Below is the review of MusicalFare Theatre's (then known as Summerfare Theatre) 1995 production of FALSETTOS... The Buffalo News also had a different star-rating system at that time, with Five Stars being the highest rating that could be achieved.
HIGH REGISTER SUMMERFARE'S GAMBLE PAYS OFF IN 'FALSETTOS'
Published on January 27, 1995
Author: TERRY DORAN - News Critic
© The Buffalo News Inc.
"FALSETTOS" is a delight. The first half of William Finn's musical about love, death and family called "March of the Falsettos" is inspired. Nothing in it or the second half, the latter called "Falsettoland," matches the wacky brilliancy of the single number "March of the Falsettos" in which the men march around on stage "very foolish and very manly" singing in artificially high voices. It is the sort of blithe creative non sequitur that sets this show apart from the banal sameness of so many musicals.
To begin with Finn's lyrics are wonderful, witty and good fun. Mendel the psychiatrist sings: "You'll find me understanding./Your pain is a priori;/ Unfold your untold story. . ." Familiar impolite words are used in rhymes to hilarious effect. Whole songs are built into mini-dramas, for example "The Baseball Game" in which "We're sitting/And watching Jason play baseball/We're watching Jason play baseball./We're watching Jewish boys/Who cannot play baseball/Play baseball" -- while in subplot Marvin and Whizzer renew their romance. "March of the Falsettos" could be said to be a meditation on love with regard to a family falling apart and "Falsettoland" to be a meditation on love and family in the shadow of death. The bonding of music, lyrics, theme, subject matter is quite remarkable. How people bond is the question. The calculus of possibilities is what "Falsettos" explores.
Marvin is the father. Jason is his son, just entering his teens. Marvin has divorced Trina for his male lover Whizzer. The family psychiatrist, Mendel, is called in, and he falls for Trina. Later two lesbians, Charlotte, a medical doctor, and Cordelia, a caterer, enter the by-now shaky, stressed-out, extended family that somehow hangs together still. Behind this, allowance is made for love and sexual desire to exist as a continuum rather than bracketed activities legislated by morals or social conformity to one group but not another.
"March of the Falsettos" is a triumph over edgy expectations. Even as Jason sings "My Father's a Homo" ("My father's a homo./ My mother's not thrilled at all . . . My mother's no wife/And my father's no man,/No man at all.") the first half unfolds smoothly, sensibly, capturing what it is to be emotionally whipsawed by a family splitting up, never mind the specific conditions. The obvious lesson of the musical is that they are always the same even when they appear to be as different as this.formulas, for example, the self-deprecating ironies built into songs and performances to signal audiences that if the ostensible subject matter is serious they needn't take it seriously, all that's intended are musical placebos. "Falsettos," though, comes very, very close.
Driving the self-consciousness probably is the need to keep a wary eye on political correctness. The second half comes around to AIDS -- Whizzer gets it -- even though no one at the time (1981) really knew what was going on, only that it was terrible.
Summerfare has taken "Falsettos" to heart and staged a sound and very entertaining performance. This is an evening worth your time. Director Randy Kramer has managed his cast beautifully. There are John Fredo as Marvin, Daniel C. McDonald as Whizzer, Neil Schleifer as Mendel, Debbie Pappas as Trina, young Zak E. Ward as Jason, Pamela Rose Mangus as Charlotte, and Carolyn Saxon as Cordelia.
Choreographer Lynne Kurdziel-Formato works in a minimalist mode; the story is the controlling essence of the show, so opportunities for big dance numbers don't exist. What she is able to do is play a little with signature movements that add much humor and emphasis to songs. Fine musical direction is provided by Eric Alsford on piano, with John Senall on percussion, and John Davis on woodwinds.
Fredo and company have just the right voices, acting ability and truth in delivery to make this show work. The lyrics are very funny, and deep inside, very moving, so attention must be paid, and it is.
Musical Theater
Falsettos
Rating: ***** (five stars)
Musical by William Finn and James LaPine about an unconventional family.
Summerfare production directed by Randy Kramer, featuring John Fredo, Debbie Pappas, Neil Schleifer, Dan McDonald, Zak Ward, Pamela Rose-Mangus and Carolyn Saxon.
Pfeifer Theatre, 681 Main St. (839-8540).