Falsettos - 2016 Broadway Cast Recording

The first revival of the noted William Finn musical, "Falsettos," recently concluded its run at the Walter Kerr Theatre, and now Ghostlight Records has released the "Falsettos (2016 Broadway Cast Recording)" .

Originally produced on Broadway in 1992. Finn's statement on AIDS and its evolution from an underground illness to a mainstream epidemic sets two one-acts ("March of the Falsettos" in 1979, and "Falsettoland" two years later) and gives them an opportunity to gage their resonance in today's society, against today's duel backgrounds of the progress in the diversity of the family unit and the significant advances in medicine. Overall, the story still holds its own, though not as much as a cautionary tale than as a reminder of where we have come from.

"Falsettos" centers around the family of Marvin (Christian Borle) who believes that even though he has left his wife/mother of his son, Trina (Stephanie J. Block), for the arms of Whizzer (Andrew Rannells), they can all still be "A Tight-Knit Family." As their son Jason (Andrew Rosenthal) prepares for his Bar-Mitzvah, Trina is dating her psychiatrist (Brendan Uranowitz), when Whizzer contracts a mysterious, unknown illness. The Jewish component adds ethnic humor to piece, beginning with the entertaining opener, "Four Jews in A Room, Bitching," through "The Baseball Game," which comments on "watching Jewish boys who can't play baseball, play baseball," and continuing through the preparation-for-manhood that Jason is experiencing for real, while the male role models he has are trying to mature, figuratively.

Musically, Finn's score comes across as somewhat dated, with no discernible updates to the orchestrations, but the musical strengths from 25 years ago still hold true now. Block's ("Wicked," "The Mystery of Edwin Drood") renditions of "Holding To The Ground" and "I'm Breaking Down," two audition staples for two generations of young women, each maintain their interpretative power, while Borle's ("Something Rotten," the new "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory") versions of "Father and Son" and "What More Can I Say?" are still gorgeous statements of the trials of love of parenthood. Fans of the original cast recording may take a few listens adjusting to Rannells' ("Book of Mormon") as Whizzer, but taken as a whole, the "Falsettos (2016 Broadway Cast Recording)" is a good opportunity to bring this score to a new group of listeners.

"Falsettos (2016 Broadway Cast Recording)"
$16.49
CD and digital formats
www.ghostlightrecords.com