the lead role of the Baker in the original Broadway production of Into the Woods by Stephen Sondheim...
. An original cast recording was released by DRG Records.
Finn completed his Marvin trilogy
Trilogy
A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected, and that can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, or video games...
with Falsettoland
Falsettoland
Falsettoland is a musical with a book by James Lapine and music and lyrics by William Finn.Following In Trousers and March of the Falsettos, it is the third in a trio of one-act musicals centering on Marvin, his wife Trina, his psychiatrist Mendel, his son Jason, and his gay lover Whizzer Brown...
, which eventually became, with March of the Falsettos, the two-act Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
musical Falsettos
Falsettos
Falsettos is a musical with a book by James Lapine and William Finn and music and lyrics by Finn, comprising March of the Falsettos and Falsettoland, the last two in a trio of one-act off-Broadway plays focusing on Marvin, his ex-wife Trina, his psychiatrist Mendel, his son Jason, and his gay...
.
Synopsis
It's 1979 in New York City, and Marvin, his son Jason, his psychiatrist Mendel and his male lover Whizzer are Four Jews In A Room Bitching (well, technically, Whizzer's only "half Jewish"). Marvin steps forward to explain his situation: He has left his wife, Trina, for Whizzer, but Marvin wants A Tight-Knit Family and is attempting to forge a new family situation with the addition of Whizzer, a situation no one is that happy with.Trina, on Marvin’s recommendation, pays a visit to Mendel where she wearily wonders how her life has turned out this way. Mendel, who is instantly attracted to her, tries to console her, telling her that Love is Blind. Meanwhile, Marvin and Whizzer comment on their relationship: the two have very little in common, apart from the fact that they both love fighting and are insanely attracted to each other. Both worry that The Thrill of First Love is wearing off.
The cast presents an interlude: Marvin at the Psychiatrist, a Three-Part Mini-Opera. In part one, Mendel asks Marvin about his relationship with Whizzer and Marvin weighs the pros and cons of the relationship, ultimately concluding that he does love Whizzer. In part two, Mendel shifts the topic to Trina, and the session becomes one where Mendel, obviously aroused, interrogates Marvin about his ex-wife's bedroom habits. In part three, Marvin and Jason provide counterpoint on their strained relationship.
Jason, who is 10, is very worried that because, as he puts it, "My Father's a Homo", that he'll turn out to be one too, and is very afraid of turning out like his father. Because he is worried, he acts up, and Everyone tells Jason to See a Psychiatrist immediately. It is only after Whizzer softly adds his voice to that of his parents that Jason agrees to see Mendel.
It is very clear that Marvin is trying to pigeon-hole Whizzer into the role of homemaker, and they fight. Meanwhile, Trina complains to Mendel how her role in the family dynamic is being phased out as Whizzer becomes increasingly prominent in Marvin and Jason's lives as Marvin continues to insist that all participants get along together as one extended family. All agree that "This Had Better Come To A Stop".
Jason is acting up again, and Trina phones Mendel frantically to "Please Come To Our House" for dinner and therapy. Mendel arrives and immediately charms Trina. He and Jason settle down for Jason's Therapy, in which Jason frets about his future and Mendel, in a very round-about way, encourages him to simply relax and enjoy life. After several such dinner/sessions, Jason asks Mendel what his intentions are towards Trina, and Mendel makes A Marriage Proposal. Clumsy and neurotic though he may be, he's sincere and Trina accepts him, to Marvin's fury. He is losing his Tight-Knit Family (Reprise), and also his therapist.
In Trina's Song, the titular singer reflects on her situation. She is tired of the man's world she lives in, and even though she knows that Mendel is the same kind of man Marvin is, slightly childish and neurotic, he loves her and she could do a lot worse. She may not be exactly happy, but he's hers. In contrast, the four men sing a hymn to masculinity in all its aspects, the three adults singing in a falsetto to match Jason's unbroken voice, in the March of the Falsettos.
Marvin teaches Whizzer to play chess, but bitterness and ill-feeling boil over The Chess Game until the fight to end all fights breaks out between the two and they break up. Meanwhile, Trina and Mendel move in together and start Making a Home. As he packs, Whizzer reflects on "The Games I Play" with his own heart, and finally comes to the conclusion that he does not love Marvin.
Trina and Mendel send out wedding invitations, and Marvin goes crazy. He confronts Trina and incoherently accuses her of trying to ruin his life, finally breaking down in rage and slapping her. Shocked by his actions, both reflect that "I Never Wanted To Love You", a sentiment Whizzer repeats to Marvin and Marvin repeats to Jason and Whizzer.
Marvin is finished with Whizzer, and his relationship with Trina is in tatters, but Marvin can at least salvage his relationship with Jason, who has just discovered women to his immense relief. Marvin sits down Jason for a talk Father to Son and tells him that he loves him, and no matter what kind of man Jason turns out to be, Marvin will always be there for him.
Song list
- Four Jews in a Room Bitching
- A Tight-Knit Family
- Love is Blind
- The Thrill of First Love
- Marvin at the Psychiatrist (A 3-Part Mini-Opera)
- My Father's a Homo
- Everyone Tells Jason to See a Psychiatrist
- This Had Better Come to a Stop
- I'm Breaking Down (Added for the Broadway run; written originally for In TrousersIn TrousersIn Trousers is a musical, first produced in 1979, with a book, lyrics, and music by William Finn.The one-acter centers on Marvin, who has an unnamed wife and a son, Jason...
) - Please Come to My House
- Jason's Therapy
- A Marriage Proposal
- Trina's Song
- March of the Falsettos
- The Chess Game
- Making a Home
- The Games I Play
- Marvin Hits Trina
- I Never Wanted to Love You
- Father to Son