#jason i love you so much. whizzer i love you so much as well

[nato-obenkrieger]

redraw of that one picture of whizzer and jason cause i like never use references and i wanted to try ☝️☝️

[brilliantfantasticgeronimo]

thought to myself u know what. i havent watched falsettos enough. so here's a couple things i noticed in my latest impromptu rewatch (rewatch number 52th probably?? 67th?) + just some nice bits n parallel that are always Good (tm):

"he loves another" "i agree" with ("-man") going unsaid

the chess games following trina's song about stupid men and their little games

"that's the king. please protect him" That's marvin saying "please protect me. don't hurt me"

whizzer moves the pieces randomly in the revival but i like to imagine he's actually beating marvin at the game in the end... and the whole thing was him pretending to not know how to play, and that hurt marvin's ego more than anything

"now marvin, bend" as a sexy moment but later gets re-framed as a "unwillingness to change perspective" moment

"nothing is everything to me / except sex / and money" in that money whizzer is playing to marvin's insecurity that he's only sticking with marvin for his money- is so needlessly cruel (and thus such... delicious character writing lol)

"and he loves me so" that "so" at the end is sort of a "loves me so much" but also a dare. he loves me, so what can you even do about that?"

"ask me if i love him, it depends on the day"// "do i love him?… no"

"son with a brain, and nice bright mother" showing mendel is like marvin (+ many, many men) and wants a wife half just to do domestic labor for him (goes well with the "washing your laundry, washing your socks!" line)

"he loves his father" // "i love things i never had"

"im everything he wanted" here trina finally realizes how she was such a insecure woman for such a long time and why she could put up with so much / settle for so little ("love me for what i am, not what i try to be" etc)

i love that "what ive done to you is rotten" is the slap to trina, is not taking to jason about his sexuality, and is Also telling trina and jason he "never ever, wanted to love" them. triple treat of bad parenting lol (but our man gets there in the end #bless him)

"a man kid, you'll be kid, whatever your song" the kind of reversed coming out metaphor of it all. ugh. so good!! (also i always cry at this bit bc... i will never have this with my parents :) rip haha whoops)

"pretty boys are in demand" just a good line for the whole gay men dying everywhere + the 'dating frenzy' energy of the era

"im not a giant man" /"good" // "one day i hope to be / as mature as my son who is 12 and a half / and this tall… that's all i want to be, that's all"

"we'll spent BILLIONS of dollars" and then the actual thing plays the way it does

"making the most pathetical errors" as a metaphor for marvin's arc…. making constant errors in love but making a homerun at the end

"should i take this new promotion OR should i take this IBM job?" is an amazing, anti-corporate lyric that fits greatly w/ the most explicitly political (likely authorial) song in the musical that, imho, shouldn't have been cut in the revival. in hindsight tho i imagine the revival people felt very proud and """progressive""" when they made that cut lol is very much a typical liberal move: "cant have true emancipation or revolutions but u cant have some \~upward mobility in the job market xoxo". also on the same vein, cutting the line "i'll change my life, and hire a maid" from the og "and fire the maid" like it's this huge feminist moment lol ughhhh hh

(other line-cuts that frustrate me… "it's queer, mr. marvin", "i could use a little drink" and "i just bought a family" . i feel w/ all of these they tooks some "edge" of the OG characters and kind of attempted to make them "nicer". but it really just makes them a little flatter, a little less real) ( and also some scenes just plain make less sense (marvin's drink line leading to his outburst)

(but bc it's not All Bad sdklfj in fairness, i belie the whole "why don't we tell him, that we don't have the awnsers? (…) this is the start to his becoming a man" bit - is SUCH a great part for mendel, it goes so hard and from what i remember is not in the original falsettos? correct me if im wrong but if it was a new addition in the revival, imo it's a huge improvement to the scene flow… and dare i say, brings the whole climax together, and spells out The Aesop for people who hadn't gotten it by the end of Act 2) -"let me go, im not ashamed to have loved you" // "what's the matter trina, darling, why cant you let go?" -"feel all right for the rest of your life" The Message of the play implicit in it.. "even if it's cut short"

"you save lives, and i serve chicken fat / i can't fucking deal wit hthat" / "maybe is not dumb the way this whole thing ends / the food tastes really yummy!"

"it's about growing up, getting older, living on a lover's shoulder" /"but i confess, you grow up, you get old, you hate less"

"the ground shifting, the rules keeps changing" and it's when the set changes for the first time!!! (/eats all my walls)

"isn't it enough i love you every night?" "who?" // "we had trouble parking, just like on our second date" "i hyperventilate"

"good men never fail" // "but i can't help but feeling i've failed " proving once again those machista lessons marvin learned when young were wrong.... it's clear that him showing weakness at that moment to whizzer was The Right Thing To Do. and what the moment called for.

"the last little mountain ill climb" sound of music ref? maybe?

i only wanted to love and not be blamed " // "who would i blame my life on?"

[takemebacktowheniwassane]

I would kill to have you overanalyze everything about Falsettos. Hope that didn't sound too threatening, I was joking, I'm just really into your analysis of the chess game :3

omg! I would love to analyze anything for you, man! 💗 I've pretty much picked everything out of a lot of the songs─ lil surprised I don't have my own corkboard with red twine commemorating my insanity on this musical lol

Looking through the album, the first option that came to mind might've been The Thrill of First Love but I think I'll take a break from toxic gays for just one moment and give you a strangely written analysis on Marvin at the Psychiatrist: A Three-Part Mini Opera, because of the different character pov's (i.e., Mendel, Jason, somewhat Whizzer, and of course, Marvin─ and I know Whizzer only announces each section of the song but hear me out, the theories are crazy and I'm obsessed with them and this song definitely factors into them aswell).

