Openly gay composer and lyricist William Finn’s stunning Tony Award winning show Falsettos that he wrote with James Lapine is actually made up of the 2nd two parts of a musical trilogy about one man’s journey that started out so full of hope.
It’s the story of Marvin who quits his wife and young son to take up with another man called Whizzer while fantasizing that they can all be one happy family, which was an enormous risk in 1992 before the legalization of gay marriage. His dream however is shattered like many at the time when an AIDS diagnosis was still very much a death sentence, and violence against gay men and lesbian women could be considered the norm in certain precincts.
With its weighty subject matter Falsettos is a remarkable ground-breaking work that is one of those ‘must-see’ events for every single member of the LGBT community. It’s a story that touches every one deeply and although it starts out on such a happy note, it inevitably ends on a very sad one.
This first class revival at the Lincoln Center in NY was quite rightly rewarded with 5 Tony Nominations last year, and is now being screened on P.B.S. TV on Friday October 27th : check your local PBS Station for times.
Here then is a Sneak Preview of the Show followed by one of queerguru’s favorite love songs of all times : Tony Nominee Andrew Rannells and Two-time Tony Winner Christian Borle get singing What Would I Do : get your kleenex ready.
