Since Falsettos is a sung-through show,
there’s just way too much awesome music to pick a mere five favorite songs from
the score. As such, I’m cheating
slightly and picking a Top Five from Act I and another from Act II. Today, we’re looking at Act I, a.k.a. March of the Falsettos (Act I spoilers.)
“Four Jews in a Room Bitching” – Such a wild, weird
way to start a show, but I love it. The
opening number introduces Marvin, Whizzer, Jason, and Mendel (and, barely,
Trina) in a pretty roundabout but surprisingly catchy way, acquainting us with
the guys’ neuroses and hang-ups before we know everything else about them. A bold opening for a bold show.
Best
lyric: “Four Jews in a room bitching - /
Four Jews talking like Jew-ish men!”
“This Had Better Come to a Stop” – This is a great
group number that starts bringing some of the characters’ interpersonal issues
to a head. I love how this song starts
the parallels between Whizzer and Trina, showing how Marvin makes/made the same
demands of both of them, as well as having them both push back against his
possessiveness. The chorus is so great,
especially near the end when the stuttering repetition of half-lines shows the
characters’ agitation bleeding into the melody itself.
Best
lyric: “Whizzer’s supposed to always be
here, / Making dinner, set to screw. / That’s what pretty boys should do - /
Check their hairlines, make the dinner, / And love me.”
“I’m Breaking Down” – A tour de force if
there ever was one. Trina tears it up as she unravels over the
past trials of her marriage, the present state of her family, and her emerging
feelings for Mendel. The intricate
lyrics and tripping melody nicely show off her frazzled state of mind, and the
song is filled was so much longing for, just once, something to go her way.
Best
lyric: “As enemies go, / Whizzer is not
so bad. / It’s just he’s so damn happy / That it makes me so damn mad.”
“The Games I Play” – Whizzer’s reflection
after Marvin kicks him out. He looks at
his life, his casual avoidance of anything weighty, but even as he tries to
shrug things off, the confessions creep in:
the pain of trying (and failing) not to love Marvin. The melody is so simple yet wonderfully
gorgeous, beautifully restrained at the start and giving way to the wonderful
emotion of the ending.
Best
lyric: “It hurts not to love him. / It
hurts when love fades. / It’s hard when part of him / Is off playing family
charades.”
“I Never Wanted to Love You” – Absolutely
heartbreaking. A gorgeous number for the
whole family as they reel from the fallout of Marvin’s outburst in the previous
song. I love it – even as the characters
hold one another at arm’s length, protecting themselves with that distance,
there’s also a tenderness to it. It’s
about love despite reason, without planning.
Love that existed and can’t be denied even if it didn’t end well and
never could have. The emotions here are
awful and beautiful and wistful throughout.
Best
lyric: “I never wanted to love you - / I
only wanted to see my face in yours.”
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