Basically, we'll start off with a quick look over Jason's lines, as he is the first character to speak/sing in the song. Right off the bat, we have him showing a HUGE disdain for love because of his father pretty much ruining his home life with the illusion of it. Well, maybe disdain is strong, but you get what I mean─ he's very reluctant to accept romance as an option for himself at all at this point because the wound is still very fresh from Marvin blowing up their family life, but yeah, also, he's a little preteen boy so it also makes sense for him to object to liking anyone just because of immaturity.

As we progress, Jason does a joint-therapy session with Marvin and they talk about outings and father/son bonding time gone badly wrong. He lets us in on his hyper-observance with his reaction to Marvin saying the pitcher they saw at a baseball game was handsome, and makes sure the audience is well aware he has some pretty conflicting emotions about his dad and his dad's sexuality. Especially given My Father's a Homo comes directly after this song, and in turn, also directly after this moment, so we know his feelings over Marvin and Whizzer (being that he enjoys Whizzer's company, seeing as Whizzer is the only adult who actually treats him like a kid and not like a victim or a baby or an average adult, like- but still) and their messy relationship.

It really makes me wonder on how it is when he's meant to go over to their apartment, since it's canonical that they live together and that Jason sees him regularly. And if they act terribly in front of him still. I assume Whizzer wouldn't allow that, another trait that gives Jason reason to side with him, because he seems like he really just doesn't want to completely, for lack of better words, fuck up Jason's whole childhood experience by being a part of it.

Now! Mendel isn't a complicated perspective, per say, just very eccentric. Especially assuming he asks MANY intrusive questions to a man who just openly came out as gay about his ex-wife and her sexual habits and such. This is where we tell him to go to horny jail.

(That's not the whole analysation, I swear─)

Mendel to me seems like he probably takes the initiative to not relay any of his clients actual info to other family members, but this song pretty much just proves he's incapable of brain-thought when he's horny. Which, yeah, that's hilarious that the only straight man is just thirsting over a woman to this gay guy. William Finn, you've done it again.

Anyhow, Mendel is pretty vital in this song. We get to see his psychiatry techniques, and with that, understand exactly what kind of situation Marvin's been, in taking therapy from him this whole time. The first part of the song is probably the best way of analyzing, since he's actually intelligible and giving Marvin advice. Well, that advice consists of telling him to ignore Whizzer's flaws and love him regardless, you can actually sorta see that at work in some aspects of the musical, even if he's constantly condescending to Whizzer throughout act one.

But generally, Marvin tends to take the exact opposite path that Mendel gives him, and basically just uses him as a venting device. Then again, Mendel is not to great at giving advice, as a neurotic little man who has like four mental breakdowns in the course of act one and two.

Next, Whizzer, of course. Short but sweet, or.. angsty? I've heard a few people theorize that Whizzer narrates the story ("Marvin at the psychiatrist, a three part mini opera, part one." "Part two." "Part three." "Psychiatrist, returning, returning! Five sessions later..." "A day in Falsettoland─ Doctor Mendel at work.") because after he dies, it sort of becomes his story of finding a true family and lover and son and being actually happy and knowing he lived well before he died really, tragically young, at least.

I'd like to take it a different direction, because I hate angst, and only sometimes tolerate it.

I've realized that Whizzer only actually narrates Mendel's shenanigans, which makes me think, especially with how he still does in act two, he gets to HEAR about the sessions. Whether it be from Marvin, or Jason, or Trina. Or even Mendel himself (this one's more act two based). It may introduce a new side because Whizzer doesn't go to therapy (shocker), but the people he's around all see this one guy so maybe he hears about the sessions and can relay them because he knows this one person's aspect of the story each time.

It wouldn't make a lot of sense for him to hear anything from Mendel in act one assuming they weren't close (at least not in the revival), and he doesn't marry Trina until Marvin and Whizzer are broken up, basically. But it would make more sense for him to get it from his boyfriend who absolutely loves to complain about any minor inconvenience in his life. I just think this could be an interesting perspective, because I've only ever seen that first theory and although somewhat fitting, I need less angst and more cool little headcanons in this fanbase please and thank you.

Finally, we go to Marvin. The star of the show, our princess with several disorders (we all know who our real queens are *stares directly at Trina and Whizzer*).

Throughout the entirety of this song, we see him barely entertaining Mendel with information. He's very vague, which probably stems from a life of secrecy and sneaking around. Although I presume he told Mendel about the affair while it was happening, or a few months in? Or Mendel just knew? Just by the general air of it, and how it seemed well-known by that point even though him and Trina only just divorced.

Marvin definitely keeps to himself, and waits for Mendel to butt in with something. Not so he can take his advice, but moreso so that he can kinda just. Have it, on hand? Or maybe so he can prove to himself that therapy is a hoax, because that certainly sounds like a Marvin thing to do.

Even while going through events with his son, he only states that eventually their interactions just go back to being stale and that they SHOULD be closer, without ever trying to actually make an effort (he assumes making an effort is taking Jason on outings even though they both prefer to stay inside, on their own. This definitely comes from his parents not doing anything with him as a kid, it's internalized so he pushes going out in public and doing what would be father/son outings onto Jason. It's something he never got to have, so he thinks that means he's fathering Jason better than average).

Not much to be said about that middle factor, besides the point of Marvin not knowing Trina was withholding love from him, which is interesting. Her character and lines definitely prevail that she was fed up with Marvin, but it could have just come out as indifference during their marriage. In I'm Breaking Down, she does make a point to state that she only wants a man to love her, so that could've been an overwhelming point in their marriage that Marvin remembers more vividly then her drifting away.

He did seem genuinely surprised when Mendel brought it up, so there is something there for sure.

But now, my dear silly, it's time for me to say adieu, because it's semi-late and I gotta update a fic draft :) but thank you sm for asking! made my day, it was so sweet. my inbox is always open for any suggestions, I'm really glad you like these little rants lol.

I'll try to post more soon 🫶

Goodnight!

