Top Five Songs: March of the Falsettos

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.”