#March of the Falsettos

[clownhorsedotcom]

Whizzer Brown practice wahoo

[wizardiest-wizard-of-oz]

Ok so I've been commenting on how everyone is in their falsetto but Jason in march of the falsettos for years now and I was starting to think about what that would mean if it's intentional.

The entire point of the song is to show how Trina sees all of the men in the musical with how immature they're all being, which you see in Trina's song with "men who aren't quite men yet, but aren't boys," which makes sense for everyone but Jason.

The rest of them are grown men who should know better, specifically Mendel with how he's completely using advantage of and manipulating all of them to get closer to Trina, and Marvin with how he's literally been forcing his ex wife, child, and boyfriend to live in the same house. This isn't to say that Whizzer isn't doing anything wrong because his character definitely has flaws, especially through Trina's eyes.

Everyone singing in their falsetto is used to symbolise the fact that they're acting insanely immature for how old they are, but a lot of Jason's actions are completely normal for his age. He's 10-10.5 in act one and all he wants is to have a normal life, but everything keeps falling apart around him. His internalised homophobia at the start of act one, while it's very different from how kids today would view things, is kind of to be expected considering the fact that queer people were less talked about in the late 70s and definitely not in a positive way when they were, so even that was a lack of education, which you can see as he gets more and more comfortable around Whizzer and the lesbians (as well as Marvin but he had to get more comfortable around him for other reasons), when he starts genuinely caring about them and spending more time around them.

The reason he wasn't singing in falsetto with the others is because, while he's still immature at times, it's to be expected from how old he is at the time and it's also good that he has some childlike qualities left with how quickly he had to grow up. The rest of them have no reason to be acting as immature as they are because, while we have no confirmed ages, they're all somewhere between the ages of 30 and 45 (ish, I've seen 20 in Whizzer's age range but I'd rather not think of him being that young), it's a lot worse not just for age reasons but also because in some of their cases, they're harming people with how they're acting.

The reason jason isn't speaking in his falsetto is because his behavior can be excused with his age, while the rest of their behavior very much can't be.

Sorry this was a lot I'm very hyperfixated on this right now

[human837]

'I was a young man, once

In trousers, one of five'

You mean to tell me marvin has 4 siblings

[trobedarchive]

hey *gets physically ill engaging with hyperfixation*

[fourmenmarching]

hes Stupid

[ouw11]

silly people!!! (& close ups)

[randomt0ast]

[...] To pretend time will mend our pain -Marvin Gardens

[phierecycled]

a production of falsettos ended with whizzer’s name on the aids memorial quilt EXCUSE ME

[shamelessly-obsessed]

“Marvin and the boy live happily ever after… that’s a sickening thought” - In Trousers (Marvins Giddy Seizures Part 2)

I did indeed restrain from posting this during pride month

Apologies in advance

[retrofalsettos]

Collection of pre-revival Falsettos/Marvin Trilogy bootlegs & other recordings

lmk in the notes if you have any you'd like me to add!

Full length (or mostly full length) off broadway/broadway/tours:

1993, (mostly) original broadway cast, unlisted youtube video

1993, same recording as above but a public youtube video

Most likely 1992, Carolee Carmello as Trina (act 1 only)

1994, Mandy Patinkin as Marvin

Falsettoland 1990

Other full length productions:

Hartford Stage 1991 (youtube link)

Hartford Stage 1991 (google drive link)

In Trousers, Trinity College (youtube link)

In Trousers, Trinity College (vimeo link)

Falsettoland, Trinity College

Other shorter recordings:

What Would I Do, Michael Rupert & Stephen Bogardus, 2009 concert

Father to Son, Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, Michael Rupert & Sivan Cotel

Father to Son, Mandy Patinkin

Four Jews in a Room Bitching, 2007 w/ Malcom Gets

The Baseball Game, OBC, on TV at some point in the 90s

Falsettoland (song), Japan 1994

March of the Falsettos (song), New Orleans 2000

I Never Wanted to Love You, New Orleans 2000

The Games I Play, New Orleans 2000

Unlikely Lovers, New Orleans 2000

You Gotta Die Sometime, New Orleans 2000

Love is Blind, Cape Town, year unknown (has the original MOTF blocking & lyrics which I think is cool)

Egads! Theatre, In Trousers clips

[clairettaa]

Marvin at the psychiatrist, a three part mini opera.

[requiemforpsyche]

more falsettos art . so normal about this musical chat.

[sh0rt-insomniac]

compilation of neat (and depressing) things i've found in my falsettos script

[catboymoses]

[trobedarchive]

u guys seem to like these and i like making them so part 2!!

(here’s part 1)

[fourmenmarching]

heeeeeeyyyyyyyy