[falsettos-tight-knit-family]

Okay in one of my first posts I mentioned that Mendel being bisexual is the only non-official LGBT headcanon that I fully believe, and due to popular demand (literally one person supporting the idea) I'm gonna explain more about how I imagine that going-

I made this post because of how I imagined Trina's reaction but then I just kept going and now its an essay I'm sorry-

First of all, Mendel is very casual about his sexuality and probably didn't have a formal 'coming out' to anyone. He'd just be watching tv or something and comment on how one of the male actors is hot, and everyone in the room who heard him just nod in understanding. Like I think generally everyone’s very chill with it.

I do, however, think that Trina had a brief moment of panic when she first overheard him say something like that, and honestly that's understandable. She's been with a gay man once and it did not go over well, I wouldn't wanna go through that shit again either- She probably brought it up to him later on that night, when he'd long since forgotten about the offhanded comment, and he tried to explain to her that "no no I promise I'm attracted to women and I love you so much, I just think men can be just as attractive, I mean tell me *insert actor* isn't hot-" and point is, he gets it through to her that bisexuals exists and that he would never leave her, and ofc she's completely fine with it (and in the future they probably bond over certain actors they both think are hot).

Meanwhile, Jason was in the room the same time Trina found out and also brought it up later, but in less of a panic and more just normal conversation. He was just playing chess with himself, as he often is, and said something like “hey so you’re not gay like my father are you? You seem to really love my mom so I’d be really surprised if you don’t like girls.”

No one else had much of a notable reaction. Marvin had known Mendel for years even when the musical started, so I assume he found out a long time ago. Although, I do want to specify that (and this might be bias from the character Christian played in Smash) he has dogshit gaydar, so the only reason he knew so early on was because Mendel would sometimes bring it up in session to relate to Marvin when he spoke about Whizzer and being gay in general. And of course, Whizzer has a functioning gaydar so he’s not at all surprised.

[understance]

doing this in one sitting bc i want to!

1: marvin!

2: marvin 😡

3: …marvin

4: cordelia :/

5: marvin & whizzer bc their relationship shows how imperfect relationships can be, but they learn from their mistakes and change for the better

6: ‘what more can i say?’ or ‘the games i play’, because i love the solo songs and the spotlight it gives the characters (also they’re just amazing songs)

7: ‘marvin hits trina��� solely because i hate seeing trina go through that 😕

8: whizzer laying on marvin’s chest in ‘what more can i say?’ because GODDD IT MAKES ME SO UPSET. seeing them so happy makes me wanna cry bc they’re so sweet

9: literally every-time they’re dancing stupidly tickles me half to death

10: “we’re just gonna skip that stage” AAAHHH

11: basic answer but marvin for obvious reasons

12: MORE LESBIANSSS. i would’ve loved to see their friendship with marvin more

13: loved mendel until he said “i know more than you do” to trina cause SHUT UP

14: ‘days like this’ but i need to be singing every single part

15: unrealistically, MARVIN. however i am not a man and therefore will never 😕 realistically, cordelia bc i’m a non-jewish lesbian who can’t cook (and i can sing her parts decently well). i’d LOVE to play trina but i don’t wanna take away from the jewish representation

16: charlotte bc RICH BEAUTIFUL WOMAN WHOS CONFIDENT AND DETERMINED AND AMAZING

17: every single character bc i need to know all of their thought processes during every single event

18: whizzer leaving marvin was definitely for the best that first time around. ik it wasn’t really his idea bc he got kicked out but you get it

19: i need to sing with marvin bc CHRISTIANS VOICE IS SO BEAUTIFUL

20: andrew rannells my beloved

21: i actually DID convince a friend to watch falsettos, and i literally showed them pictures of bald christan borle, and i think i made them watch TTOFL

22: act 1 bc i love drama

23: marvin’s entire character is something i could talk about for days on end (+ m&w’s relationship is smth i analyze SO MUCH)

24: kevin price bc i just wanna see what the fuck would happen (honorable mention is connor mckinley, cause i feel like whizzer would help him realize he is, in fact, very gay)

25: MARVIN. (ik it’s not a good thing but a lot of him resonates with how i am)

26: whizzer and jason’s friendship makes me SOB

27: “whizzer, kid you’re looking very good today” but also “i’ll let you win, whizzer” “don’t let me win” “i’ll let you win” tears my heart into little pieces

28: marvin hitting trina will forever make me want to break smth

29: LOOK AT HERRR

30: fire musical 🔥 (it changed my life)

[sp4c3-c0wb0y]

I HAVE RESURRECTED FROM THE DEAD, IM ALIVR!!! Anyway I’m sorta back and I wanted to do the falsettos 30 day challenge by Harmony, however I am going to do it all at once.

1. Trina (HAVE MORE DERANGED WOMEN IN MUSICAL THEATER!! I LOVE HER!!)

2. Mendel (I still love him tho)

3. Mendel

4. Charlotte

5. Marvin/Whizzer (Their reconnection is so sweet and doomed, I love them)

6. It’s a tie between ‘Unlikely Lovers’ and ‘Everyone Hates His Parents’

7. ‘My Father's a Homo / Everyone Tells Jason To See a Physiatrist’

8. March of the falsettos

9. Everyone Hates His Parents/March of the falsettos

10. Something bad is happening reprise/ Another Miracle of Judaism (specifically the original cast versions)

11. Marvin or Mendel (I have literally written things about Mendel’s development and as for Marvin his growth is really important to me for so many reasons I’ll have to write a whole thing on it omg)

12. I would maybe give the lesbians more scenes but I also understand that the reasons why they don’t have as many yk the run time and stuff. Either that or I would add ‘Three Dates with Marvin and Whizzer’ back in

13. Cancelling the Bar Mitzvah change my mind about Mendel because it really shows his development

14. ‘Year of the Child’ or ‘Welcome to Falsettoland/Its About Time’

