False Heteros
This was supposed to be a happy one. I had typed up most of it in March, and left it for a while to marinate while I studied. Then, out of the blue, I found out that William Finn, beloved writer of A New Brain, The Marvin Trilogy, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, and more was found dead. It's a truly tragic case when someone who's written work you love passes, and even sadder when much of their work centered around death. In the wise words of Whizzer brown, you gotta die sometime, but it's such a shame to lose such an incredible writer. With that out of the way, let's get into this article.
Out of the many musicals that have consumed me, one of the most powerful has been Falsettos. It all started when I was 13, and having seen many posts about Falsettos online, I decided to give it a try. I pulled up the YouTube proshot, and sorta enjoyed it. I found it a little weird, but overall enjoyable. Then, as all my addictions seem to start, I woke up on a random thursday with the complete inability to think about anything else.
Falsettos has an actually insane plot, so buckle up buttercup this one's going to take forever to get into. Okay so our main character is named Marvin, in fact, there are three musicals written about him named 'The Marvin Trilogy'. The first musical, named In trousers follows Marvin through his childhood and adolescence, and it is so weird. Imagine watching a movie on your grandmas tv as a child when you have a heavy fever and you're so tired you feel delirious. That is the most accurate analogy I can think of to describe what it feels like to watch In trousers, some of the plot lines feel like something I made up, and a lot of it just makes no sense. The next two musicals in the trilogy are far more grounded, named March of the Falsettos and Falsettoland. These two musicals follow Marvin in his adulthood, with the second one taking place 2 years after the first. These two were combined into one larger show named Falsettos when the show had it's revival in 2016.
Falsettos (2016) follows Marvin (played by Christian Borle) navigating a relationship with his boyfriend Whizzer (Andrew Rannells) while trying to hold on to his ties with his wife and son (portrayed by Stephanie J. Block and Anthony Rosenthal respectively). It's messy, campy, fun, and tragic all at once. And as the title of this article suggests, it is very VERY gay. I'm not going to spoil the plot, mostly because I think everyone should watch this for themselves, and also because it would take me forever just to summarize act 1.
Falsettos is a beautiful show, with excellent representation of serious issues. It's commentary on Raegan era politics and the AIDS crisis can be funny while still packing a serious punch, telling a beautiful story where you care about the characters. The songs are emotionally deep and incredibly written, to the point where I'm willing to forgive every single character for every transgression they committed simply because the songs are so moving and easy to empathize with. William Finn was an excellent writer, and James Lapine did an awesome job directing it as well. If you want to watch a musical that makes you feel like you're in a dysfunctional family that has it's flaws but loves each other anyway, Falsettos (2016) is for you. If you want a musical that makes you feel like you've slipped into a fever dream, In Trousers was basically made for you. Basically, whatever you want, the Marvin Trilogy has got you covered!
P.S: I don't like Jason. At all. I know he was a child but I was his age when I watched Falsettos (I know, I know, too young, can't change the past) and he was constantly on my nerves. It's super cute to say you love your dad but I'm not sure if it's an apt moment to say that RIGHT AFTER YOUR DAD DOMESTICALLY ABUSED YOUR MOTHER. Similarly, I'm not sure if shaming girls for dressing too provocatively is a great move when you're the one failing baseball because you keep thinking about them. Anyways, I'm just realizing I'm ranting about a 12 year old boy who's family is extremely dysfunctional and now I feel bad. Conclusions are hard... bye.
Comments
Post a Comment