A production team composed of up-and-coming theatre
artists, and a cast of Broadway and regional theatre veterans, will
bring a new look and feel to the Huntington Theatre Company’s
production of William Finn and James Lapine’s
Tony Award-winning musical, "Falsettos."
The show runs May 20-June 26, 2005 at the Boston University Theatre,
264 Huntington Avenue in Boston.
"Falsettos" will be directed by 29-year-old
Daniel Goldstein, who makes his Huntington Theatre
Company debut after working at Williamstown Theatre Festival
for three seasons, working as resident director for the first national
tour of the smash hit musical "Mamma Mia,"
and serving as associate director of the current Broadway Elvis Presley
musical "All Shook Up."
"Falsettos" is the two-act story of Marvin
and his attempts to create a new kind of family. He divorced
his wife, Trina, to make a new life with his on-again, off-again male
companion Whizzer. Yet, he doesn't want to lose the connection
to, and affections of, his ex-wife and son Jason. In fact, he wants
the foursome to exist as one big happy family. Complicating matters
is Marvin and Trina’s psychiatrist, Mendel.
Jason, meanwhile, struggles with the confusing realities
of a broken and reconstituted family, his father’s new life
as a gay man, and his own move from boyhood to manhood.
Act II picks up the story two years later as Jason prepares for his
bar mitzvah. Marvin’s lesbian neighbors (Charlotte, a nurse
and Cordelia, a kosher caterer), become his close friends and confidantes.
Marvin and Whizzer find themselves settling on solid ground in their
relationship, as Marvin learns to love unselfishly and unconditionally.
Jason’s bar mitzvah and Whizzer’s life-threatening illness
brings together the entire “family.”
"Falsettos" is a combination of two earlier
one-act plays, "March of the Falsettos" and "Falsettoland."
The Broadway production, directed by Lapine, opened in April 1992
and ran for nearly 500 performances. It received two Tony
Awards (Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score) and
was nominated for five more.
William Finn , who grew up in Natick, is also the
writer/composer of "Romance in Hard Times," "A
New Brain" and "Elegies: A Song Cycle."
James Lapine collaborated with Stephen Sondheim on
"Sunday in the Park with George" (for which
he won the Pulitzer Prize), a revised version of
"Merrily We Roll Along" and "Passion."
He has written and directed the plays "Luck, Pluck and
Virtue," "Twelve Dreams" and "Table
Settings," and adapted Gertrude Stein's poem/play "Photograph."
The seven-person cast includes, alphabetically: Kate Baldwin
(Cordelia), Romain Frugé (Whizzer), Linda
Mugleston (Trina), Anne L. Nathan (Charlotte),
Steve Routman (Mendel) and Steven Skybell
(Marvin). The role of Jason has not yet been cast.
“This is the dream team for the future of musical theatre,”
commented Huntington Artistic Director Nicholas Martin.
“I am so proud to have worked with Danny as he began his career
in theatre, and even more proud to give him the chance to prove his
directing chops with the Huntington. With the stellar production
team and this fantastic cast, we are producing a 'Falsettos' as fresh,
vibrant, and relevant today as when it was originally written,”
Martin said.
SPECIAL CLUB NIGHTS
Designed for theatregoers 35 and under, and for members of the gay,
lesbian, bisexual, and transgender communities, Club Nights provide
an opportunity to mingle with fellow theatregoers and participating
members of the artistic team and cast at a pre- or post-show reception
(free with the purchase of tickets).
NIGHT CLUB
May 26, 2005
Designed for theatregoers 35 and under to mingle with staff, artists
and each other after the 7:30 p.m. performance
OUT & ABOUT CLUB
June 8, 2005
Designed for members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender
communities to mingle with staff, artists and each other. Pre-show
reception at 6 p.m., performance at 7:30 p.m.
MASTER CLASS
June 14, 2005
Learn more about theatre – what’s onstage and what’s
happening behind the scenes – with this interactive program
from 6 - 7 p.m.
SNEAK PREVIEW
May 24, 2005
See a presentation by the Huntington’s artistic staff, featuring
behind-the-scenes and production-related information. 6:30 - 7 p.m.
HUMANITIES FORUMS
June 5, 2005 (following the 2 p.m. performance)
Humanities Forums are free and open to the public discussions about
issues and ideas presented in the production.
ACTORS FORUMS
June 2 and 22, 2005
Participating members of the "Falsettos" cast will appear
after the show to answer questions from the audience. Thursday, June
2, following the 7:30 p.m. performance and Wednesday, June 22, following
the 2 p.m. performance.
For tickets and information, call the Huntington
Box Office at 617-266-0800 or visit www.huntingtontheatre.org.