15. Trina

16. Cordelia (she’s so silly I love her)

17. Charlotte or Whizzer

18. Having Jason’s Bar Mitzvah in Whizzer hospital room

19. Whizzer

20. Andrew Rannells or Stephenie j Block

21. I would probably show them ‘Year of the child’ or ‘Unlikely Lovers’

22. Act two (I’m a sucker for sad sappy stuff)

23. The songs and characters rahhhhh (and I have ranted)

24. Anyone from the ‘The Boys in the Band’

25. Jason, he and I are very similar as well as Jason’s relationship with his dad. Me and my dads relationship is very similar to Marvin and Jason’s

26. Whizzer and Jason (I’m a sucker for good paternal relationships, Ik this is off topic but this is the same reason I love the healthy batfam stuff)

27. “Go ahead and kill your mother. Not with guns, but kill your mother”

28. Marvin hitting Trina

29. Omg I have so many artists/editors in this fandom that I love it’s hard to chose one, but off the top of my head. I love @nova-ish ‘s art it’s so beautiful and for editing rn @late4dinnerlateagain is really great I love their Marvin weatherman edits as well as the other stuff they make

30. I don’t have anything to add other then that I love falsettos so much and it means the world to me

That’s it :D I’m going to try and post more again soon , I have been very busy recently with school ending and life stuff. I’ve also been doing a lot more theater stuff so I might post some performance pictures and videos if you guys want it idk. Also sorry for any grammar issues in this post I don’t have time to proofread it.

[hyperfixated-on-musicals]

for one thing I want to know about you : Favourite Falsettos character and why + favourite song or lyrics :))

Get ready for a long rant :3

My favourite characters are Marvin, Whizzer and Jason.

I love Marvin because he is such a complex character. I love the way he comes off as a dick but then he is so caring towards Whizzer. Also Christian Borle has an amazing voice. The chemistry between Marvin and Whizzer is just so amazing as well.

Whizzer is probably my favourite character because he is more of the comic relief character. He is a happy character most of the time and then you see him falling apart in the hospital and you feel so sorry for him. Whizzer had bottled up all of his emotions and seeing him in such a vulnerable state was such a drastic yet beautiful switch in the mood of the musical.

Jason's character development is probably my favourite growth within the musical. Jason starts out as a young, naive kid who is portrayed as independent and witty but by the end because of Whizzer's death, Jason is forced to face the music and understand that things can't always go his way. I was kind of similar to Jason in my life and losing that naivety struck me hard.

My favourite lyrics are:

My father's a homo, my mother's not thrilled at all

Could you please make my friend stop dying? I am not naive, it won't be easy.

This is the year of Jason's bar mitzvah

He lifts me in his arms and tells me to embrace his attack. Then the scene turns to black.

Can I keep my cool despite the urge to fall apart? How should I start? I would cry if I could but it does no damn good to explain I'm a man in my prime. You gotta die sometime.

Tell me Trina what was the impetus. Sorry Trina, look in my eyes. Really Trina, this is ridiculous. Jesus, Trina, how I despise your need for stupid conversation!

Thank you so much for the ask! It is very much appreciated.

[michael-schmichael]

so fun fact for my public speaking class this year I had to give a speech on something I'm passionate about and why it's important to my entire class so I did mine on falsettos (slideshow attached)

"When most people think of a musical, they think of big jazz hands and kicklines and cheesy plots. What they are unaware of is how a musical can be much more than that. While big dance numbers are entertaining, music can be used to convey deep emotions and stories that just can’t be translated through regular words. Because of this, Falsettos is one of the most important musicals of our decade. It touched on topics most people in its time wouldn’t even talk about, let alone make a musical on. William Finn and James Lapine, its writers, were able to remind us that families can be much more complicated and deep than a husband, wife, and 2.5 kids. A lot of people don’t live inside that norm, yet it’s the primary one that is represented. Then you get a show like this, which explores conceited parents, difficult love stories, coming to terms with things that are hard, and coming of age. All of these are relatable topics. In this speech, we’ll get into the history, the characters, and the representation in Falsettos. “Love can tell a million stories.” This is the main idea of the show. Because there really are countless different ways a family can be. The show has some trigger warnings: AIDS, death, abuse, somewhat sexual scenes, and cursing. Also, spoilers ahead!

First, we’ll get into the history. The creation of Falsettos is rather unique compared to other musicals. It was originally a trilogy of three one-act, off-broadway musicals, all created by William Finn. All the shows take place in New York City, in the late 70s to early 80s. They center around Marvin, and him exploring his sexual identity. This is mostly what In Trousers (1978) focuses on, and how the women in his life helped him accept that. It was critically acclaimed as a flop, largely based on the topic it portrayed in its era. In the second installment, March of the Falsettos (1981), Marvin’s partner Whizzer gets more involved, and this act focuses on how their relationship affects Marvin’s ex-wife Trina and child Jason. Finally, in Falsettoland (1990), the dynamics of the family are shown much more, especially with Trina and Marvin planning Jason’s bar mitzvah. In 1992, the last two one-acts were combined into one full length show, simply titled Falsettos. (This was nominated for seven Tony awards that year!) The show had a broadway revival in 2016, which spread its popularity (and also what I’ll be referencing here). Also, the history behind the name of the musical is fascinating as well; According to a 2019 interview with SFist, Finn says he was “inspired by the idea of the falsetto — a man singing in his head voice outside his range — as a metaphor for people who exist ‘outside the normal range.’”

