Falsettoland

Following In Trousers and March of the Falsettos, it is the third in a trio of one-act musicals centering on Marvin, his wife Trina, his psychiatrist Mendel, his son Jason, and his gay lover Whizzer Brown.

In this act, Jason is preparing for his bar mitzvah, while Whizzer is suffering from a life-threatening yet undefined illness, which the audience recognizes is AIDS.

[1] The musical transferred to the Lucille Lortel Theatre on September 25, 1990, and closed on January 27, 1991, after 176 performances.

Directed by Lapine, the cast included Michael Rupert (Marvin), Faith Prince (Trina), Stephen Bogardus (Whizzer), Chip Zien (later replaced by Lonny Price) (Mendel), Heather MacRae (Dr. Charlotte) Janet Metz (Cordelia), and Danny Gerard (Jason).

Mendel the psychiatrist shines a flashlight into the audience on a dark stage, welcoming them to "Falsettoland," the conclusion to March of the Falsettos.

The cast has been enlarged by two, with Marvin's lesbian neighbors Dr. Charlotte, an internist, and Cordelia, a "shiksa" caterer as new additions.

He has called a truce with Trina, and he has managed to maintain his relationship with Jason, who is now preparing for his Bar Mitzvah.

Dr. Charlotte, meanwhile, has started to become aware that "Something Bad is Happening" among young gay men in the city, who arrive at the hospital sick with a mysterious illness that no one seems to know anything about.

As Whizzer enters the hospital with a disease that the audience immediately knows to be AIDS, Trina begins to see her world fall apart around her as someone she shouldn't care about, but does anyway, is clearly sick.

Marvin sits in Whizzer's hospital room, soon joined by the lesbians, and the four "Unlikely Lovers" wonder how much longer their love can last.

He is soon deathly ill, and he steels himself to meet his maker, reflecting bravely that "You Gotta Die Sometime."

Marvin is comforted by his family, now short a member, as Mendel bids us goodnight from the crazy, sad world known as "Falsettoland."