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Exploring relationships

Fall River Little Theatre presents 'Falsettos'

By Richard Pacheco, Standard-Times correspondent

Relationships, no matter what the foundation. That is the key to the musical, "Falsettos," according to director Robbie Morgan Burke.

She is finally directing the work that has held a fascination for her in all its incarnations through the years. The Little Theatre of Fall River production opens Friday.

"I first heard about it years ago," she said of the William Finn-James Lapine musical. "Before, it was called 'March of the Falsettos.' Then 'In Trousers.' Finally, 'Falsettos.' I first had the chance to see it about 10 years ago.

"I got the chance to see it in Boston, with some of the original cast," Ms. Burke said. "I didn't know that much about it at the time."

The experience left a lasting impression, and a desire to direct the show one day. The two earlier works were combined into one, and the magic was complete.

Then her husband had a friend who was in a production of "Falsettos," playing Treena, the principal female role. The performance left a major impression on Ms. Burke and her husband.

"It was only a little theater, about room enough for 50," she said. "I was in tears by the end of the evening. Even a less successful production I saw later, I liked the show no less."

The reason for her continuing enchantment with the show has remained the same through the years.

"Relationships," she said with gentle emphasis. "It is all about relationships. So much of theater is about differences. Homosexual. Heterosexual. They make a big deal about it. I loved 'Angels in America' and 'Perestroika.' But this deals with relationships differently.

"Homosexual, heterosexual, mother and child, freindship -- there is no stigma attached on anybody. It is just true, honest feelings. Loving each other. There is nothing physical or sexual in the play, nothing offensive. It is all about feelings," the director explained.

"Brian McCann, who plays Mendel, has tremendous feelings about the play," Ms. Burke continued. "He's seen it several times. There are others in the show who have only seen it once or never -- and everyone loves it. Some people in the cast had never even heard of it before doing it."

She said there is some cursing in the play, but that it is not overwhelming, not even to Chris Melanson, the 14-year-old who appears as the son.

"I just told him he can't say that," she said with a generous laugh.

The plot evolves with a whole host of relationships and their changes, changes brought about by dramatic events.

"A middle-aged Jewish man leaves his wife and child in the midst of a mid-life crisis for a male lover," Ms. Burke recounted.

To help make up for his hasty departure, the man sends his wife to his psychiatrist, who falls in love with her. There is never a dull moment and the humor throbs throughout the show, Ms. Burke said.

"The first song is called 'Four Jews in a Room Bitching,'" she said. "It runs from laughter to tears. Reality. The man wants to keep everything friendly, everyone friends. And it's very difficult. The wife gets remarried. The man tries to have a relationship with his son. Everything is falling apart."

The end of the first act coincides with the original version of the work, "March of the Falsettos." Everything is falling apart then. The man's wife is now married to the nutty psychiatrist, his male lover, Whizzer, is gone, and the relationship with his son has been reconciled.

"This is not like 'La Cage Aux Folles' -- not flittery and fluff. They play chess and racketball. They don't waltz. Well, they do, but not very well."

Act Two introduces two new characters to the original five, a female doctor and her kosher caterer female lover.

"They all meet at a baseball game where they sing about a bunch of Jews playing baseball badly. It's a very funny song," Ms. Burke added.

There is humor throughout, but there is great seriousness too, she pointed out. As the end of the second act approaches, the more serious tone takes over.

"Whizzer (the male lover) gets sick," Ms. Burke continued. "It's never said outright what he has, but you know. One of the songs, 'Unlikely Lover' is just gorgeous. It's very powerful."

The cast has been rehearsing since mid-September, according to Ms. Burke. As they round the bend into the final rehearsals before the opening, it all glides gently together.

"It's all music," she said. "There are maybe 10 spoken lines in the entire thing. It's very, very different and demanding on the cast. Even while they play chess and racketball, they sing. Even the conversational singing, is singing. It takes a long time to gain the confidence in the music, that much music as well as the roles. And now I'm excited seeing that the music has become second nature to them."

The Little Theater of Fall River production of William Finn and James Lapine's "Falsettos" will take place at The Firebarn, Prospect Street and Highland Avenue in Fall River, at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Jan. 28-30, and 2 p.m. this Sunday and Jan. 31. General admission is $12.

Student, children and senior citizen and group rates are available. Call (508) 675-1852.

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