Next, the characters. Almost every character is a primary one, but the main character is arguably Marvin. He’s a possessive and insensitive man. He left his wife and child after realizing he wants to be with a man named Whizzer. He’s not exactly a good father and wasn’t a loving husband, but over the course of the play, his character development is prevalent and interesting to watch. Second, Whizzer is Marvin’s live-in boyfriend. According to Marvin, Whizzer is “delightful, stylish, and romantic,” but also “spiteful, sorta-kinda mean, and evil.” Marvin and Whizzer’s relationship is pretty toxic, but improves. Alternatively, there’s also Trina, Marvin’s ex-wife. She’s often described as insecure. A lot of her conflict is her coming to terms with Marvin and Whizzer’s relationship. Trina and Marvin’s son, Jason, is 10 years old, and thinks he is “too smart for his own good, and too good for his sorry little life.” Friendless, he plays chess all day, and has anger management problems. Finally, there is Mendel, the family psychiatrist. He was Marvin’s long-term therapist, but after Marvin insists Trina sees him too, Mendel immediately falls in love with her. Mendel honestly is kind of manipulative, but also a fun character to watch onstage. There’s also Charlotte and Cordelia, the “lesbians from next door.” They’re close family friends, and godparents to Jason. A large part of it is showing how real people behave, including the good and the ugly.

Now into how they’re all important as representation. The main theme is the various family dynamics and relationships- most of us can see aspects of our own families within the characters and plot. For example, in my own family my parents divorced then found new partners or remarried later and I have good friendships with them. First, there are three different types of gendered relationships as shown: a straight relationship, a gay relationship, and a lesbian relationship. Oftentimes in the media, the only kinds of relationships that are shown are straight ones. And for them to all be parents in some sort of way to Jason is even more important- it’s showing queer parents can be good ones too, which is a misconception many people hold (this is, that lgbtq+ parents are inadequate). Second, Falsettos touches on the AIDS crisis, which Whizzer contracts and later dies from. During the ‘80s it was a very big problem but now next to no one talks about it. How it’s portrayed in the show represents how it affected real families and people. Third, Jewish households. This year we all were able to read Night, which showed what Jewish people went through during the holocaust, but not what regular cultural home life is like. One of the main plot points is about Jason’s bar mitzvah, and how he’s not sure if he wants one or not. Jewish expectations and customs are brought up throughout the whole show.

To conclude, Falsettos is a fantastic installment to musical theater. It has original history, complex characters, and overall is an amazing testament to different types of American families. Not only that, its music and book are award winning, according to Broadwayworld.com. And this speech is really only the tip of the iceberg–there’s much, much more to it. Falsettos is definitely the musical you’ve been looking for!"

[chipadequeso]

i found a 2022 spanish production of falsettos. um here's comments because i don't like it!

IT'S NOT FULLY SUNG-THROUGH?? why!!!

jason's too over-acting and whiny i don't like him.

trina's amazing!! her voice is godly . every trina i've seen is so well-casted... whizzer is in my heart too and marvin is pretty good

they broke mendel's character into ... two separate characters..... i dont understand why they chose that??? i dont really like it

took me very long to realize but THEY ARE NOT JEWISH!!!! WHAT!!!!!! I HATE THIS PRODUCTION SO MUCH BITING AND KILLING

1. mendel like the psychiatrist that appears from song one is a woman?

2. after im breaking down this guy appears (he's mentioned in everyone tells jason to see a psychiatrist) and he's trina's new boyfriend ... it's an interesting choice i guess?? i just really dont care about him during a tight-knit family reprise like who are you!!! your conflict with marvin makes no sense you dont know the guy you just tell him it's your family now without no previous stuff the obc gives you!!!!!!

marvin at the psychiatrist bad bad hate it. part one turned into a conversation . like literally practically word by word . part two is replaced (bc this mendel is not trina's gf ...) with a two sentence thing about gay sex ??? part three is ok . it's not a mini-opera if you only sing in 1/3 of the thing!!!!!!

"just because you failed as parents" ".....GET THEE TO A PSYCHIATRIST" became "BECAUSE YOU ARE BAD PARENTS!!!!" "you will go to the psychiatrist!!!"

also they dont say psychiatrist they say psychologist . those are two different jobs guys

in the this had better come to a stop coreography marvin is fucking going through it man he's suffering it so bad . it's expressive and all but i like the more subtle "im repressing it because im stubborn" things c borle and michael rupert got going on

AGAIN ... "smile trina ill help you mend!" BECOMES "trina, live and let live!" where's the psychiatrist having a relationship with his patient soo disappointed

no jason's therapy . THERE IS NO TRINA'S SONG / MARCH OF THE FALSETTOS. you just go fucking straight from i'm breaking down to tight-knit family (reprise) to trina's song reprise. huh

after the chess game it goes directly the games i play. i genuinely really like this whizzer

marvin hits trina is fine? no i am so dumb. also NO ONE CARES ABOUT YOU NEW BOYFRIEND!!!!! STOP COMMENTING ON STUFF!!!!!! after the hit there's like ONE second and there's no tension and we're already starting with i never wanted to love you.

act 2 starts with "2 years later" and miracle of judaism. huh!!!!!!! and they dont tell us who the lesbians are!!!

there's some cheerleader girls in miracle of judaism cheering for jason he's distracted by them

the pace in the act 2 is all off!!!! there's missing songs just like in act 1 but here there's no high building up that breaks when whizzer falls sick . it's just uhhgh

no bar mitzvah . just a birthday. hate hate hate

the you gotta die something coreography is amazing ngl . there's a guy in black acting as the death and he dances with whizzer and throws him around leaves him on the floor when he tries to grab him just woahg . it's similar to the thrill of first love one too ..

marvin carries a crying whizzer to the hospital bed and what would i do? is him sitting down to him next to it .

no jason's bar mitzvah though bc no jewish people no bar mitzvah...

someone threw roses at marvin and whizzer and i agree

thats it i really really dislike this. good voices and all but the story is all over the place and it's by far the worst production i've seen bc of EVERYTHING they removed..

[ultimatecubetournament]

Hey, are you still accepting propaganda for cube stage props?

cause I have some

At the beginning of the musical it's in one piece, and during the opening number they start to take it apart, as the main character marvin starts to tell (or pick apart) his life and current situation.

