Customer Reviews

Falsettos (Drama, Plume)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is the libretto for the musical "Falsettos" which is sung entirely, so unless you have the music, the book is incomplete. But for "Falsettos" lovers this is a must have. The music is a bit confusing with a lot of subtext. The book allows you to analyze each character to find the deeper meaning (and believe me, there is a lot of underlined meaning). The best part of the book is that it includes one version of "In Trousers" (which is vertually unavailable in a sound recording). "In Trousers" was the first of the three one-acts written and tells of Marvin's struggle with his sexuality when he was in high school. There are three versions of "In Trousers": the original, the revision, and a combination of both. This version is the combination. Perhaps "In Trousers" is the most insightful of all three shows, although it is the hardest to understand. If you like to analyze scripts, this one is a welcomed challenge. All three deal with the idea of homosexuality and family life. It is a funny, heart warming, heart wrenching story as you follow Marvin's struggle to accept his homosexuality and still maintain a relationship with his young son and (ex)wife. It has good family values and some beautiful ballads. One of my all time favorite musicals. A definite for any musical library.

William Finn is a genius. He is the composer and lyricist of all 3 musicals in the 'Falsettos Trilogy'. This vocal selections book has highlights from the first and second musicals in the trilogy, March of the Falsettos and Falsettoland. There are 17 songs in all, which is a rather large amount. In this book are: The Baseball Game, A Day In Falsettoland, Everyone Hates His Parents, What More Can I Say, What Would I Do?, Something Bad Is Happening, Holding To The Ground, Unlikely Lovers, You Gotta Die Sometime, Father To Son, I'm Breaking Down, March Of The Falsettos, 4 Jews In A Room Bitching, Marriage Proposal, Making A Home, The Games I Play, and I Never Wanted To Love You. The lyrics are both touching and hysterical. The songs both develop the characters and show the genius of the composer. 'Four Jews Bitching' is a fantastic musical theatre piece for four males. I can't reccomend this book enough!!!

I was glad to finally get this book and read through it. It's a surprisingly breezy read for being over 150 pages. I recommend listening to the combo cast recording while reading through it. A very moving story. The only thing that has me giving it four stars instead of five is the lack of any sort of essay or commentary materials in the book. Of all shows, this is one where there is probably alot to say about the show. All the same, a great buy.

My college is doing this production next year so I wanted to do some research on the show and was quite satisfied with the product....It's a pretty wacky show but I was impressed with the quality and promptness of the delivery. Thank you very much!
P.S. William Finn himself is going to come to the show and I am going to try to get him to autograph this copy