ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, January 19, 1996 TAG: 9601190027
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHRIS HENSON STAFF WRITER
The Tony-winning Broadway musical "Falsettos" starts with a tune called "Four Jews in a Room Bitching" that sets the tone for a raucous, no-excuses evening of music and adult humor. As these four Jews wind their way through complex harmonies at breakneck speed, they tell us that they're neurotic and nauseous, funny and bitchy and, above all, Jewish.
You get the idea right away.
"It's a hilarious, heart-breaking look at life in our times," says a press release from Mill Mountain Theatre, where the show previewed Thursday and formally opens tonight in Theatre B. "It's a story of life and love, home and homosexuality, baseball and bar mitzvah - in short, a musical for the '90s.''
While the play does take on sensitive themes, its director believes the it can appeal to just about everybody.
"One of the things that theater does best is look into places, into lives that you wouldn't necessarily look into," says Doug Zschiegner, associate director at Mill Mountain. ``And I think that `Falsettos,' for people that aren't urban perhaps, or that aren't gay, it's a look into that lifestyle. For people that are gay it may be the first time they've ever seen themselves represented this way on stage."
Then he smiles and adds: "And it makes a great car tape."
Zschiegner feels the intimate setting of Theatre B is perfect for the show, perhaps even better than a Broadway stage.
"We're just in this place," he says, "and sometimes we're just in the characters' minds. They'll be having a conversation that they're not really having in real life. The story becomes more important than the placement. The set is very slick architecturally.''
"Glass blocks," explains Michelle Bennett of the theater marketing department.
"Yes, lots of glass blocks," continues Zschiegner. "We're not worrying about dazzling anybody. We're wanting to tell the story. We want to get inside their heads. And in Theatre B, where you're never more than a few feet from the actors, you have a chance to see who they are."
"Falsettos" was written by William Finn and James Lapine, who originally directed it on Broadway as two separate one-act musicals: "March of the Falsettos," set in 1979, and "Falsettoland," set in 1981.
"Finn wrote the first musical, now the first act, about these people dealing with their sexuality and their lives," says Zschiegner. "It became a kind of cult hit.'' That was in 1981. The second play was written in 1990 in an effort to revisit the characters in the age of AIDS.
As a two-act musical, "Falsettos" is the story of a man named Marvin, who wants it all. He has left his wife and son for his 20-year-old boyfriend. Still, he tries to keep both families together in one happy home.
By the time the play starts, the two men have been together for about nine months and are losing the thrill of first love. Meanwhile, the ex-wife is falling in love with Marvin's psychiatrist, a straight relationship.
"Then there's the 11-year-old son," says Zschiegner. ``He's questioning his own chromosomes. And by the end of the first act the whole thing sort of implodes."
In the second act, the son is planning for his bar mitzvah. His mother and father are both trying to steal the affections of their son. The specter of AIDS is introduced. All the characters throw their energy into the bar mitzvah. The event is treated as their last hope for something positive.
"Another thing I think is a bit unprecedented or unusual," say Zschiegner, "is that this is the first full production of a show with gay themes at Mill Mountain Theatre. The show is more about family than it is about preference of any type. There's obviously homosexuality, and the gay movement, and divorce, and therapy ... they're issues that are a part of our lives ... Roanoke or anywhere."
Musically, Zschiegner says, the show is ``kind of a combination of soft-rock and vaudeville, pseudo-operetta," he says. "It's not just a verse and a chorus, it's the sound of the way people think. Overlapping, bad grammar and everything."
Talk-backs are scheduled after each of the Friday- and Saturday-night shows and the Sunday matinees.
"It will be moderated by two people from the community each night," Zschiegner says. "Much of the cast, Lutheran ministers, Unitarian ministers, and rabbis, and people that have AIDS, and people that work with people that have AIDS, and family counselors ... a whole spectrum of folk will be on hand to talk about the show. Like what questions did this play raise for you? What does it make you think about?"
Doug Zschiegner came to Mill Mountain as the associate director last summer, after performing in several of its shows. He has since directed two Centerpiece readings and the production of the winner of last year's new play contest.
The show's musical director is Mill Mountain veteran David Caldwell. He leads a four-piece band, the largest ever for Theatre B.
"FALSETTOS": Opening tonight at Mill Mountain Theatre's Theatre B and continuing through Jan. 28. Tickets are $11 and $13. The box office number is 342-5740. The play includes adult language.|
LENGTH: Medium: 98 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: JESSIE CHRISTNER. 1. Doug Zschiegner (right) directs Abeby CNBReybold and Alan Osburn as Whizzer and Marvin in ``Falsettos.''
color. 2. ``The show is more about family than it is about
preference of any type,'' says ``Falsettos'' director Doug
Zschiegner. color.