When jasons parents (Marvin and Trina) get a divorce, this split their family (shown my jason pushing each half to other parts of the stage)

SPOILERS FOR FALSETTOS!!!!!

Towards the end when whizzer gets sick, they bring out actual hospital set peices, cause their nor in "falsettoland" anymore, and life is getting real

when whizzer dies, at his funeral, the 2 blocks (split by Jason in 1st act) get loved back together during his funeral. but they take one black out to act as whizzer headstone/gravestone, showing how he brought the "tight knit family" back together, but when he died a hole was left in their lives

idk if I explained this well, and the theory and symbolism in the faksettos revival is so much deeper and more complex, but those are the basics

You heard 'em! Vote cube stage props! For the symbolism!

[cherryberg]

Your top 3 musicals ever gogogo gogo ogo go

HEEEEELPPPPP HEEEEEEEEEEEEELPPPPPPP aough .... ardate please you have to understand that i Have to understand that my taste in musicals are very limited now. when you were a musical girlie in 2016, you leave that shit behind for a few hundred years and now have to rebuild all of that again from scratch with a new appreciation so...

this went longer than expected so the list goes Marvin Trilogy, Fun Home, School of Rock. more under the cut smiles

Marvin Trilogy

In Trousers, Falsettos [March of the Falsettos, Falsettoland]

Fav Songs, excluding obvious fan-favourites: Can't Sleep, How Marvin Eats His Breakfast, My Father's a Homo/Everyone Tells Jason to See a Psychiatrist, Round Tables Square Tables, etc

i don't know many, but man. i like a good sung-through musical. means i can listen to the whole soundtrack from start to finish and have cohesively consumed a whole narrative. and tbh? falsettos, but even in trousers too, don't really have Bad songs. i've listened to the falsettos 2016 revival and in trousers 1979 original cast soundtracks dozens of times (both separately and together). which, i mean. compared to the other musicals i have here, i haven't even listened to their whole soundtracks (which. to be fair i did see those live). and yeah you have the really good songs that Everyone likes. the Thrill of First Loves and the Whizzer Going Downs and what have you, but you listen to the tracks a second time, or maybe watch the proshot again, and you get the smaller less-appreciated songs in your head. not included in the fav songs list because that thing's long, but i love A Breakfast Over Sugar. i get Set Those Sails and A Marriage Proposal and Miracle of Judaism stuck in my head. and its great! not to mention just how good and how important the story is .. i could go on but aough ..... long

Fun Home

Fav Songs: Edges of the World, Welcome to Our House on Maple Avenue, Telephone Wire, currently being annoying about Raincoat of Love

PUNCHES WALL. PUNCHES WALL. PUNCHES WALL. PUNCHES WALL. PUNCHES WALL. PUNCHES WALL. PUNCHES WALL. PUNCHES

yeah man. saw this one for school. still have the ticket actually. but Because i did it for school, i have so much analysis and thoughts up here, it's maybe too long and specific. and also for like. a specific production that no one on tumblr would've watched. i would give anything to see that production again though. it wouldn't be the same as seeing it live, Especially during certain moments, but goodness gracious, man. the set design, the lighting, and that revolving stage? absolutely everything to me... so well integrated. just... mwah

School of Rock

Fav Songs: Stick It to the Man, Act 2 Scene 8: Dewey's Bedroom. You're in the Band .. mehbeh

Um... I don't really.. have a third that I can think of that's on par. But, it's School of Rock. It's awesome. my sibling had a track record of not liking musicals when they had to come and see it with me (when i still went out to watch musicals aough ...), but I think this was the first one they really liked - enough for me to get them a key ring of the show! (they cried during If Only You Would Listen too :]) It was a wonderful performance, and the kids were so good and coordinated too! They let us take pictures of the ending song ... which i just took a video of, so i still have that. I watched School of Rock during my ... hardcore theatre kid era though so.. i've got a few cringe worthy memories of it .. but yeah is good :]

I did see Moulin Rouge once as well, despite never having seen the movie, and that was very good as well. Though I'm not much for jukebox musicals (can't deny that Moulin Rouge tracks can be freakin' awesome though) and I think I was too busy ogling heehee

but yeah .. that's all :]

[i-found-your-door]

Hi!

My name is Marvin, recently married to Whizzer Brown 💍

I’m gay, 35 years old, and he/him

I am newly wed and my annoyingly lovely husband convinced me to get on this app. As well as my awesome kid, Jason.

I’ve got a bad history with psychiatrists, an interest in theater, visual arts, water, and bad weather. (I’m a meteorologist)

Send any asks! :)

[Admin under the cut]

HEYO!!

It’s C or Tulip ( @rosethetulip ) back at it again! They/she/he

I’m the same user as @i-am-columbus which I will still have my full focus on bc omfg it’s my baby, I cannot separate young Marvin from myself atp, I’m going insane help

I don’t have a Whizzer or family at all for this acc so absolutely anyone can interact! (You can even bend the laws of space and time with doubles and blogs from other time frames, I don’t mind)

Update: I have a Whizzer :3

I know there’s an issue in the community with ppl erasing HIV representation and I hope it doesn’t seem like I’m doing that. I fully acknowledge the pain that AIDS patients suffered through.

I’m just a sucker for happy endings and I love Marvin so so much

Marvin’s still an insecure little creature so bully him, love him, do whatever! :)

Tags:

When he sparkles - talking about Whizzer

See ya!!

[verybestemoting]

Generally I believe that specifics about character's ages and therefore the timeline of events which occurred to them to be up to an individual, especially in shows like Falsettos and In Trousers where there is much emphasis on themes and personal interpretation, however I was thinking about this recently so I'll throw in my five cents.

Honestly you can more or less work out backwards what the dates are for various events in the trilogy. If we begin with the passover seder of 1979, that would have been on April 11th. I generally headcanon that the ten months vs. nine months distinction in the thrill of first love is the differentiation between Marvin and Whizzer having an affair and when Marvin is finally divorced and therefore their relationship is deemed at least somewhat 'real' in Whizzer's eyes. That would place Trina and Marvin's divorce as sometime in August 1978, and the affair between Whizzer and Marvin beginning in July 1978.

