Review: Live on Stage's FALSETTOS is Somewhat Chaotic, Very Well Dressed

FALSETTOS is, I think, a difficult show. Not least because it isn't really one show at all. The musical we have today is a combination of two one-act musicals, which are actually Parts 2 and 3 of a trilogy about the ultimate dysfunctional family: Marvin has divorced his wife to be with another man (Whizzer), but now Marvin, Whizzer, Trina (the ex-wife), and Jason (Marvin and Trina's son) are all still living together. There's also Mendel, who is everyone's psychiatrist, and in Act 2, Dr. Charlotte and Cordelia, aka the lesbians next door.

Act 1, which was originally the one-act MARCH OF THE FALSETTOS, takes place in 1979 and is a mostly very funny exploration of the strange family situation. Act 2, which was originally the one-act FALSETTOLAND, takes place two years later when the family is thrown into turmoil as Whizzer comes down with AIDS. The full musical, with music and lyrics by William Finn, premiered in 1992 and won the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score.

The musical is about being Jewish, being gay, growing up, falling in love, falling out of love, living, dying, getting therapy, playing games, and at least seven other things. If it sounds chaotic, that's because it is. FALSETTOS is at times messy and disorganized, which both makes it all-too-real (what is life but messy and disorganized?) and prevents it from feeling like a coherent whole.

Live on Stage's production is dedicated to Rob Buckmaster, a Portland actor who died of AIDS-related lymphoma in 1995 and who played Whizzer in a triangle productions version of the show in the early 1990s. Buckmaster's panel from the AIDS Memorial Quilt is on display in the lobby, which adds an emotional thrust that was palpable on opening night. It felt like there were several there who remembered Buckmaster as well as who had lost family and friends to AIDS.

This production belongs squarely to three people: Courtney Freed, who plays Marvin's ex-wife Trina; Normal Wilson as the psychiatrist Mendel; and Darrin J. Pufall, the costume designer.

Freed and Wilson are the only two who are able to successfully balance the hilarity of the first act with the seriousness of the second to create performances that reflect the sometimes-farce, sometimes-tragedy that is real life. They are also the only couple that exhibits real passion (the ex-wife marries the psychiatrist -- dysfunction overload!). Matt Brown as Marvin and Tim Suenkel as Whizzer never quite seem to connect with one another, and because of that it's difficult to connect with them.

But if you are confused about what the play's about or why you should care about some of the characters, you most definitely will not be confused about the time period. Darrin J. Pufall's costumes are fabulous. Especially in Act 2 -- stone-washed jeans, off-the-shoulder workout tops, blazers with shoulder pads and huge, awful, floral brooches! Fabulous! Hideous, but fabulous.

FALSETTOS runs through October 10 at the World Trade Center Theater. For tickets, visit http://liveonstage.us.

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