Reviewing the Drama: Broadway, Off-Broadway, Ballet, Movies, and TV Reviews

There's an informative history of Falsettos on the Lincoln Center Theatre blog. It traces Falsettos ' origins, from In Trousers to March of the Falsettos (nee Four Jews in a Room Bitching ) to Falsettoland , providing background and context, as well as insight into its significance in famed off-Broadway company, Playwrights Horizons. It does not, however, make me like the show more. Falsettos , written by William Finn (score and book) and James Lapine (book), focuses on Marvin (Christian Borle), and his desire for a tight knit family. Set in 1979 (act one) and 1981 (act two), we meet Marvin just after he's left his wife, Trina (Stephanie J. Block), and son, Jason (Anthony Rosenthal), to be with his lover, Whizzer (Andrew Rannells). Marvin must navigate his sexuality, relationships, and familial needs, while Trina and Jason figure out how to move forward. (They'll be aided by Mendel (Brandon Uranowitz), a therapist-turned-Trina's love interest.) In act two,...

I’ve seen some of my favorite bands in concert over 20 times, crossing county and state lines sometimes just to watch musicians play songs I listened to on my record player over and over and over again. Each time I’d see a band in concert, I’d rediscover songs. It’s one thing to listen to a recording of something but it’s quite another to experience someone bringing it to life, performing it and unearthing layers you simply cannot capture in a recording, no matter how great the sound board or mixing tools or musicianship are. And that’s how I felt when I finally got to see The Last Five Years in performance.  The Jason Robert Brown musical originally played at New York’s Minetta Lane Theatre 11 years ago; it was directed by Daisy Prince and starred Sherie Rene Scott ( Dirty Rotten Scoundrels , Everyday Rapture ) and Norbert Leo Butz ( Dead Accounts , Catch Me if You Can ), and for almost 11 years I’ve listened to Scott and Butz on the cast recording. The only time I even ...