We know that Jason is eleven in 1979, which would place his birthday sometime in 1968, and we know Marvin and Trina got married at approximately the first two years to his birth (per 'the first two were the best years / when the kid was born / when the word seemed okay' from I Feel Him Slipping Away). This also fits within the timeline of them being married for ten years (re: the same song as above; 'we've been married for ten years').

as for Marvin's birth year, I think we could take the fact that the average marriage age of a jewish man in the 1960s was twenty-six and play with that, placing him as a 1942 child, the last of the silent generation. This all makes Marvin to be thirty-six in the beginning of Falsettos. I honestly quite like this, as that would have him be raised during the hight of McCarthyism, which although most notable for it's anti-communist aspirations, frequently villainized homosexuality. Especially put together with the fact that March of the Falsettos takes place in 1979, a year before the legalization of consensual gay sex in New York, to then having Marvin beginning Falsettoland (circa 1981) by singing 'learning love is not a crime'.

I generally think of Trina as being three or so years younger than Marvin, however there's no textual evidence of this.

Whizzer is an interesting character to me, simply due to the line from the original 1979 libretto stating that he's an English lit student. Assuming he is finishing his undergrad in 1978, that would have him start in 1974, placing him at the tail-end of the Vietnam War. Now, being a college student would automatically exempt someone from the draft (this also brings up the interesting question of if Marvin served in Vietnam, which I consider highly unlikely, considering he's supposedly rich and has a medical condition, both things, which if used correctly, could excuse one). However, another, albeit unpopular, for obvious reasons, path to be exempt the Vietnam draft would be to be a known homosexual, as since it's generally excepted that Whizzer is confident in his own gayness by Falsettos fans, I think it could be interesting to experiment how well-known this was out and about.

However I do believe it'd be quite... unpopular to place Marvin and Whizzer as having a 14-year age gap, so another possibility is that Whizzer had already served in the military and was now going to school on the GI Bill, which would also be interesting to explore.

Anyways, this got really off topic, but tl;dr: headcanon whatever you want

Can we as a fandom agree on how old the falsettos characters are?

Marvin and Trina to me are 30-33 in 1979, it makes sense that they would be born in the baby boom, they had Jason young, forcing them to marry. Because their early-mid 20s, which is usually when people usually figure themselves out, are taken over by raising children, they’re trying to do it now. They seem older because they were forced to grow up fast to care for Jason and are in a slightly different life stage than most 30 yos. I understand why people portray Marvin as middle aged but it seems wrong to me.

Whizzer is a little younger, I view him as 27-28 in 1979. He’s fairly immature and afraid of commitment, but still has a decent amount of life experience. Around the time he turns 30 he’s more mature and ready to settle down in act 2. (I hc that he actually turned 30 in the hospital)

[falsettos-tight-knit-family]

Trans Whizzer

Okay I have thoughts-

I've noticed the headcanon of Whizzer being trans floating around a lot. Personally, I don't headcanon any of the characters as trans. The only character in Falsettos I even have a sexuality headcanon for (aside from ofc what's explicitly stated in the musical) is Mendel being bisexual because of the disaster bi energy he gives off.

However, as a trans masc fan of Whizzer myself, I still love the idea of him being trans. So much so, that I've thought of some headcanons for it. I learned about this idea while I was on my period, so ofc my mind immediately went to "how's he deal with this shit?" So here's the answer:

First thing that came to my mind was Charlotte and Cordelia sitting with him while he's struggling with cramps, talking about how much exercise helps lessen the pain and that he should try going on a jog with them. Meanwhile, Whizzer is lying there in agony going "You want me to what?" Like he is currently incapable of standing up, let alone doing any kind of physical activity.

Sometimes Cordelia will make him some chocolate chip cookies and bring them over. The 2 of them, Marvin, and Jason end up sharing them, since she always makes far too many for one person.

Most of the week goes by decently cramps-wise, but there's always one day where he'll be going about his day when suddenly, sharp pains have him debilitated on the ground or closest place to sit/lay down for hours at a time. The only thing that would sometimes help is putting a heating pad against his back or stomach.

Going away from cramps, I think it's pretty obvious to Marvin when it's Whizzer's time of the month. How? Well one way he can tell is when he comes home from work to the house being completely emptied of any and all chocolate candy. I don't care how much they had at the time, every piece would be devoured, unless Marvin knew ahead of time and actively hid it from him.

Alternatively, Marvin knows it's that time when Whizzer is acting more cuddly than usual. Yes, he likes cuddling and physical touch at any time, but this is different in that there are 0 sexual undertones when he's on his period. Just one big teddy bear always wanting to have his arms wrapped around Marvin in some way.

Luckily, most of the cravings he gets are things that don't require Marvin to cook anything (chocolate, ice cream, etc.) There's a lot of frozen pizzas and take-out during those weeks. Marvin says he can make something nicer for him, but Whizzer only lets him do so if he can be in the kitchen supervising because "If you start a fire, I do not have the energy to deal with it today". A non-dessert thing he'll eat a shit ton of are french fries -- fortunately, a common thing to order for take-out.

