By Tiffany Alexander, NDG Entertainment
Falsettos is a story of a Jewish family that is dysfunctional, eccentric, but loving. While this may sound like the beginning of a typical musical comedy, but this Tony-Award winning story is a little different. Set in New York at the end of the 1970s, at first we meet what seems like an ideal family, but then they break apart and a new family with new challenges takes its place.
Marvin (Max Von Esen) seemingly has the perfect family. Trina (Eden Espinosa) plays a sweet caring wife and mom to their son Jason (Thatcher Jacobs), but Marvin meets a man named Whizzer (Nick Adams) falls in love. When he leaves his wife and kid breaking up their happy home, the gloss of perfection is gone.
In the meanwhile, Trina gets into a romantic whirlwind with the family psychiatrist Mendel (Nick Blaemire) and all the craziness leaves their son feeling confused and stuck in the middle. In the mix of it all, there are the neighbors Dr. Charlotte (Bryonha Marie Parham) and Cordelia (Audrey Cardwell) trying to help sort out all the chaos. The story takes a saddening turn when Whizzer is diagnosed with AIDS which forces the family to put all their issues aside and unite.
This a story of love, pain, acceptance, and growth it will have you feeling a mix of emotions, but help you to have a better understanding of a different kind of love. As well as, a different definition of family. Although Falsettos was not my cup of tea, I’d give it a 4-star rating on how beautifully the production was put together, from the acting to the singing.
The North American Tour of The Lincoln Center Theater Broadway production of Falsettos is in Dallas only until Sunday, Feb. 17. Tickets and times for the performances at the AT&T Performing Arts Center Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House in the downtown Dallas Arts District are available at attpac.org.Â
