Four Jews In A Room Bitching

Back to London after a bit. I’d forgotten I’d booked this to be fair, as I did it on a whim in May... 🙄

There was 2 on the list this weekend, the first of which being my very first visit to The Other Palace, Andrew Lloyd-Webber's passion project for premiering new works, to see the British premiere of Falsettos. Contrary to the theatre's ethos, this is hardly a new work. Written by William Finn and James Lapine, the piece is over 25 years old.
It’s actually 2 sung-through one-act musicals smushed together: March of the Falsettos and Falsettoland, premiering in the late 80s/early 90s. The full piece in its entirety was revived on Broadway in 2016 with Christian Borle, Andrew Rannels, Stephanie J Block and more, directed by Lapine himself and gaining quite a few 2017 Tony nominations (though no wins).

The piece puts the non-nuclear family and LGBTQ relationships at its centre, as we follow Marvin, a man living in NYC who leaves his wife and son for another man. In what would be an extremely awkward situation, Marvin and his friends come to realise that love and family come in many different forms; all under the birth of the AIDS crisis.

Since opening here, I’ve seen reviews spread quite across the board, from 5 stars to a big fat MEH! I would put it in between the 2 starting off with the biggest flaw and working up. (Well, trying to)

Loved this poster in The Other Palace for 

Away We Go - what would become

Oklahoma!

Like I said, Falsettos is formed of 2 1-act pieces smushed together - and you can tell this pretty early on in the 2nd act as the tone completely changes. The 1st act is more “existential” I guess, and character driven, especially after we've realised who's who; whereas the PLOT doesn’t really pick up until the 2nd act.
It’s like it’s trying to say firstly “these are the characters, this is the situation, let’s analyse”; then after the interval “Remember these guys? Good, ok meet the lesbians from next door, and NOW we can get the party started”.
It’s such a change from one to the other, it’s almost jarring, and makes the 1st act pretty weak in comparison, other than the odd moment or two.

The book may be weaker than other shows, but the score is certainly one of the most intricate you can hear! In fact, on first listening, I thought that this must be a Sondheim piece! Imagine my shock when I found it wasn't! William Finn has the same ability as Sondheim as fitting a note for every single syllable, stuffing lyrics into the score like you would a stuff a sleeping bag back in the bag, and making it sound so easy (but it's really REALLY not).

It helps to make it sound easy when you have a cast that make those harmonies sound so lush! Daniel Boys played Marvin - and he's a performer I have wanted to see ever since his Joseph days. (Note: I STILL get sad thinking he left that competition too early!!) I've got to say though, you're not really supposed to like Marvin, as he's quite selfish - it was hard to do that with someone as adorable as Boys playing the part. He's got a beautiful voice though, as does Oliver Saville, playing his lover Whizzer.

On this note, it seems right to mention where I was sat.... the 2nd row on the right hand side.... The Other Palace is a much smaller theatre than I thought... Meaning one thing... Bums in face.... 😉😆

Moving right along....

The cast also featured Joel Montague (replacing X Factor winner Matt Cardle in rehearsals) as adorkable Mendel, James Williams as Marvin's son Jason, and Gemma Knight-Jones and Natasha Barnes as "lesbians from next door" Charlotte and Cordelia. I wish these 2 were in a bit more, to be honest, shame they don't appear until the 2nd act.

But the star for me was Laura Pitt-Pulford (Nell Gwynn), who plays Trina, Marvin's ex-wife. The 1st act may have been a bit all-over, but Trina's big solo I'm Breaking Down was the best moment of that act. Pitt-Pulford was doing exactly what the song says on the tin - I think it took people a lot of effort NOT to stand up after that number alone...

All in all, Falsettos is a mixed bag, just as Marvin's family is a bit like a pick and mix. It has its moments, and the talent (and eye candy *cough* Oliver Saville *cough*) was through the roof. But with the jarring changes in the plot tone, that department felt a bit wibbly-wobbly-timey-wimey for me.
If you want to see talent at the top of their game, then go - but maybe in the cheaper seats near the back, as it is a smaller theatre. You don't need to be as close to the stage as I was; as well as very attractive ass in my face, I also had the lights in my eyes a bit too.

Moving right along....

If you're looking for something high energy and heavy plot-driven, then this may not be the one for you. As for me, I'm glad I saw it and wasn't disappointed, but I'm not sure it is one I would see again.