Was this mostly me projecting my own pain onto him? Yes. I don't know how much sense this made, considering it was basically just stream of consciousness lol

[dogwhizzer]

Hello my good dude, as someone else who currently mentally unstable and reading fic in 2022, do you mind  sharing any of your (falsettos) fic recs?

oh MAN you don't have to tell me twice

ok so the one i was referring to in my post is my #1 favorite forever, making revisions. its about marvin and whizzer finding the footholds of their new relationship as they reflect on their old one. it's so raw and sweet and witty and has amazing whizzer + jason moments and some of my FAVORITE characterization of whizzer probably ever hes just so. ough. boyfriend. and probably the best pacing and dialogue i've ever seen in a fic in my whole life. like it is literally like poetry. it is kinda porn heavy if ur not really into that thing but it is soso sweet and well written and very integral to the plot

my second favorite and one i literally cannot recommend enough is the landslide will bring you down. it's the story of marvin's decline in health post-canon, told through the perspective of his loved ones. so obviously it's a sad one. and i know everyone n their dad has toyed w that idea but the way they do it is just so. Ough. they do marvin so much justice. it also has some really really good marvin + trina friendship bits that i hold to my chest and spin around

faith, i live in your light, and your mother reports your father's blue, dear, are all about marvin and whizzer's differentiating mommy/daddy issues. why i collect those specifically, i don't know. i will say i live in your light is 100% my favorite of these, though. hispanic whizzer ftw

i read a cold for chanukah everytime i get sick. it's not the best, but it's cute

joanahasburnout and bipola_red are old ao3 mutuals of mine with BUTTLOADS of good college/high school au content

[iridescentkippen]

a comprehensive list of the things my friend said while she watched falsettos for the first time last night

- *seeing tracie thoms in the title screen* "pretty girl !!! pretty girl from rent !!!!"

- *talking about anthony* "aww he's so talented!! and so tiny!!!" "oh yeah my fun fact is that i was born four days before him" "....he's older than me?????"

- *pointing at marvin* "he's gay" "....yes babes that's the whole point of the show"

- "ten months nine months ten months" "you know this one" "yeah it came up on my spotify !!!"

- *at the end of thrill of first love* "well we all know what they did next" "aYOOO"

- *me talking about christian* "oh yeah he's not gay irl" "hE'S NOT??? he is a gOOd actor"

- "babes did you know he was king george?" "wAIT THAT MAKES SENSE"

- "are you sure he [christian] isn't queer?"

- *marv at the psych ends* "aw, that was a nice one" "...my fathers a homo, my mother's not thrilled at all" *she proceeds to choke on her pizza*

- "did that just say my father's a hobo???" "no a homo" "oHHHH"

- "you can't say the word homo about someone else it's basically a slur"

- "i like the kid. he's a girlboss"

- "he [andrew] looks like mark wahlberg !!" ".....no?"

- "i don't like when black stache yells at everyone"

- *after being silent for all of i'm breaking down* "wow"

- *at the beginning of march of the falsettos* "what in the fresh hell is going on" "oh i probably should've explained"

- "wait no come back wait no don't kick him out !!!!! chess was not that important !!!!! come back !!!!! no !!! stop !!! black stache pls let mark wahlberg stick around"

- *quietly crying next to me during the games i play*

- "i'm mad at you for making me watch a sad musical"

- "why he [jason] blinkin so much ayo sir"

- *at the end of act one* "how do you feel so far?" "i like it but where is pretty girl one and pretty girl two it was advertised to me that there were pretty lesbians"

- "where are the pretty girls?" "isn't trina a pretty girl?" "well,,,, yeah but where are the other pretty girls???" "they only show up in act two it's called a princess track" "tHEY'RE PRINCESSES???"

- "hold on i need more pizza i don't think i'll get through act two without more energy"

- "babes it's lesbian time" *with pizza in her mouth* "leSBIAN TIME !!"

- "ew the regans"

- *going absolutely feral when the lesbians come on stage*

- *during year of the child* "where's pretty boy" "they broke up remember" "well then they BETTER GET BACK TOGETHER !!"

- *when whizzer shows up at the baseball game* "pretty boy is back !!! he's very pretty...too bad he's gay" "......and 43" "...and?"

- "they're getting back together :)))))))))))"

- "this is great i love this everything is good in the world"

- "god had parents?"

- "oh my god they're nAKED"

- "i don't think i'd ever wanna be that close to someone. people are just too toxic nowadays...no i'm not ace"

- *whispered* "do they have underwear on?"

- "are you sURE he [christian] is straight? that's v close to a man to be straight" "buddy some people are just good actors"

- "something bad is happening??? L"

- "wait is someone gonna die"

- "wait when does this take place........iS THIS THE AIDS CRISIS TOO????????"

- "if one of them dies i swear to god"

- "does one of them have aids?"

- *singing along to more raquetball* "1, 2, 3, hhh" "how do you know this?" "it came up on my spotify randomly !!!! i didn't know what it meant out of context"

- *whizzer collapses* "oh no... oh no no no no no no this is not okay caroline i didn't sign up for this"

- "wait didn't they just say everything would be alright???? .........was that a lie >:(("

- *whispering* "is weezer gonna die?" "whizzer" "huh?" "weezer is a band...his name is whizzer"

- *during holding to the ground* "......is she dying? no just him right?" "yes angela trina is not dying"

- *sitting next to me silently with a perpetual frown on her face*

- "why am i scared he's gonna die right now [during unlikely lovers]" "i promise you he does not die right now"

- "does he [jason] know what a psychiatrist is??? they're not a magician they just listen to your problems"

- "GO TO THERAPY !!!!"

- "something bad is happening :(("

- "wait.....something... something BAD is happening????? IS HE DYING TOO????"

- *grumbling under her breath* "i hate it here"

- *during jason's bar mitzvah* "are they both gonna die right now"

- "wait no he can't die right now i was joking !!!! whizzer stop this isn't funny !!!!"

- "tHANKS????? ALL HE SAID WAS THANKS???"

- *sobbing violently next to me*

- "it's kinda like the end of hamilton...how eliza sings with alex's ghost???? marvin is singing with whizzer's ghost"

- "this isn't nice. i don't like this anymore"

- "NO NOT THE CHESS PEICE ON THE GRAVESTONE" *sobbing onto my shoulder* "HE LET HIM WIN"

- "caroline that was evil......but it was so good :'))))))"

- "...........are you sure that marvin's actor isn't queer?" "YES I'M SURE"