Falsettos at Theater Latté Da

Checking off shows from my “embarrassed I’ve never seen” list seems to be a theme of 2023, and Falsettos is the another title I can now cross out. Though perhaps not as ubiquitous as Our town or Godspell, Falsettos is still a Tony Award winning show that has even had a Broadway Revival in 2016. It’s a show that has come up at different times in conversation over the years but I never really even knew what it was about. So going into the show knowing little more than it was considered a musical comedy and it had an amazing cast of local favorites, I wasn’t really prepared for the mixture of comedy and tragedy that played out over the course of the evening. Is it funny? Yes! Did I cry a little? Yes. Was the cast amazing? Yes! If you are like me and have never seen Falsettos do yourself a favor and check out this wonderful production at Theater Latté Da. It’s full of witty songs like the opener “Four Jews in a Room Bitching” and “The Baseball Game”. But there are also some songs that hold some real truths and emotional moments like “I Never Wanted to Love You” and “You gotta Die Sometime”.

Falsettos features music and lyrics by William Finn and book by Finn and James Lapine. Finn also wrote the music and lyrics for The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee which I’ll be seeing (for the first time) next month at Artistry in Bloomington. Lapine was a frequent collaborator with Stephen Sondheim and has won the Tony for Best Book of a musical three times. The show doesn’t contain any dialogue that I can recall but is completely sung through. Beginning in the late 1970’s in New York, it tells the story of Marvin, a gay man who has recently divorced his wife Trina, and moved in with his lover Whizzer. Hoping to help Trina through the divorce, Marvin has her see his psychiatrist Mendel, who immediately is taken with her. Eventually Marvin and Trina’s son Jason will also begin seeing Mendel. The first Act revolves around their various attempts to form new familial groups. Marvin in particular struggles in his attempt to have it all, trying to form “A Tight-Knit Family” with Whizzer along with his ex-wife and son. But when Mendel and Trina become a couple at the same time Whizzer and Marvin break up, we see that Marvin’s fantasies are selfish. He doesn’t want Trina and Mendel to be happy he wants her available for him on his terms. Act II takes place a few years later in 1981 and centers around Jason’s Bar Mitzvah and the dynamic between the parents about the event. At Jason’s baseball game attended by all of the parents and Marvin’s lesbian neighbors, a Doctor and the other a Caterer, Marvin and Whizzer reconnect. There is definitely a sense in the second Act that Marvin has done some growing up and is less self centered and in a better place to be in a relationship. Unfortunately, it’s the early 80’s and there was a new disease that was just beginning to appear that has a profound effect on everyone involved.

The cast as I say is filled with local favorites and looking over the program reveals that should someone have to go out sick, you’ll be in good hands with the understudies as well. Sasha Andreev stars as Marvin and is as always vocal perfection and really captures the frustration bubbling under the surface of Marvin. We can see the anger flash when things don’t go as he wants, but he also adjusts nicely in the second act to a slightly more settled Marvin, modulating the level of anger nicely. Serena Brook plays Trina and does a fantastic job, particularly with the song “I’m Breaking Down” which is comedic but with an undercurrent that speaks to what the character has been through which Brook brilliantly captures both aspects of the song. Sam Mandell who is just a sophomore in High School does a great job holding his own against this cast of seasoned professionals. The two that really wowed me though were Max Wojtanowicz (am I pronouncing that right?) as Whizzer and Eric Morris as Mendel. Wojtanowicz is the heart of the show and it’s his performance that is responsible for the those pesky tears that leave spots on my glasses. I’ve been a fan since seeing him as the lead in A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder at Old Log but it feels like ages since I’ve gotten to see Wojtanowicz in a really meaty and large role. Morris executes a complete 180 with his character. At the beginning, I was getting a creeper vibe of this psychiatrist who’s is asking Marvin inappropriate things about Trina. But by halfway through the first Act you see he is just comically and genuinely falling in love. Morris also does a great job of conveying that more than either of his parents, Mendel is there for Jason and aware of his needs.

Directed by Meredith McDonough who uses Mina Kinukawa’s minimalistic Scenic Design to quickly move the action from scene to scene. McDonough knows how to block a scene for maximum comedic and dramatic effect. Jason Hansen conducts and plays keys as part of a very small band (quartet) that creates the full sounding score. And Emily Michaels King provides the Choreography which at times involves rolling chairs, but the moment that really caught my attention was such a simple but effective thing when she has the character moving along the diagonal shape that is painted on the floor. No idea why but it caught my eye and was really pleasing to my inner calm.

Falsettos runs through November 5th at the Ritz Theater in Northeast Minneapolis. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.latteda.org/falsettos

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