In Trousers (1979)

Huge fan that I am of Falsettos, it was inevitable that I would eventually come around to In Trousers, William Finn’s first musical and something of a prelude for what would become Falsettos. While the score is very unpolished and I’d honestly put it at the bottom of my list of Finn musicals, it still contains flashes of musical brilliance and human honesty and, due to what came after, has a special place in theatre history.

Even more so than March of the Falsettos and Falsettoland, the first chapter in this trio of one-act musicals centers around Marvin. In a non-linear narrative that flits through Marvin’s life to date, we learn of his wife and child, his growing-up years, and his secret boyfriend. Marvin’s neuroses and doubts are on full display and he often hurts people unintentionally, even as he struggles to understand who he is and what he wants.

First off, let me say that I’ve never seen a production of this show, only listened to the cast recording and read a fairly sparse synopsis. Depending on the show, that can be a tricky way to get a feel for the plot, and it’s particularly true of In Trousers. Even going into it already knowing the basics of who Marvin, Trina, and Whizzer were, there was quite a bit that I couldn’t follow. By contrast, I’ve watched the filmed recording of Falsettos multiple times and could go on and on about the intricacies of that plot. I’m not as equipped to talk about In Trousers, but it is clear to me that the show 1) has good bones but 2) is pretty scattered. It has a very in-progress feel to it, which is maybe part of the point – Marvin is trying to understand himself and come to grips with his desires, and he both doesn’t know how to go about doing that and leaves wreckage in his wake as he tries. As such, maybe it makes sense that the show doesn’t feel all that put-together.

I won’t deny that listening to or watching Falsettos is a much more satisfying experience (along with other Finn shows like A New Brain, Elegies, or The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,) but I also can’t ignore the glimpses of greatness yet to come within this score. While the score is raw and experimental and there are parts of it that don’t quite land, some of it is really incredible. I especially love some of the adult Marvin’s songs: “My Chance to Survive the Night,” “Whizzer Going Down,” and “The Nausea Before the Game” are all excellent in their own way, and Trina (who, in this show, is simply known as His Wife,) has some beautifully-plaintive themes.

In some ways, William Finn reminds me of a musical-theatre answer to Christopher Isherwood. Both are iconic queer writers, of course, and both tend to draw a lot from their own life experiences in their works (A New Brain is a famously-fictionalized reimagining of a major health scare that Finn had, and Elegies pays tribute to many of the people he’s lost in his life.) But beyond that, both write with this unflinching sense of humanity that can resonate so strongly. With Finn, that can be expressed sloppily at times and it can be so honest you can scarcely bear to look at it, but at the same time, it’s so real and immediate. In Trousers isn’t afraid of Marvin’s self-centeredness, his self-loathing, or his self-denial, and it gives us moments of naked vulnerability that slip in unexpectedly. Even if it’s far from a perfect musical, it’s an engrossing one, and I’ll forever to grateful to it for giving us the in to the story that would one day become Falsettos.

Warnings

Language, sexual references, and strong thematic elements.