Falsettos Wiki

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## Description

*Falsettos* is a musical made by William Finn and James Lapine. Consisting of two merged one acts from the *Marvin Trilogy*, *March of the Falsettos* (1981) and *Falsettoland* (1990). It tells the story of Marvin, his ex-wife Trina, his son Jason, his lover Whizzer, his therapist Mendel, and the lesbians from next door, Dr. Charlotte and Cordelia. The story takes place in the late seventies and early eighties. There is also another one act in the Trilogy that is set before *Falsettos:* *In Trousers* (1979), written and directed by Finn, which is the first part of the *Marvin Trilogy*.

*Falsettos* originally ran on Broadway from April 29th, 1992 until June 27th, 1993, a run of 487 performances. A Broadway revival ran from October 27th, 2016 and closed on the 8th of January 2017. *Falsettos* was also featured on the West End in 2019 running from the 30th of August to the 23rd of October.

This wiki is rather underdeveloped. If you have knowledge on creating wiki pages, and are well versed in Falsettos and In Trousers, please consider helping us out!

## Characters

* Marvin, a gay man; Whizzer's lover
* Whizzer, Marvin's lover
* Trina, Marvin's ex-wife
* Jason, Marvin and Trina's son
* Mendel, a psychiatrist; Trina's husband
* Cordelia, a kosher caterer; Charlotte's lover
* Charlotte, a doctor; Cordelia's lover

## 2016 Revival

### **Act 1 - March Of The Falsettos**

The first act of the show is the second entry of the *Marvin Trilogy*: *March Of The Falsettos*, and it's a direct follow-up to the first entry, *In Trousers*.

It opens with 4 of the 5 main characters (Marvin, Whizzer, Mendel, and Jason) wearing period costumes of stereotypical representations of Jews, making fun of the stereotype. While they're dancing and singing, Trina arrives and starts organizing the stage so the play can actually begin. This is very representative of the dynamic the characters are going to have during the first act (Four Jews In a Room Bitching).

Right after this we have a more formal opening, with Marvin explaining their current situation to the audience (he was married to Trina and they had a son, Jason, but he left them to be with his lover, Whizzer, to whom he refers as his "friend" for most of the song). Marvin also shows little to no actual empathy for the situation he is forcing his family into. We also hear from Trina, who goes to see Marvin's psychiatrist, Mendel, to talk about her fears and feelings regarding her everything going on in her life, and it's here when we start finding out about Marvin's manipulation of Trina, Jason's hatred for his father, and how she found out Marvin was cheating on her with Whizzer. This is also the first time we see hints of Mendel having romantic feelings for Trina (A Tight-Knit Family / Love Is Blind).

What comes next is the first time we see Marvin and Whizzer interact as a couple, and it starts with confrontation. They start fighting because Marvin refuses to hang his clothes and end up discussing the length of their relationship (Whizzer says they've been together for 9 months, but Marvin says 10). They explain to the audience how their relationship mostly depends on sex and physical attraction rather than love.

They fight a lot, with Whizzer having a more playful approach and Marvin seeming a bit more aggressive (considering what comes later, this seems pretty in character), but they claim to enjoy it, even saying it's one of the few things they actually have in common (The Thrill of First Love).

We get a look into 3 of Marvin's therapy sessions with Mendel (and an *In Trousers reference* with Whizzer narrating the scene the same way High School Sweetheart did during *The R\*\*\* of Miss Goldberg*).

The first session Mendel asks about Whizzer and Marvin admits to loving him. He also says that Whizzer is "sometimes evil", but this is a description both Trina and Whizzer use later for him, so there is a chance he is trying to take the blame away from himself. The second session is composed entirely of Mendel asking incredibly intrusive and personal questions to Marvin only to find things out about Trina, to the point that when the session ends and he asks Marvin how he is, he replies with "So, now you're interested in me?". The third and final session is about Jason and how horrible their relationship is, with Marvin asking Mendel how to fix it. He doesn't get an answer, and if he does, we don't hear it (Marvin at the Psychiatrist - A Three-Part Mini-Opera).

We abruptly change the tone and listen to Jason who makes fun of his father for being gay while simultaneously being terrified to end up being like him (gay and/or an a\*\*hole).We also learn about Trina's concerns regarding her son, and along with Marvin they beg him to see a psychiatrist, but he refuses. He asks to speak with Whizzer, who tells him he should go, and only then he agrees, with the condition that Mendel must go to their house (My Father's a Homo / Everyone Tells Jason to See a Psychiatrist).

Just as he's finishing his conversation with Jason, Whizzer's alarm goes off and he is rushed back home by Marvin, who throws him on the couch and scolds him for, basically, not being the perfect housewife. Whizzer tries to stand up for himself but Marvin doesn't let him (either by interrupting, grabbing him or hitting his hands). We jump to Trina, who is reminiscing about her time with Marvin and tells Mendel all the things she did for him. Whizzer and Trina call Marvin out for being horrible to them, while Marvin demands Mendel to fix all the problems he's created rather than solving them himself or becoming a better person. Trina realized that everything she did for Marvin was because he forced her, and everyone comes to the realization that Marvin is, in fact, the problem (This Had Better Come to a Stop).

