Falsettos is a musical that premiered on Broadway in 1992. Written by William Finn and James Lapine, Falsettos follows the character Marvin, a middle-aged gay man who leaves his family to explore his homosexuality. The musical also tells the stories of his ex-wife (Trina), their son (Jason), his new lover (Whizzer), his psychiatrist (Mendel), and his two, “Lesbians from Next Door” neighbors (Charlotte and Cordelia). Spanning from 1979 to the dawn of the AIDS crisis in the early 1980s, Falsettos is a story of love, family, fear, and loss.
Falsettos is culturally important primarily because of its deep, blunt understanding of love. Poetic lines such as “Stay my friend. How do I start not to love you?” and “More than not, it’s been more than words can tell,” eloquently call to mind feelings surrounding love that are nearly indescribable. Falsettos also examines the rupture of love when a breakup occurs and love in the LGBTQ+ community amidst the AIDS crisis. It therefore not only reflects on love between two individuals but between a society as a whole – it is personal and political, positively romantic and painful as well.
Also,by definition, Falsettos is an opera, meaning that every word is sung. Thus, the entirety of the story is told through song. This genre allows the audience to not only hear what the characters are thinking, but emotionally feel it through the rise and fall of voices. As a whole, this musical’s combination of song and lyric, pleasure and pain, and personal and political work expose the contradictions entangled in love and affection. Falsettos does not romanticize love so much as it allows its audience to experience a genuine, sincere take on the hardships, downfalls, triumphs, and wonders of love.
Falsettos 