In Trousers

In Trousers is a one-act musical that premiered off-Broadway in 1979 with book, music and lyrics by William Finn. It is the first in a trilogy of musicals, followed by March of the Falsettos and then Falsettoland.
The one-act musical In Trousers centers around a character named Marvin. In the production, he recalls his school years and the events that shaped him. He reminisces on his past relationships with, among others, his high school sweetheart and his English teacher Miss Goldberg. A pivotal point to the plot, however, is his realization of his homosexuality. Torn between his natural inclinations and his desire not to upset his family life, Marvin begins a struggle with his identity that continues to be a theme in the rest of the trilogy.
In Trousers, directed by Finn, was developed off-off-Broadway in 1978 and mounted twice in 1979 at the off-Broadway Playwrights Horizons, opening on February 21 for 24 performances and again on December 8 for 8. The cast—Chip Zien, Alison Fraser, Joanna Green and Mary Testa—was the same for both productions. The play was next produced off-Broadway at the Second Stage Theater in March 1981, with Jay O. Sanders (Marvin), Kate Dezina (His Wife), Alaina Reed (Miss Goldberg) and Karen Jablons (His High School Sweetheart). Direction was by Judith Swift with choreography by Marta Renzi and Sharon Kinney. The play was generally panned.
In 1985, a significantly rewritten version, with additional songs, a more cohesive storyline, and more defined characters (with Marvin's wife now named Trina), opened on March 26 at the off-Broadway Promenade Theatre, where it ran for 16 performances. Directed by Matt Casella, it starred Tony Cummings, Catherine Cox, Sherry Hursey and Kathy Garrick. (Cummings was replaced by Stephen Bogardus shortly after the show opened). In an author's note (dated April 1986) to this version, Finn wrote: "[A] lot of the material was about my learning to write the kind of show songs I want to write. So the show is about Marvin's education, and mine." In his review of this production, Frank Rich wrote: "As lovingly orchestrated by Mr. Finn's long-time collaborator Michael Starobin, the melodies linger well after the final curtain; so do running lyrical conceits built around phrases like breaking down and giddy seizures. Isn't it typical of this luckless season that the musical with the best score would be more enjoyably heard on a cast album than seen on stage?"
After In Trousers was "viciously panned," Finn considered abandoning musical theater and attending medical school. Finn also lost his singing voice permanently during a scene in the show. Finn felt that the negative reception to In Trousers was undeserved: "[I]f the critic for the Times at that time had been more responsible, it would have been a considerable debut. But as it was, he just said it was junk. So I just started writing 'March of the Falsettos'."
Finn eventually collaborated with James Lapine on two additional one-act musicals, March of the Falsettos and Falsettoland, which further explored the lives of Marvin and his family and friends. These two later were combined for a two-act Broadway production entitled Falsettos.
The original cast album was released on CD on the Original Cast record label. In reviewing the original cast recording, William Ruhlmann wrote: "Since Finn turned out to be the most impressive songwriting talent to emerge in the musical theater in the 1980s, this record, a cast recording of the 1979 production, is of more than passing interest, even if, in comparison to its successors, it is slight. Still, the music is lively and melodic, the lyrics often provocative and surprising, and the performances, notably that of Chip Zien, who appeared in the later shows in a different role, arresting." The album made some changes for reasons of time, like cutting the opening number, "Very Opening", and abbreviating several songs, most noticeably "The Rape of Miss Goldberg". The number "How America Got Its Name" was also cut, except for Marvin's final words. "How America Got Its Name" was later significantly altered, with the original off-Broadway version only being preserved in the original liner notes included with the vinylrelease of the original off-Broadway cast recording.