After this, we have the first solo in the musical, and it's Trina's. She is singing about her feelings regarding Marvin leaving her for Whizzer, how she feels about Whizzer and starts coming to terms with the fact she likes Mendel (I'm Breaking Down), this immediately followed by her calling Mendel to please go to their house for Jason's therapy. He agrees (mostly because he wants to see Trina) and Jason tells him about his fear of becoming anything like his dad (gay and/or an a\*\*hole), and Mendel's life-saving advice is "Why don't you feel alright for the rest of your life?". Funnily enough, this seems to work, because when Jason questions Mendel about his intentions with Trina and he freaks out, Jason replies with the same advice and (somehow) it works (Please Come to Our House / Jason's Therapy).

With his new-found confidence, Mendel proposes to Trina, who says yes. Marvin isn't happy with this, since he is convinced that everything his ex-wife does is to attack him. Mendel is aware of his discontent with the situation, but he isn't willing to bend only to make Marvin happy (A Marriage Proposal / A Tight-Knit Family (Reprise)).

Trina has a second solo, this time about her feelings regarding not only Marvin and Whizzer, but also Mendel and Jason. She explains that she is tired of them not taking anything seriously and acting as if their actions don't have consequences. This is interrupted by said men dressed up in white clothes, dancing around and singing in falsetto voices. They leave as Trina continues with her song, saying that despite being sick and tired of them, she's going to live her life for herself, not a man (Trina's Song / March of the Falsettos / Trina's Song (Reprise)).

The next thing we see is another confrontation between Marvin and Whizzer, though in theory this one is supposed to be nothing more than a game of chess. Whizzer doesn't know how to play or is acting like he doesn't, but either way Marvin is dictating his every move, and they both grow bored pretty quickly, so Whizzer suggests Marvin should let him win. He agrees, but as Whizzer is winning he regrets it. The game is a metaphor for their relationship, and it's that little win, that one time Whizzer didn't allow Marvin to control him that annoys him so badly he breaks up with Whizzer and kicks him out (The Chess Game).

The chaos and heartbreak is interrupted by Trina, Mendel and Jason, who are calmly organizing their new home, pretending to be happier than they actually are (could be "fake it 'til you make it" or denial, who knows?). Trina wonders if one of these men (it's not known who she's referring to) should love her, Mendel wonders if Trina should love him, and Whizzer if Marvin could love him, as he is starting to blame himself for everything that happened (Making a Home). He explains he had a pretty nice routine, not really worrying or taking responsibility for things that weren't his fault, but it's clear as the song goes on that he feels guilty for the way things ended, as well as explaining how it was hard for him to show his love to Marvin (The Games I Play).

As the songs ends, Marvin abruptly enters Mendel and Trina's home, sarcastically thanking them for sending him an invitation to their wedding. He is still sure everything they do is to humiliate him or make him look bad. Trina and Whizzer admit he was sweet at times, but he was also mean, with Whizzer even admitting that he doesn't love Marvin, or at least not the person he's become. Marvin, filled with rage and a desperate need of control hits Trina[1] (Marvin Hits Trina).

Still shocked by what just happened, Trina tells Marvin that she never wanted to love him, Mendel tells Trina that he lover her more than he means to, and Whizzer tells Marvin he never wanted to love him in a "we're going to spend the rest of our lives together" way, but Marvin's comments are the most heart wrenching. He tells Jason he never wanted to love him, same with Whizzer, but he says to Trina that he did want to love her as his voice breaks. He was so desperately trying to play the role of the happy straight husband, but even after all, he couldn't and he's broken his family again (I Never Wanted to Love You).

Marvin realizes how bad is the damage he's done, and apologizes to Jason for everything he's put the family through and promises him to always be there for him, no matter what (Father to Son).

### **Act 2 - Falsettoland**

The second act opens with Mendel talking directly to the audience[2] as he lays out a bit of context for the audience that Marvin later expands on, like the fact that Trina and him have shared custody over Jason and that his bar mitzvah approaches, the addition of Dr. Charlotte and Cordelia to the cast, and he reminds the audience that him and Whizzer broke up. He also shows significant character development by showing affection to the lesbians from next door and admiration towards Jason and how mature he's become (Falsettoland / About Time).

## Trivia

* For the 2016 Revival Proshot, Marvin tries to walk up to Trina saying something along the lines of "Baby, you know that-". The fact that Marvin's immediate reaction to hitting her is reverting back to pet names normally used by couples has created a generally accepted theory that says Marvin had probably hit Trina before, probably more than once.[1]

* At least in the PBS Proshot, Mendel calls the entire audience "homosexuals" at the beginning of *Falsettoland / About Time.*[2]

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