Brandon Uranowitz, who played Mendel in the 2016 revival show, once said that he had a great appreciation for William Finn’s music. “[Finn’s] work seems to be the only body of work that really articulates the way that my brain works, and I knew that, but I didn’t really know that until I did Falsettos.” After studying Falsettos for about a month, I feel the same way. I am amazed at how well this music resonates with me, and while I know it will not have the same effect on every listener, I think everyone can gain something from it. Lately, when I have been listening to this music, I actually feel love. The same feelings of pain and pleasure, the same earnestly and openness, it’s all there. I now view this musical on a deep level, an understanding that I never expected.
Falsettos truly grows with its audience. It does this both over the course of a show and over the course of a life. The show itself takes us on a two-and-a-half-hour gallery tour of Marvin and his family. By the end, we feel for them, and we feel with them. I think that’s what the best shows in musical theater do. However, Falsettos goes a step further in that it stays with the audience. As Finn would put it “[the musical] shared [our] lives.” Once you see something as powerful and complex as this show, I think that you are fundamentally altered. Many people love the way that this show and its music makes them feel. People who have a hard time describing or even understanding love can find answers here. Falsettos shows us that love doesn’t have one definition, one answer, or one feeling. It embraces the complexity of the feeling and gives the audience a frank, unflinching take on the powerful emotion of love.
Falsettos 